Path to the Pete Recaps From Thursday 2/18

By: Bruce Markey
Friday, February 19, 2016 | 1:15 AM

After four days of action on the court and an extra day of wait thanks to Mother nature, the First Round of this years Path to the Pete is finally in the books with very few surprises. Only four double digit girls seeds are on their way to the Quarterfinals while even fewer double digit seeds…three, are moving on to this weekend in the boys postseason. Here are summaries from the final night of Round One in Boys AAAA, Boys AA, Girls AAA and Girls A on another night when nearly all of the favorites took care of business.

A special thanks to Paul Paterra, Mark Uriah, T.J. DiStefano, Kyle Dawson, Tom Hays, Chuck Campbell, Dennis Fischer, Cory Campano, Andy Stanko, Bob Barrickman, Sean Meyers, Bob Gregg, Lee Mohn, Brian Mroziak, Melissa Carle, Mike Azadian, Josh Rowntree and Nate Regotti for their help on these recaps.

BOYS WPIAL CLASS AAAA First Round:

Latrobe Wildcats 72 – Mount Lebanon Blue Devils 55 
The top seeded Latrobe Wildcats defeated the Mt. Lebanon Blue Devils 72-55 in a first round WPIAL Quad A boys basketball game Thursday night at Plum High School.  Mt. Lebanon jumped out to an 18-14 lead after the first quarter but the Wildcats outscored the Blue Devils 25-14 in the second stanza to grab a 39-32 halftime lead.  Latrobe outscored Mt. Lebanon 15-13 in the third quarter and 18-10 in the fourth stanza to pull away to the victory.  Junior Austin Butler led the Wildcats in scoring with 33-points.  Sean Graytok added 19-points for the Wildcats.  Sophomore Antonio Garofoli led the Blue Devils in scoring with 23-points and Mark Lamendola also scored in double figures with 10-points.  Latrobe now plays Bethel Park in the quarter finals Saturday.  The Wildcats record is now 21-1 while Mt. Lebanon ends the season with an 11-13 mark.

Bethel Park Black Hawks 55 – Gateway Gators 43 
A #8 vs #9 seed always has the making of a close game, and in AAAA Boys Basketball, Bethel Park and Gateway proved that. Bethel Park was able to score early and seemed to build a lot of momentum in the first half. Shared scoring from Brandon Thorsen and Jake Dixon made it tough on Gateway to hang around and the Hawks looked as if they could run away with it. They took 30-17 lead into the locker room and forced Gateway to play strong defensively to climb back. John Paul Kromka was as advertised scoring 18 points in the contest and stepping up as the unsung leader. Although a sophomore, Kromka clearly stands out as the star on this Gateway team and the players around him respond to his play. Gateway forced Bethel Park into some bad second half turnovers and trailed by just nine points heading into the fourth quarter. It was late in the fourth where Bethel was able to regain all the momentum on a huge block by Jake Dixon on Kromka, who tried to dunk in Dixon’s face. Dixon’s rejection sparked the Bethel Park faithful and the Hawks never looked back. Coach Josh Bears called a timeout with 2:07 remaining. The scoreboard showed a six point lead for Bethel Park and just two team fouls for Gateway. Bethel was able to run over a minute off the clock before the Gators could force them to shoot free throws and by that time it was all too late. The Blackhawks rolled to a 55-43 victory. They now match up against top seed Latrobe on Saturday with a date and time to be determined for that matchup.

Chartiers Valley Colts 56 – Hempfield Spartans 39 
No. 2 Chartiers Valley (19-4) fought off a pesky Hempfield squad, pulling away late to score a 56-39 victory in Boys AAAA First Round action on Thursday night at Canon-McMillan High School. The win sends the Colts into the WPIAL Quarterfinals for the fourth straight season, where they will meet No. 8 North Hills on Saturday at a site and time to be determined. Eddie Flohr scored 19 points and Joey Antonucci added 16 points and nine rebounds for Chartiers-Valley. Hempfield (8-15), which was able to stay within striking distance for nearly three quarters, missed a number of three-pointers down the stretch, allowing the Colts to pull away. Senior guard Chris Clayton, who had not played since December 21 due to an ankle injury, led the Spartans with 14 points, while fellow senior Mitch Golden chipped in 11 for Hempfield. For Chartiers Valley, a win over North Hills on Saturday would give them their 9th consecutive 20-win season.

North Hills Indians 65 – Baldwin Highlanders 58 
North Hills squared off with Baldwin at North Allegheny in a Class AAAA first round matchup.  Ishmael Waldron, the Indians’ 6’6” senior forward, got his squad off to a quick start with seven points and five blocked shots in the first quarter.  Baldwin’s defense proved to be undermanned, struggling to handle Waldron’s size, falling behind 14-2 late in the first quarter.  The Highlanders’ leading scorer, Anthony Starzynski, hit a three-pointer to close out the first, giving Baldwin some momentum while still down 14-5. Enter Michael Goga.  The 6’3” sophomore was a spark for the Highlanders in the second quarter, rallying his team with hustle at both ends of the floor.  As Baldwin began to make its comeback, Waldron picked up his second foul, and spent most of the second quarter on the bench for North Hills.  The Highlanders cut the deficit to five, and headed to the locker room down 22-17. Throughout the first half, the leading scorers on both sides had been quiet.  Starzynski was held to three points for Baldwin, while Nick Smith scored only two for North Hills.  Things changed, however, in the third.  Starzynski converted two big three-pointers and a field goal, and Smith turned in eight points in the quarter.  The Indians held onto a 36-30 lead through three. Waldron and Smith were in sync in the fourth quarter, helping North Hills pull away.  Baldwin would not go away easy, though.  Pressure defense by the Highlanders forced several Indians turnovers.  Anthony Reid and Kevin Taylor each hit two three-pointers for Baldwin to pull within two points.  But down the stretch, North Hills locked up the victory with Waldron’s 11 fourth quarter points, and an impressive effort from the charity stripe by Smith – who scored 12 of his 14 fourth quarter points from the line. The Indians came away with a 65-58 victory.  Ish Waldron finished the night with a double-double – 25 points and 17 rebounds, to go along with his six blocked shots.  Nick Smith added 24 points for North Hills, and shot a near-perfect 14/16 from the foul line. Anthony Starzynski led Baldwin with 20 points, while Kevin Taylor chipped in 14 points. Baldwin dropped to (16-7), while North Hills improved to (14-8).  The Indians advance to the quarterfinals to take on Chartiers Valley Saturday at a site and time to be determined.

BOYS WPIAL CLASS AA First Round:

Aliquippa Quips 57 – East Allegheny Wildcats 32 
It was a dominating performance by the number one Quips as they extended their lead after each quarter. Kaezon Pugh led a balanced scoring attack for Aliquippa with 18 points as Jassir Jordan had 15 and Chucky Humphries had 12. East Allegheny got a strong game from Tech Brown as he tallied 18 points to lead the Wildcats.

Washington Little Prexies 60 – Laurel Spartans 54 
Trailing by 24 points with two minutes left in the first half, having committed nearly as many traveling violations as points scored, Washington rallied for a 60-54 win over Laurel.  With the win, the Little Prexies advance to the WPIAL quarterfinals Saturday against top-seeded Aliquippa.  The Spartans (17-6) went on two extended scoring runs, 17-0 in the first quarter, then a 13-0 run in the second period.  Wash High went six minutes without scoring in the opening period, then had just two points in the first six minutes of the second quarter and trailed 32-8.  Anthony Popeck then went off over the final two minutes, hitting a pair of free throws, a two-point basket and a pair of treys, the second off the glass as the buzzer sounded, pulling the Little Prexies to within 34-18 at intermission.  Washington (17-6) scored the first seven points of the third quarter, including back-to-back treys from Matt Popeck, trimming the deficit to just 9 points in a span of less than five minutes of game action. Laurel responded,. pushing the margin back to 13 points, thanks to a couple of baskets from Jordan Dantico and Scott Siddall’s trey.  Wash High closed the quarter on a 7-0 run, then extended that to the opening 90 seconds of the fourth, adding five more points.  Matt Popeck’s third three-pointer of the half brought the WHS crowd to its feet.  Three straight foul shot makes tied the game at 46 with 5:03 to play, the first time Laurel didn’t lead since 5:42 left in the first quarter, a span of 24 1/2 minutes.  Halfway through the period, Mason Mraz drained a long three-pointer, giving the Spartans a 51-48 lead.  Markel Pulliam took over by that point, slicing through traffic for a couple field goals, and hit one of three good free throws Washington needed to seal the win.  Matt Popeck scored 18 for Washington 16 after intermission.  Pulliam scored 13 of his 17 points after the break.  Anthony Popeck’s night ended with 14 points, 10 in that crucial two-minute stretch to recess.  Siddall had 22 points for Laurel, finishing his career with more than 1,300 points.  Mraz had 13, Dantico finished with a dozen.

Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions 69 – Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers 45 
Greensburg Central Catholic’s suffocating full court press and quick transition game were too much for Chartiers-Houston as the Centurions (22-1) eliminated the Bucs (13-11) with a 69-45 win on Thursday night. GCC used an agressive man-to-man defense that gave them a double digit lead in the first quarter. Four different Centurions scored in double digits, led by Neal McDermott with 15 and Tyler White with 14. The Bucs tried to battle back in the second, but GCC ended the period on a 12-1 run and used a 16-0 run in the third to put the game away. A.J. Meyers dropped 18 points for Chartiers-Houston. GCC will move on to play Seton La Salle in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

Seton-LaSalle Rebels 68 – Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Chargers 62 
Seton-LaSalle won their ninth game in a row defeating OLSH 68-62 in first round play on Thursday night.  OLSH would build a seven point second half lead but the Rebels would tie the game with three minutes to go when Cletus Helton would score.  Collin Neville would put the Chargers ahead again but another basket by Helton and key free throws down the stretch from George Mike would seal the victory.  Bill O’Malley led the Rebels with 23 points while Cletus Helton had 21 and sophmore Nick Deanes came off the bench to provide a spark and drained four three pointers and finished with 12 points,  Our Lady of Sacred Heart was led by Collin Neville with 19 points and Adam Pace with 13.  The Rebels will now move on to the quarterfinals to face Greensburg Central Catholic on Saturday.

Lincoln Park Leopards 70 – Shady Side Academy Indians 39 
Lincoln Park led by only 27-19 at the half but blew the game open in the third quarter and rolled to a 70-39 win over Shady Side Academy Thursday night.  The Leopards raced to a 20-5 lead after the first period in the Boys AA first round contest at North Allegheny High.  The Indians though outscored the number two seed 14-7 in the second.  However, Lincoln Park recovered handsomely in quarter number three by putting 17 points on the board to only six by Shady Side Academy.  The Leopards dominated the fourth period as well by outscoring the Indians 26-14.  Junior guard Nelly Cummings came in averaging 23.6 and netted 27 points for the winners and fellow senior guard Nick Aloi added 24.  Senior big man Michael Ware led Shady Side with 12 points while junior guard Kirf Olander chipped in with 11.  Junior guard Etai Groff had 45 points in the Indians preliminary round victory over Waynesburg but didn’t score until the 3:25 mark of the third quarter against Lincoln Park and mustered merely six points.  Shady Side Academy finished its season at 14-9 while the Leopards will take a 20-3 mark into the quarterfinals on Saturday.  Lincoln Park will meet Neshannock, a team which the Leopards defeated twice during the regular season in Section 1-AA.

Neshannock Lancers 64 – Avonworth Antelopes 49 
Basketball is a game of runs and that couldn’t have been more the case Thursday night in the 7-10 matchup in WPIAL Class Double-A as Avonworth and Neshannock met for a chance to play in the quarterfinals. In the first 1:30 of the game, Neshannock got out to a 8-0 lead but Avonworth hung in, chipping back to make the halftime score 28-26. Down the stretch however, it was all Lancers as senior Ethan Moose paced the Neshannock offense with a game-high 21 points in the winning effort for the #10 seed that got the upset at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School. Senior Jake Rylott also chipped in 17 points while fellow senior Jason Swope helped to balance the offense with 14 of his own. For Avonworth, it played with foul trouble the majority of the second half as Tyreek Davis eventually fouled out with 10 points and junior Garrett Day, who scored seven, senior Jamal Hughley, who scored 13 and senior forward Zach Chandler, who tallied 11 points in the first three quarters, all finished the contest with four personal fouls. Avonworth ends the season at 14-9 overall and will lose three players to graduation. For Neshannock, it’s a third meeting with the #2 seed in AA, Lincoln Park in the quarterfinals Saturday night on the MSA Sports Network at a site and time to be announced by the WPIAL. Neshannock is now 17-5 on the year.

Quaker Valley Quakers 58 – Wilkinsburg Tigers 52 
A late steal and layup by Ricky Guss sealed a well-fought victory for Quaker Valley over Wilkinsburg 58-52. The Quakers led by 11 points after the first half behind six first half three pointers, four coming from sophomore Coletrane Washington. The Quakers out scored Wilkinsburg 26-17 in the first quarter and slowed the pace by switching to a zone in the second quarter to counteract early foul trouble.  Wilkinsburg, battled back in the second half and trailed 47-39 going into the fourth quarter. The Tigers cut the lead to two with under thirty seconds to play due to several QV missed free throws but a pass to the center circle was intercepted by Guss who laid the ball in to seal the win. Amos Luptak led the Quakers with 19 points and played every second for QV. Guss and Washington each finished with 14 for the Quakers as well. In the final game in the over one-hundred year history of Wilkinsburg High School, Koran Fleming led the Tigers with 18 points and Dremar Everette added 14. Quaker Valley advances to take on #6 Bishop Canevin in the quarterfinals.

Bishop Canevin Crusaders 87 – Brownsville Falcons 49 
In a matchup between two section champions it was Bishop Canevin that cruised to a 87 to 49 win over Brownsville in a Boys “AA” First Round Playoff Game on Thursday Night at Trinity High School. Five Players were in double figures for the Crusaders.  Walter Bonds lead the way with 21 points.  Mitchell King scored 20 points before leaving the game in the 3rd quarter with an ankle injury.  Dom Palmosina (14 points), John Weldon (14 points) and Justin Dix(10 points) were also in double figures for the Crusaders.  The lone bright spot for Brownsville was junior guard James Holcomb who connected on 8, 3 pointers and scored a game high 24 points for the Falcons.  The Falcons season ends with an 18-5 record.  Bishop Canevin improves to 18-5 and will play in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

GIRLS WPIAL CLASS AAA First Round:

South Fayette Lions 58 – Ringgold Rams 32 
Defense has been a calling card all year for the South Fayette Lions, as they have allowed under 41 points a game. It was on full display for the number one seed in their defeat of the Ringgold Rams. The Lions unleashed a great deal of pressure on Ringgold, coercing numerous turnovers, which often resulted in baskets. Many of those came from sophomore Samantha Kosmacki, who led the Lions with 25 points. Adding to the South Fayette offensive attack was Autumn Mozick with 12 points. Her total included a pair of three-pointers, each of which brought gleeful enthusiasm from the senior. South Fayette (19-3) marched at a 12-5 lead after the first quarter, which it expanded to 30-15 at the half. A 20-10 third quarter pushed the margin to 50-25. Bailey Cooper led Ringgold (13-11) with 12 points, including two three-pointers. Ashley Briscoe added 9 points and numerous rebounds to the Ringgold cause. South Fayette – a WPIAL finalist in 2015 – advances to the quarterfinals in a game Saturday at a site and time to be determined.

Chartiers Valley Colts 60 – Brownsville Falcons 18 
The Chartiers Valley Lady Colts held Brownsville to 4 Field Goals the entire game, crushing the Falcons 60 to 18 in a Girls “AAA” First Round Matchup on Thursday Night at Trinity High School.  Freshman Mackenzie Wagner lead Chartiers Valley with 18 points, Gabby Legister 14 points, Abby Collins 11 points and Nicole Olkosky 10 points were also in double figures for the Colts.  Brownsville went over a 20 minute span in the game, without a basket from the field until Keyonna McCrae connected on a jumper with 90 seconds left in the 3rd quarter.  The Falcons season ends with 19-4 record.  Chartiers Valley improbes to 15-8 and advances to the quarterfinals on Saturday.

Blackhawk Cougars 75 – Deer Lakes Lancers 50 
Steve Lodovico’s Blackhawk Cougars showed zero signs of rust on Thursday night as they beat Deer Lakes in dominating fashion. The Cougars have won the WPIAL the past two seasons and are hungry for a third. If they play like the did Thursday night, they have a great chance to do it. In this 4-13 playoff matchup it was the 4 seed that proved their worthiness to the seed they were given. Maddie Aulbach and Maddison Amalia were terrific both offensively and defensively. They created multiple turnovers and seemed to create a ton of pressure on whatever guard had the ball for Deer Lakes. Not to mention, Aulbach had 20 points while playing only three quarters and Amalia hit five three pointers and scored 19 altogether. The game was close in the beginning as it was 20-11 after one, but Blackhawk went on a 24-3 run and out scored Deer Lakes 28-7 in the second quarter. The Cougars cruised to a 75-50 victory from there and could be a very tough out the rest of the way. Blackhawk moves on to the quarterfinals and will take on Hampton Saturday afternoon at a site to be determined.

Hampton Talbots 70 – Mount Pleasant Vikings 34 
The #5 seed Hampton Talbots advanced to the quarterfinal round of the WPIAL Triple A girls basketball tournament with a 70-34 victory over the #12 seed Mount Pleasant Vikings at Fox Chapel High School on Thursday night.  After a low scoring first quarter with the Talbots ahead 15-10, Hampton picked up the pace and went into the half leading 38-19.  The third period was more of the same as the Talbots raced to a 62-23 advantage with eight minutes to play.  Hampton was led by sophomore Alison Collins with 25 points while junior Jenna Lafko chipped in 20.  Mount Pleasant was paced by junior Gabby Keefer with seven.  Hampton (18-5) will face defending champion Blackhawk on Saturday at a site and time to be determined.  Mount Pleasant ends its season at 15-8.

Trinity Hillers 65 – Belle Vernon Leopards 27 
The second-seeded Trinity Hillers girls basketball team downed Belle Vernon 65-27 to move on to Saturday’s quarter-finals. The Hillers jumped on the Leopards early, leading 11-0 after one quarter of play, and 33-7 at halftime. Trinity senior Mary Dunn led all scorers with 24 points and junior Sierra Kotchman added 14 for the Hillers (19-3). Kelsey Green led the Leopards (10-14) with 8. Trinity faces the South Park Saturday with the site and time to be determined. The Hillers downed the Eagles at South Park 64-51 on February 8th.

South Park Eagles 59 – Beaver Bobcats 48 
The South Park Eagles battled back from a 2nd half deficit to defeat the Beaver Bobacats 59-48.  The lead changed 14 times in the first half between the two teams.  Beaver scored the first six points and the last seven points to take a three point lead into the locker room.  Beaver would build a seven point lead before the eagles would battle back behind the senior leadership Allison McGrrath.  She led South Park with 16 points.  Also for South Park Alyssa Greer added 15 points and Brittany Andrews with 14 points.  For Beaver Logan Vuchinich scored 18 points.  South Park will now move on to the quarterfinals to face Trinity on Saturday.

Ambridge Bridgers 56 – Keystone Oaks Golden Eagles 46 
For a while in the first half of the first round contest at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School, it looked as if another girls 14-seed had its minds on an upset as the Lady Eagles of Keystone Oaks got off to a quick start before the talent and playmakers for Ambridge took over the game in a 56-46 opening round win for the Lady Bridgers. After leading at the half 30-27 and after a buzzer-beating corner three by Chloe Rabold, Ambridge came out firing in the second half and  ended up outpacing Keystone Oaks in the end. The Lady Eagles were led by junior guard/forward Kristi Lippert who had 13 points and senior guard Maryah Agurs who chipped in 11. For Ambridge, it was about getting over the hump of the first round and it was Sarah Fischer leading the way with 18 points and Sydney Rabold with 16. The other two scorers for Ambridge also scored in double figures, Chloe Rabold with 12 and Abbey Antolic with 10. Keystone Oaks ends its season dropping to 10-14 overall and will graduate four seniors, while Ambridge moves on to play the #6 seed Mars Fighting Planets Saturday night at a site and time to be announced. That contest will be on the MSA Sports Network as both teams look for a trip to the semifinals.

Mars Fighting Planets 66 – Derry Trojans 41 
In a rare first-round battle of section champions, the Mars Area Fighting Planets used a 9-0 to open the contest en route to a wire-to-wire 66-41 win against Derry Area in the WPIAL Class AAA first round at Fox Chapel High School. The start was an unwelcome flashback for the No. 11 seed Trojans, who fell into a 26-0 deficit in their playoff game last year, also at Fox Chapel. Unlike that contest, however, the Trojans got on the scoreboard in the first quarter, courtesy of five points from Lauren Felix. Despite facing a 10-point deficit, the Trojans were still in contention at the end of the frame. In the second stanza, Felix knocked down two more shots, both from behind the arc, while Danielle Zemba added a pair of buckets, too. While some of the field goal attempts started to fall, the Trojans were horrid at the line, missing all seven of their first-half foul shots. Even more problematic, Derry Area committed turnovers early and often, many of which were of the live-ball variety, which allowed the Fighting Planets to score frequently in transition. As a result, sixth-seeded Mars held a 30-17 lead at the intermission. The Trojans showed their resolve coming out of the locker room, as they quickly scored the first four points of the third quarter to pull to within nine. That surge was short-lived, however, as the Fighting Planets scored the next 16 points to take complete command of the game. The Fighting Planets talented trio of Lauren Wasylson, Tai Johnson and Nicole McCloud scored 22, 17 and 15 points, respectively, while Mars was 7-11 from the line. Felix tallied a team-best 22 points, including six 3-pointers, while Rachel Garris, the lone senior starter for the Trojans, concluded her career with a five-point effort. Mars Area will next face Ambridge in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

GIRLS WPIAL CLASS A First Round:

Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic Trojans 69 – Aliquippa Quips 25 
It was all CWNC in this one as their size and depth was too much for the Lady Quips. Sam Breen lead the Trojanettes with 29 points while Abby Goetz and Kylie Huffman both netted 9 points. Aliquippa was led by Alexus Perry with 8 points.

Riverview Raiders 38 – California Trojans 33 
The theme of the game was simple, not a lot of scoring, defense, turnovers and missed shots, as #8 seed Riverview beat #9 seed California 38-33 Thursday night at Plum High School. There was a total of 23 points, eight field goals and five foul shots between the two teams at halftime, which saw Cal leading 12-11 . The Raiders came out fast to start the 2nd half as Sadie Buchser had nine points as they would outscore the Trojans 15-3 to take a 26-12 into the fourth. Cal had no field goals in the third and only managed three foul shots. However, the Trojans would hang around in the 4th quarter thanks to the play of sophomore Bailey Vig, who exploded for 13 points and plenty of missed shots by Riverview. Ariel Rafferty set the tone in the fourth for the Raiders with six points. Cal outscored Riverview 18-12 in the final period, but it wasn’t enough as Riverview would walk away with the five point victory. Riverview was led by Sadie Buchser with 18 points and Ariel Rafferty chipped in 14. Bailey Vig was the only player in double figures for Cal with 21 points. Riverview improves to 14-8 and will face #1 seed Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic Saturday at a site and time to be determined. California finishes the season at 14-8.

Vincentian Academy Royals 63 – Fort Cherry Rangers 13 
Using a stifling defense, Vincentian Academy rolled off 30 straight points over a seven minute span, crushing Ft. Cherry, 63-13.  The second half began with running clock due to the Royals’ 40-point lead.  Kiersten Elliot led Vincentian (18-4) with 14 points, Maia Joiner added 12 and Torrieonna Cash had 10, all three reaching those totals before intermission.  Both coaches used most of their benches for the second half of a game well out of reach.  Shannon Relihan’s 9 points paced the Rangers (9-14).  Vincentian Academy plays Rochester in Saturday’s quarterfinals.

Rochester Rams 47 – Serra Catholic Eagles 34 
At Keystone  Oaks High School in WPIAL Girls single A first round basketball action, the Rochester Rams the 10th seed upset the 7th seeded Serra Catholic Eagles 47-34. The 1st quarter was sloppy as Serra had 8 turnovers. Rochester had trouble shooting, but led 6-2 after the first stanza. The Rams went on a 10-0 run to start the 2nd quarter to go up 16-2. Serra couldn’t hit an outside shot, and turned the ball over 6 times in the quarter.  Julia Sabbio hit 2 three’s in the half to lead the Rams as they led 21-8 going in to intermission. Into quarter three and the Rams had a 13-2 run to start the quarter and led 34-10. It looked like an easy win as Olivia Whiteleather, and Tiffany Blackwell took turns running the offense and keeping the ball away from the Eagles. However late in the 3rd, Serra mounted a charge. They went on a 4-0 run to end the quarter and trailed 34-14, then to start the 4th went on a 14-4 run. In all it was an 18-4 run to get the score to 38-28. They were back in the game for a little bit, but despite the comeback they couldn’t get any closer as the Rams hit their foul shots and held on to win 47-34 despite 14 2nd half turnovers. For Serra Sophomore Loren Minor led the way with 9 points. Senior Felcia Moon had 8 as the Eagles end their season at 16-8 in disappointing fashion. Rochester improves to 14-9 and  moves on to the 2nd round  to face Vincentian Academy. They were led  in scoring by Sabbio with 12, and Blackwell with 8.