Penn Hills boys run away with win over Plum
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Tuesday, January 6, 2026 | 10:51 PM
Penn Hills’ Amon Hawthorne, who finished with 18 points, attacks the rim while being guarded by Plum’s Jesse Stead on Tuesday. (Josh Rizzo | For TribLive)
Penn Hills’ Aiden Thompson jumps to pass while being guarded by Plum’s Jesse Stead on Tuesday. (Josh Rizzo | For TribLive)
Plum’s Owen Proskin, who finished with 10 points, attempts to hold onto the ball as tries to drive past Penn Hills’ Tyrone Johnson on Tuesday. (Josh Rizzo | For TribLive)
Calix Clark celebrates after making a 3-pointer during the second half of Penn Hills’ 67-39 win over Plum on Tuesday. (Josh Rizzo | For TribLive)
Penn Hills 6-foot-3 senior guard Amon Hawthorne was comfortable and confident Tuesday night at Plum High School. Collectively, the Indians played with the same mindset during a 67-39 Section 1-5A win.
Penn Hills jumped out to a 15-3 lead and never trailed. The Indians were led by Hawthorne, who scored 18 points and shot 70% (7-of-10) from the field.
Hawthorne said Penn Hills’ preparedness isn’t an accident.
“The coaches prepared us the right way,” Hawthorne said. “We have to come out and execute out there. Countless hours of film is what prepares us.”
Calix Clark opened the scoring for the Indians after collecting his own miss in the first minute. He also scored Penn Hills’ second basket to stretch its lead to 4-1.
“We knew we needed this section win,” said Clark, who finished with 16 points. “We came in with a lot of fire. We knew we had to hit shots and do what we had to do.”
Plum coach Dave Pucka said he would like to see the Mustangs step up on defense. Penn Hills shot 53.8% (7 of 13) from the 3-point line and 51.9 percent (27 of 52) from the field.
Plum (2-9, 1-6) has lost five straight.
“We didn’t want them to get penetration,” Pucka said. “That was the talk postgame. We have to go back to work tomorrow in practice. We want to take pride in our defense here. Our defense isn’t there right now.”
Xavier Barto led Plum with 16 points. He knocked down five 3-pointers. Owen Proskin also finished with 10 points and six boards for the Mustangs.
Plum struggled to score consistently. The Mustangs shot 33% (13 of 39) from the field.
“I think there were some nerves,” Pucka said. “There is an aspect of that game where Penn Hills is a neighboring school district, and it’s a game that our guys want to win.”
Penn Hills (6-5, 4-1) stretched its lead to 36-20 by halftime. The Indians opened the second half with seven straight points from Hawthorne.
Penn Hills had 10 players score.
“We’re a defensive-oriented team,” Hawthorne said. “Any team that we play, we’re going to be able to defend. It’s about pulling those games out when it mattered.”
Indians coach Chris Giles was pleased with his team’s effort.
“After coming off a tough game physically and mentally with Central Catholic, I’m proud of how my guys competed,” Giles said. “I always tell them if you compete on the defensive end, you’ll get offense.”
Tags: Penn Hills, Plum
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