High school roundup for Feb. 24, 2025: WPIAL’s top scorer earns trip to The Pete as Clairton tops Geibel

By: Triblive
Monday, February 24, 2025 | 11:29 PM

WPIAL leading scorer Iyanna Wade finished with 22 points and got a strong effort from her supporting cast to lead No. 3 Clairton past No. 2 Geibel Catholic, 52-32, in the Class A girls basketball semifinals Monday.

Karma Fuqua scored 16 points and JuJu Childs added 10 for the No. 3 Bears (19-4), who will meet top-seeded Union in the WPIAL finals at 3 p.m. Friday at Petersen Events Center. Emma Larkin scored 17 points to lead No. 2 Geibel Catholic (22-2), which will take on No. 5 Aquinas Academy for third place Wednesday.

Union 47, Aquinas Academy 45 (OT) – Kylie Fruehstorfer scored 16 points, including the the game-tying free throws in the final second of regulation and the go-ahead 3-pointer in the final minute of overtime, to lead top-seeded Union (24-0) in a Class A semifinal thriller. Mia Preuhs added 11 points for the Scotties, who will meet No. 3 Clairton in the finals at 3 p.m. Friday at Petersen Events Center. Tess Duer scored 27 points and Elliot Keverline added 10 for No. 5 Aquinas Academy (15-8), which will meet No. 2 Geibel Catholic for third place Wednesday..

Consolation

Avonworth 38, Keystone Oaks 36 – Emma Obersteiner hit four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points and Greta O’Brien and Bria Onyshko each added 10 as No. 6 Avonworth (18-8) won the Class 3A fifth-place game over No. 4 Keystone Oaks (20-4). The top six teams make states in Class 3A.

Bishop Canevin 54, Serra Catholic 50 – Kya Cooley scored 15 points to help No. 9 Bishop Canevin (13-10) clinch a PIAA playoff spot with a Class A consolation win. Natalie Kirsch added 13 and Isabella Sysak had 10 for the Crusaders, who will meet No. 6 St. Joseph for fifth place Wednesday. Bella Dumbroski scored 23 points and Abby Genes added 18 for No. 4 Serra Catholic (12-12). The top six teams make states in Class A.

Fort Cherry 58, Laurel 33 – Olivia Kemp scored 12 points and Brooke Cornali added 11 as No. 5 Fort Cherry clinched a PIAA playoff spot with a Class 2A consolation win. The Rangers will take on No. 10 Rochester for fifth place Wednesday. Shyan Tindall scored 12 points to lead No. 8 Laurel, which will face No. 6 Chartiers-Houston for the district’s seventh and final playoff spot Wednesday.

Rochester 48, Chartiers-Houston 46 (2OT) – Tia Yellock scored 16 points as No. 10 Rochester (11-13) clinched a PIAA playoff bid with a Class 2A consolation win in double overtime. Marque Taylor added 11 and Kamryn Newman chipped in 10 for the Rams, who will face 5 Fort Cherry for fifth place Wednesday. Allison Wingard scored 15 and Ella Richey added 13 for No. 6 Chartiers-Houston (19-6), which will meet No. 8 Laurel for the WPIAL’s seventh and final PIAA playoff berth Wednesday.

St. Joseph 54, West Greene 38 – Kasey Cienik scored 16 points and Gia Richter added 14 as No. 6 St. Joseph (17-8) clinched a PIAA berth with a Class A consolation win. Bella Bartolovic added 10 points for the Spartans, who will meet No. 9 Bishop Canevin for fifth place Wednesday. Kendra Tharp scored 10 points to lead No. 7 West Greene (16-9).

Boys basketball

Semifinals

Union 60, Neshannock 56 – Lucas Stanley scored 24 points and Maddox Thompson added 13 as eight-seeded Union (19-6) punched its ticket to the Petersen Events Center with a Class 2A semifinal win. The Scotties will meet No. 3 Jeannette in the championship game at 5 p.m. Friday. Tony Perrotta scored 17 points, David Kwiat added 14 and Jake Rynd had 10 for No. 4 Neshannock (21-3), which will meet No. 2 Sewickley Academy for third place Wednesday.

Consolation

Deer Lakes 53, Central Valley 50 – Nate Moore scored 18 points and Evan Moore added 11 as No. 7 Deer Lakes (18-6) won a Class 4A consolation game. The Lancers will face No. 5 Knoch in the fifth-place game Wednesday with the WPIAL’s final spot in the PIAA field on the line. Isaiah Jeter scored 18 points and Angelo Conti and Ryan Conti each had 10 for No. 6 Central Valley (19-6).

Ellwood City 60, Southmoreland 57 – Aaron Lake scored 20 points and Maykel Cuevas added 16 off the bench to lead No. 10 Ellwood City (15-10) to a Class 3A consolation win. Noah Felentzer led No. 6 Southmoreland (18-7) with 24 points. The Wolverines will play No. 9 Shady Side Academy for fifth place Wednesday. The Scotties will play No. 5 Keystone Oaks for the WPIAL’s seventh and final PIAA playoff spot Wednesday.

Knoch 72, Elizabeth Forward 54 – Jackson Bauman scored 22 points as No. 5 Knoch (18-7) kept its PIAA playoff hopes alive with a Class 4A consolation win. Derek Lang added 16 and Teegan Finucan had 11 for the Knights, who will meet No. 7 Deer Lakes for fifth place Wednesday. Tyler Basic scored 17 points to lead No. 8 Elizabeth Forward (18-7). Cy Herchelroath added 11 and James Gile and Daniel Spence each chipped in 10.

Latrobe 62, Moon 53 – John Wetzel scored 15 points to lead four players in double figures for No. 9 Latrobe (20-5) in a Class 5A consolation win. Dom Scarton scored 14, Max Butler 13 and Ian DeCerb 10 for the Wildcats, who will meet No. 3 Uniontown for fifth place. Amir Turner scored 19 points and Michael Santicola added 17 to hit the 1,000-point mark for his career for No. 5 Moon (18-7), which will meet No. 15 Penn-Trafford for seventh place Wednesday. The top eight teams make states in Class 5A.

Shady Side Academy 64, Keystone Oaks 57 – Seamus Riordan scored 27 points and Cam Mallory added 16 to help No. 9 Shady Side Academy (11-13) clinch a PIAA playoff berth with a Class 3A consolation win. The Bulldogs will meet No. 10 Ellwood City for fifth place Wednesday. Erond Jakupi scored 27 points and Ethan Spivak chipped in 11 for No. 5 Keystone Oaks (17-8), which will meet No. 6 Southmoreland for the district’s seventh and final state playoff spot Wednesday.

Uniontown 86, Penn-Trafford 73 – Calvin Winfrey went off for 47 points to lead No. 3 Uniontown (21-4) in a Class 5A consolation game. Notorious Grooms added 20 and Kelan Milsom scored 11 for the Red Raiders, who will meet No. 9 Latrobe for fifth place Wednesday. Zach Feldman scored 21 points, Brayden Stone added 17 and Evan Gross had 13 for No. 15 Penn-Trafford (14-11), which will meet No. 5 Moon for seventh place Wednesday. The top eight teams in Class 5A make the PIAA playoffs.

Hockey

Penguins Cup playoffs

Avonworth 6, Blackhawk 1 – Conner Ralston had two goals and an assist and Linus Jesionowski and Austin Dzadovsky each added a goal and two assists to lead Avonworth (15-3-2) to a Class A play-in win. Finn Conlon scored for Blackhawk (10-9-1). Avonworth will face the winner of Tuesday’s game between Quaker Valley and West Allegheny in the quarterfinals.

Mars 9, Meadville 0 – Ben Bowser and Grant Weaver scored two goals each and Jack Weaver collected a goal and three assists to lead Mars (17-3) past Meadville (10-10) in a Class A play-in game. Mars will meet Shaler in the quarterfinals.

North Hills 6, Plum 0 – Dillon Cobaugh and Jonathan Trosky each had two goals and two assists and Parker Talerico made 44 saves to send North Hills (12-8) past Plum (13-7) in the Class A play-in round. North Hills will take on Moon in the quarterfinals.

Shaler 2, Indiana 0 – Jacob Skerlong and Joshua Yuiska scored and Jackson Fox made 27 saves to lead Shaler (16-3-1) to a PIHL Class A play-in win. Luke Rowe made 38 saves for Indiana (9-7-4). Shaler will meet Mars in the quarterfinals.

Regular season

Baldwin 6, Norwin 3 – Mack Dempsey, Logan Cramer and Jeremy Pollard each had two goals and an assist to power Baldwin (4-13-2) in Class 2A. Dom Cirilli and Joey Vecchio each had a goal and an assist for Norwin (1-18-1).

Burrell 13, Sewickley Academy 1 – Luke Mink scored a hat trick and added an assist, Julian Kemp collected two goals and three assists and Jared Wall and Forrest Baird each had two goals and two assists for Burrell (17-2-1) in Division 2. Max Kopf scored for Sewickley Academy (0-18-2).

Carrick 8, Wilmington 3 – Shane Birkenfeld had three goals and an assist and Drew Bird scored twice to lead Carrick (10-7-3) to a Division 2 win. Alex Rodgers had a goal and an assist for Wilmington (2-17-1).

Elizabeth Forward 4, Knoch 1 – Bobby Boord Jr., Patrick Malandra, Cameron Napoli and Cam Thompson scored and Andrew Weir made 31 saves to lead Elizabeth Forward (11-8) to a Division 2 win. Nick Olshanski scored for Knoch (7-11-2).

Franklin Regional 5, Bethel Park 3 – Tyler Spears had a goal and an assist and Grant Williams, Josey Casella, Brendan Yohe and Nick Matus also scored to lead Franklin Regional (8-10-1) to a Class 3A win. Vincent Klingensmith had a goal and an assist and Joseph Dipasquale and Nick Hosbach also scored for Bethel Park (5-14).

Neshannock 5, Ringgold 3 – Marko Relic had two goals and three assists, Jacob Gruber added a goal and an assist and Tripp Johns made 32 saves to lead Neshannock (14-3-2) to a Division 2 win. Landon Vacarro had three assists for Ringgold (11-8).

North Allegheny 1, Seneca Valley 0 – Marc Joyson scored a third-period goal and Cam Junker made 21 saves to lead North Allegheny (12-7) to a Class 3A win. Christopher Nichols made 18 saves for Seneca Valley (15-4).

Pine-Richland 6, Central Catholic 4 – Colten Andrighetti had a goal and three assists and Carson Verszyla added a goal and an assist for Pine-Richland (7-10-2) in a Class 3A win. Nate Morgan scored twice for Central Catholic (8-8-3).

South Fayette 5, Upper St. Clair 3 – Nathaniel Keller had two goals and two assists and Trevor Dalessandro and Mikhail Lobanov each added a goal and an assist to help South Fayette (10-9-1) to a Class 3A win. Jackson Gostic had a goal and an assist for Upper St. Clair (9-9-1).

Thomas Jefferson 3, Mt. Lebanon 1 – Jake Simon, Liam Mahoney and Cam Lorenzi scored and Ben Balducci made 29 saves for Thomas Jefferson (11-9) in Class 3A. Liam Shinn scored and Hayden Baych made 34 saves for Mt. Lebanon (14-4-2).