High school roundup for Feb. 27, 2023: BJ Vaughn’s buzzer-beater sends OLSH to 7th straight WPIAL finals

By: Tribune-Review
Monday, February 27, 2023 | 11:37 PM

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BJ Vaughn hit the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer as sixth-seeded Our Lady of the Sacred Heart advanced to the WPIAL finals for the seventh straight season with a 53-50 victory over second-seeded Neshannock in the Class 3A semifinals Monday night.

With the defense focused on Rocco Spadafora handling the ball at the top of the key, Vaughn camped out on the right wing, took a pass and hit his first 3-pointer of the game to give the Chargers the victory.

Spadafora led OLSH (19-5) with 21 points. Vaughn had 13 and Bryson Kirschner added 10. The Chargers will meet No. 5 Deer Lakes at 5 p.m. Friday at Petersen Events Center. OLSH made the WPIAL finals the previous six seasons in Class 2A.

Luciano DeLillo led Neshannock (18-6) with 15 points. Jack Glies had 12. The Lancers will meet No. 1 Steel Valley in the third-place game Wednesday.

Consolation

Clairton 68, Serra Catholic 59 – Devon Dean scored 21 points and Kaden Smith added 19 for No. 14 Clairton (12-13) in a Class 2A consolation game. DaShawn Hines and Michael Ruffin each had 13 for the Bears, who will face No. 5 Eden Christian in the fifth-place game Thursday. Isiah Petty scored 29 points and Pete Burke had 11 for No. 7 Serra Catholic (14-11), which will play No. 8 Shenango for seventh. The top seven teams make states.

Eden Christian 67, Shenango 66 – Ryan Merrick scored 34 points and David Ryan added 10 to lead No. 5 Eden Christian (18-6) to a Class 2A consolation victory. Braden Ziegler scored 28 points, Brody McQuiston added 18 and Jimmy Roe had 12 for No. 8 Shenango (14-10).

Girls basketball

Semifinals

Aquinas Academy 43, Bishop Canevin 37 – Violet Johnson scored 14 points, including 12 in the second half, as No. 3 Aquinas Academy (16-8) knocked off defending champion Bishop Canevin (11-8) in the WPIAL Class 2A semifinals. Aquinas, which will meet top-seeded Union in the finals at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Petersen Events Center, outscored Bishop Canevin 11-3 in the third quarter. Tess Duer added nine points and Victoria Taylor had eight for Aquinas. Rachel Boehm led No. 2 Bishop Canevin with 14 points. Ashley Lippold added 11.

Consolation

Beaver 57, Elizabeth Forward 52 – Chloe List hit for 20 points to power No. 7 Beaver (15-8) in a Class 4A consolation game. Emerson Connelly added 15 points and Constantina Krzeczowski added 13 for the Bobcats, who will meet No. 5 Knoch in the fifth-place game Thursday. The top six teams make states.

Knoch 66, Belle Vernon 44 – Hattie McGraw scored 15 points and Cece Kosecki and Naturelle Ewing each had 12 to lead No. 5 Knoch (16-9) in a Class 4A consolation game. Nina Shaw added 11 for the Knights. Jenna Dawson scored 13 points and Farrah Reader added 11 for No. 8 Belle Vernon (15-10).

Mars 36, Hampton 33 – Alexis Cashdollar scored 11 points as No. 7 Mars won a Class 5A consolation game. The Fightin’ Planets (17-7) will face No. 4 Trinity in the fifth-place game Thursday. The Talbots (15-10) will play No. 8 Penn-Trafford for seventh. The top seven teams make states.

Trinity 62, Penn-Trafford 59 – Eden Williamson scored 33 points to lead No. 4 Trinity (17-7) in a Class 5A consolation game. Olivia Pepple scored 19 points, Lauren Marton added 13 and Kamryn Pieper had 11 for No. 8 Penn-Trafford (16-9).

Hockey

Penguins Cup playoffs

Norwin 6, West Allegheny 5 – Alex Thomas completed his hat trick by scoring the game-winning goal with 2:32 to play as Norwin (15-4-1) won a wild play-in game in the PIHL Class A Penguins Cup playoffs. Thomas and Joe Vecchio scored twice and Logan Robb once as Norwin netted five unanswered goals in the second period to take a 5-2 lead. Luke Gyergyo, Noah Figley and John Wineland scored three consecutive goals for West Allegheny (11-7-2) in the third period to tie the score 5-5. Norwin will meet McDowell in the quarterfinals March 7.

Quaker Valley 3, Indiana 0 – Jace Vasbinder, Ben Carlson and Riley Moore scored and LOgan Buterbaugh had a 22-save shutout as Quaker Valley (14-5-1) defeated Indiana (12-7-1) in a Class A play-in game. Quaker Valley will face Fox Chapel in the quarterfinals March 9.

Regular season

Bishop Canevin 2, Ringgold 1 – Michael Parzynski scored a pair of third-period goals, both assisted by Cole Evan, to lead Bishop Canevin (17-1) in Varsity D2. LJ Crouch scored for Ringgold (13-4-1).

Carrick 5, Elizabeth Forward 2 – Ayden Eigenbrode scored twice and Tanner Heidkamp had a goal and two assists to lead Carrick (9-8-1) in Varsity D2. Mason Hagan had a goal and an assist. Bobby Boord Jr. and Owen Sabatini scored for Elizabeth Forward (7-9-2).

Mars 6, Meadville 5 (OT) – Gavin Stevenson scored the game-winner in overtime to lead Mars (5-15) to a Class 2A win. Ben Bowser had two goals and an assist and Jacob Lestitian also scored twice for Mars. Ethan Konetsky had two goals and an assist and Rocco Tartaglione added a goal and two assists for Meadville (3-15-2).

Neshannock 7, Wilmington 3 – Giovanni Valentine had a hat trick and Brian McConahy and Logan Quigley each had a goal and an assist for Neshannock (11-5-2) in a Varsity D2 win. Sean Carmichael had a goal and an assist for Wilmington (4-14).

North Allegheny 7, Baldwin 6 – Trey Gallo and Nate Spak each had two goals and an assist as North Allegheny (12-5-3) held off Baldwin (5-13-2) in Class 3A. Matt Irvin added a goal and an assist for NA. Cole Reed had two goals and an assist and Joey Stanick and Levi McCrea each had a goal and two assists for Baldwin.

Penn-Trafford 4, Armstrong 0 – Bryce Kropczynski and Sean Goodman each had a goal and an assist and Jackson Kerrigan made 23 saves as Penn-Trafford (13-7) defeated Armstrong (17-3) in a Class 2A regular season game. Nate Loughner and Xavier Solomon also scored for Penn-Trafford and Ben Chen had a pair of assists.

Shaler 7, Plum 0 – Joseph Laquatra had two goals and three assists and Logan Thom had two goals and two assists to lead Shaler (10-9-1) to a Class A win over Plum (3-14-3). With the win, Shaler clinched the sixth and final playoff spot in the Blue Division and eliminated Freeport.

Thomas Jefferson 11, Butler 4 – Nick Best had a hat trick and Scott Allan added two goals and an assist for Thomas Jefferson (12-8) in a Class 2A win. Andrew Oliver had a goal and two assists and Kyle Siler, Lance Smith and Ryder McGuirk a goal and an assist. Brayden Hardsock had a goal and an assist for Butler (2-16-2).