A-K Valley Boys Basketball Notebook: Multiple players eclipse 1,000-point plateau

By: Greg Macafee
Thursday, February 6, 2020 | 5:57 PM

It has been a special week for a few players in the A-K Valley as they eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in their careers.

On Tuesday, Leechburg senior Jake Blumer and Springdale junior Demitri Fritch hit the milestone. A day later, Plum junior Connor Moss did the same.

Blumer earned his against Clairton on a putback with 4 minutes, 8 seconds left in the first half of a Section 3-1A contest. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound forward finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds as the Blue Devils beat Clairton, 85-40.

Fritch has been dominant for the Dynamos, and he eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in a 65-53 win over Summit Academy. The Dynamos improved to 18-3 as Fritch finished with 33 points.

Moss scored 24 points and led his team to a one-point nonconference victory over Baldwin. His 21st point of the game and 1,000th of his career came on the free-throw line.

He’s Cook-ing

Leechburg junior guard Dylan Cook has been on a tear. When Leechburg upset Imani Christian on Jan. 24, Cook scored a game-high 34 points in an 88-76 win.

In a 10-point loss to Greensburg Central Catholic, he scored 13. Three days later against Propel Montour, he scored 17. On Tuesday, Cook dropped a career-high 36-points in a 45-point win over Clairton.

First time in a long time

Deer Lakes coach Terence Parham has led the Lancers for the last five years. On Tuesday, his team clinched a playoff berth for the fourth straight year. The Lancers haven’t earned four straight WPIAL playoff appearances since 1984-1987.

Three-peat

For the first time in school history, Highlands had clinched at least a share of three straight section championships. In 2017-2018, the Golden Rams split the Section 3-5A title with Franklin-Regional. Then, for the past two seasons, they split their regular season series with Knoch to finish tied atop Section 1-4A.

Down to the wire

Kiski Area and Franklin Regional will play Friday for a trip to the WPIAL playoffs. If the Cavaliers win, they get in. If the Panthers win, the Cavaliers are out. If the Panthers lose, they can still get in with a Plum loss to Shaler.

The two teams played earlier this season, and the Panthers came away with a 71-54 victory. Franklin Regional is coming off a 10-point victory Tuesday over WPIAL Class 5A No. 5 Shaler. The Cavaliers haven’t been to the playoffs since 2016-2017.

Pairings meeting

WPIAL playoff pairings will be announced Tuesday in Green Tree, and the tournament is expected to begin the weekend of Feb. 14-15.

Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .