Alle-Kiski Valley boys basketball notebook: Marquee matchups set for Tuesday

By: Greg Macafee
Thursday, January 2, 2020 | 4:12 PM

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Basketball fans looking for a big game to check out Tuesday will be in luck as a few of the Alle-Kiski Valley’s top teams face off against some of their toughest opponents yet.

Trib HSSN Class 6A No. 1 Fox Chapel (9-0, 1-0) plays Norwin (8-1, 0-1) in a Section 3-6A matchup at Fox Chapel. The teams have played well this year, and their first meeting of the season should be an exciting one.

The undefeated Foxes are allowing 42.7 points per game while scoring 57.3. Norwin’s only loss came against Hempfield, 48-35. Monessen and McKeesport are the only two teams to score more than 50 points on the Knights.

Highlands (8-1, 1-0) travels to Knoch (6-1, 1-0) for their first matchup of the season. Last winter, the teams split their series and shared the section title.

Both are 1-0 in Section 1-4A and in the top five of the Trib HSSN rankings. Highlands is No. 1, and Knoch is No. 4.

The Knights lost their first game of the season to Youngstown Chaney but haven’t lost since. The Golden Rams lost to Class 5A No. 1 Penn Hills on Dec. 14.

Two of the top teams in Section 1-2A clash as Apollo-Ridge (7-2, 2-1) travels to Class 2A No. 1 Springdale (9-0, 3-0).

The Dynamos are on top as junior Demitri Fritch has led them to a perfect start. Springdale is averaging 69.1 points, and the Vikings are scoring 55.9.

Big weekend

At the Shady Side Academy tournament this past weekend, Plum’s Connor Moss had two of the better performances of his high school career.

In a 78-60 loss to Penn Charter on Friday, the junior point guard scored a career-high 39 points as he made four 3-pointers and went 5 for 7 from the free-throw line.

The next day, the Mustangs took on Shady Side Academy and lost 68-66 in overtime. Moss scored 35 points and hit four 3-pointers.

Moss has been scoring at a brisk pace. He had 27 points against Seton LaSalle and Kiski Area, 26 against Hampton and 23 against Upper St. Clair.

Moss scored 17 points in a 44-40 win over Armstrong on Dec. 13, Plum’s only win of the season.

Fox Chapel coach wins No. 150

In his 11th season as coach of the Foxes, Zach Skrinjar earned career win No. 150 when the Fox Chapel defeated Shady Side Academy, 45-30, at the Shady Side Academy tournament this past weekend.

The Foxes are 9-0, and they’ve done so by holding every opponent to under 50 points. They have the third-best defense in the WPIAL, holding opponents to 42.7 points per game.

The only teams that have allowed opponents to score less are Class 3A McGuffey (40.7) and Class A Eden Christian (42.0).

1,000 career points

St. Joseph’s Andrew Sullivan surpassed 1,000 career points in a 78-70 win over Aquinas Academy over the weekend. Sullivan accomplished the feat with a 31-point effort.

It was the fourth time this season the point guard scored at least 25 points. The Spartans are 3-7.

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

Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Fox Chapel, Highlands, Knoch, Plum, Springdale, St. Joseph