High school roundup for March 17, 2023: Bakari Wallace hits buzzer-beater to lift Uniontown past North Catholic

By: Tribune-Review
Friday, March 17, 2023 | 11:39 PM

Bakari Wallace drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift Uniontown to a 55-54 victory over North Catholic in the PIAA Class 4A boys basketball quarterfinals Friday night.

Jamire Braxton scored 23 points and Notorious Grooms put up 10 for the Red Raiders (23-5). Max Hurray led all scorers with 29 points and sank six 3-pointers and Andrew Maddalon had 15 points including two free throws to give the Trojans (21-8) a 54-52 lead with 2.5 seconds left. Uniontown will play Lincoln Park in the semifinals Monday.

Erie Cathedral Prep 68, Penn Hills 54 – Semontae Lofton led all scorers with 23 points and had 12 rebounds, Amaree Pickens scored 19 points and Jake Sambuchino finished with 16 points to lead District 10 champion Cathedral Prep (24-3) to a Class 5A quarterfinals victory. Noah Barren scored 13 points, Daemar Kelly produced 12, Julian Dugger added 11 and Rob Thomas had 10 for WPIAL champion Penn Hills (22-4).

Exeter Township 75, Peters Township 72 (OT) – Zyion Paschall dropped 21 points, Kevin Saenz produced 19 and Anthony Caccese had a double-double with 14 points and 17 rebounds as District 3 champion Exeter (26-6) got past WPIAL runner-up Peters Township (24-5) in the Class 5A quarterfinals. Nate Miller scored 19 points while Jack Dunbar and Brendan McCullough scored 16 points apiece for Peters.

Union 75, Carlynton 55 – Matt Stanley scored 24 points and Lucas Stanley added 18 as Union (25-3) rolled to a Class A quarterfinal win over Carlynton (19-8), setting up an eagerly anticipated WPIAL finals rematch with Imani Christian in Monday’s semifinals. Carlynton’s Jaiden McClure hit the 1,000-point mark for his career.

Girls basketball

Cedar Cliff 39, Upper St. Clair 22 – Alexis Buie and Olivia Jones scored 10 points apiece as District 3 champion Cedar Cliff (29-0) defeated WPIAL runner-up Upper St. Clair (23-4) in the Class 6A quarterfinals. Meredith Huzjak scored five points for the Panthers, who didn’t reach double figures in any quarter. Cedar Cliff will play Norwin in the semifinals Monday.

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 47, Westmont Hilltop 32 – Mia Grisafi scored a game-high 18 points and Kyleigh Nagy added nine points as OLSH (22-7) defeated Westmont Hilltop (27-3) in the Class 3A quarterfinals. Kendal Shingler led the Hilltoppers with 12 points. OLSH advances to Monday’s semifinals to face District 6 champion River Valley.

River Valley 54, Shady Side Academy 21 – District 6 champion River Valley (28-2) had no problems with Shady Side Academy (25-4) in the Class 3A quarterfinals. River Valley will play OLSH in Monday’s semifinals.

Baseball

Avella 14, Washington 13 – Colton Burchianti drove in three runs, Gavin Frank doubled twice and knocked in two runs and Brian Humensky tripled to lead Avella (1-0) past Washington (0-1) in nonsection play. Zakery Burt went 3 for 5 with three RBIs and Michael Shallcross hit two doubles and drove in a run as a Prexies’ seventh-inning rally fell just short.

Franklin Regional 13, Priory (Mo.) 0 – Brady Yarabinetz drove in three runs while Joshua Hudak and Darren DeRiggi each had two RBIs as Franklin Regional (1-0) shut out Priory in Vero Beach, Fla. Samuel Constantin was the winning pitcher for the Panthers.

Franklin Regional 15, Bradford (Ont.) 0 – Chase Lemke singled and doubled and Ryan Catello, Daniel Luko, Luke Williams and James Templeton doubled to lead Franklin Regional to a win in Vero Beach, Fla. Templeton and Cole Brinker combined on a four-inning shutout.

Mars 8, Alcoa (Tenn.) 6 – Nolan Scott, Zack Orosz and Benji Astbury hit triples while Owen Smith doubled as Mars (1-0) beat Alcoa in nonsection play. Astbury had two RBIs while Jacob Maple earned the win.

Montour 8, St. Petersburg (Fla.) 5 – Nick Walker doubled and had three RBIs, Zac Stren tripled and drove in two runs and Maddox Tarquinio and Jake Robinson each hit a double and drove in a run as Montour (1-0) beat St. Petersburg. Vinny Markulin got the win for the Spartans.

Pine-Richland 10, Hempfield 1 – Anthony Mangine and Jake Waddell each hit a double and drove in two runs and Owen Henne doubled in a run for Pine-Richland (1-0) in a win over Hempfield (0-1) in nonsection play. Gage Wheaton hit a triple for the Spartans. Sam Heckert picked up the win for the Rams.

Plum 14, Northside Christian 8 – Caden Norcutt went 3 for 3 with a double and four RBIs and earned the win while Cole Kemmerer hit a double and knocked in two runs as Plum (1-0) beat Northside Christian in St. Petersburg, Fla. Dominic Fernandez went 3 for 3 for Northside Christian.

St. Petersburg 6, Plum 3 – Bryce Gephart tripled, Garrett Perdek doubled in a run and Jayden Daniels tripled in two runs as St. Petersburg defeated Plum (1-1) in nonsection play. Jack Anderson and Dom Beyet each doubled for the Mustangs.

West Mifflin 5, Central Valley 2 – Corey Kuszaj smacked a two-run home run and Zane Griffaton tripled in a run as West Mifflin (1-0) beat Central Valley (0-1) in nonsection play. Cameron Miller doubled and drove in two runs for the Warriors. Perison Buck allowed two runs on four hits and struck out five in four innings to get the win for the Titans.

Yough 9, May River (S.C.) 8 – Jack Sampson had four hits, including a double, and Zander Aird added a pair of hits to lead Yough (1-0) to a win in South Carolina. James Shoman picked up the win and Nate Bell earned the save.

Softball

McDonnell Enteral 11, Franklin Regional 1 – Iyarah Hicks and Adrianna Martz had base hits in a loss for Franklin Regional (0-1) in Vero Beach, Fla.

Montour 3, Carson (N.C.) 2 – Jana Hess and Avrie Polo each had an RBI while Mia Arndt and Hailey Staub hit a double apiece as Montour (1-0) beat Carson. Kaitlyn Molitoris picked up the win for the Spartans.

Girls lacrosse

Blackhawk 15, Bethel Park 4 – Ryleigh McKnight scored five goals on five shots, Alayna Cipolla had four goals and Mia Piocquidio added three as Blackhawk defeated Bethel Park in nonsection play.

Fox Chapel 18, Peters Township 9 – Sydney Schutzman scored six goals and Lindsay Scheffler had five goals and three assists to lead Fox Chapel to a nonsection win. Ava Maloni led Peters with three goals.

Bowling

State championships – Kiski Area’s Veronica Flanagan finished third and Apollo-Ridge’s Mia Ament was fifth to lead the WPIBL contingent at the girls singles championships at Eastway Lanes in Erie. Central Dauphin East’s Rayana Gonzalez defeated Shikellamy’s Emma Fetterman in the finals. Antietam’s Ayden Davis beat Middletown’s Cameron Wegert in the boys singles finals. Team competition is scheduled for Saturday.