Alle-Kiski Valley high school sports look ahead: Dec. 27-30

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, December 24, 2017 | 8:09 PM

Tuesday

• The Springdale and Valley girls basketball teams played each other on the season's opening weekend, at Springdale's tip-off tournament. They'll meet again, this time with the Vikings playing host at the Valley holiday tournament. Valley won the first matchup, 31-15.

Wednesday

• Holiday basketball tournaments continue, with Apollo-Ridge, Deer Lakes and Valley playing host locally. Leechburg's boys and girls teams also will compete in the Apollo Trust tournament at Apollo-Ridge.

• Fox Chapel's boys basketball team and its high-scoring backcourt tandem of Carson Cohen and Ben Kelly will run into some stiff competition on the opening day of the Shady Side Academy tournament. The Foxes (4-1) face Armstrong and its stingy defense; the River Hawks (3-2) allow opponents an average of 43.4 points.

• Holiday tournaments aren't limited to basketball. The Highlands, Plum and Riverview wrestling teams head to West Mifflin for a tournament of their own.

Thursday

• Former section rivals meet as the Springdale and St. Joseph boys basketball teams meet in the St. Joseph tournament. The Dynamos beat the Spartans in a nonsection contest last season. Mike Zolnierczyk leads Springdale (3-2), and freshman Andrew Sullivan is providing strong offense for St. Joseph (3-2).

• Two more Alle-Kiski Valley boys basketball teams meet as Highlands hosts Burrell in its holiday tournament. Despite replacing much of their core from last season, the Golden Rams (2-2) are off to a strong start with a young roster. Logan Bitar stepped in for Burrell (2-5) after the graduation of Max Garda and is leading the Bucs in scoring.

• The Deer Lakes and Riverview girls basketball teams are looking to find their footing after something of an uneven start, and the schools will meet at the St. Joseph holiday tournament. The Lancers, a playoff team last season, lost their first four games of the season before picking up a nonsection win over Avonworth. Riverview (2-3), relying on a young roster, began with a pair of victories before dropping three straight.

• The Valley wrestling team hits the road for the Southmoreland tournament.

Friday

• One of the top wrestling tournaments in the country gets underway as Canon-McMillan hosts the Powerade Christmas Tournament. The event brings together teams from across the country. Burrell and Kiski Area, ranked No. 1 in WPIAL Class AA and AAA, respectively, will return to the tournament.

• The Fox Chapel and Kiski Area girls basketball teams begin play at the Shaler holiday tournament. Kiski Area began the season by winning four of its first six games, including snapping a 26-game section losing streak against Plum. Fox Chapel (2-3) dropped two straight games after a 2-1 start. Fox Chapel and Kiski Area face matchups against Class 3A No. 1 Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic at the tournament.

Saturday

• The Powerade Christmas Tournament concludes at Canon-McMillan, with the championship matches at 7:30 p.m. Kiski Area's Noah Levett and Darren Miller are among the returning medalists from last season who hope for the gold this time around. Levett placed fifth and Miller second in their respective weight classes last season.

Week in review

• He's a natural: Deer Lakes' Ryan Murdock tallied a natural hat trick in a span of 5 minutes, 49 seconds in the Lancers' 8-2 victory over Blackhawk. The goals gave the Lancers (6-5) a 3-0 lead. Murdock finished with four goals and has 19 on the season.

• Auto-Violet(a): Violeta Kenzevich's go-ahead jumper with 16 seconds remaining helped Kiski Area end its 26-game section losing streak with a 32-29 victory over Plum.

• What a run: The Leechburg boys used a 26-3 run to pull away for a dominant section victory Tuesday over Greensburg Central Catholic.