Westmoreland County girls basketball notebook: Latrobe eagerly awaiting return of Anna Rafferty

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, December 25, 2019 | 4:28 PM

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Latrobe is hoping to get sophomore Anna Rafferty back after the holiday break. The 6-foot-1 forward makes a difference.

She has been strong on the low block on offense and a shot-altering presence on defense for the Wildcats (2-4, 0-3), who are looking to dig out of an early hole in Section 3-5A.

Rafferty has missed three-plus games with a sprained ankle.

“She had three double-doubles for us before she was injured,” coach Mark Burkhardt said. “We’re hoping to get her back for our holiday tournament.”

Rafferty had 19 points and 15 rebounds in a 58-57 loss to Albert Gallatin. That was the game in which she was injured.

Holiday hoops

Tournaments will highlight the WPIAL schedule Friday and Saturday around the region.

The Penn-Trafford tournament features Norwin (4-2) vs. McKeesport (5-2) at 1 p.m. Friday, followed by Franklin Regional (2-4) and Penn-Trafford (4-2) at 3.

On Saturday, it is Norwin vs. Franklin Regional at 11 a.m. and McKeesport vs. Penn-Trafford at 5.

Six teams will play in the Hempfield tournament Friday and Saturday. Burrell (0-6) vs. Jeannette (2-5) at 6 p.m. and Kiski Area (4-4) vs. Hempfield (2-3) at 7:30 are local matchups Friday.

Jeannette plays Hempfield at noon Saturday.

Latrobe also is hosting, with Connellsville, Indiana and Hollidaysburg in town.

The Mt. Pleasant tournament has Belle Vernon (4-2) taking on Derry (4-3) at 4:30 p.m. Friday. Greensburg Salem also is there along with Bishop Canevin and Winchester Thurston.

Greensburg Salem plays Belle Vernon at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Southmoreland (7-0) is at the round-robin Cal (Pa.) tournament Saturday and Sunday. The Scotties open against Baldwin in an intriguing matchup at 3 p.m. They play Mercyhurst Prep on Sunday morning.

Scala returns

Greensburg Central Catholic already is benefiting from the return of senior guard Gia Scala, who was out of the lineup with an injury but finally was cleared to return last week.

In her first game, she scored 19 points and had five assists in a 52-29 win over Propel Andrew Street. GCC has remained at No. 2 in the Trib Class A rankings despite the loss of 20-point scorer Melina Maietta, who was dismissed from the team earlier this month.

Scala is a team captain.

Pulling rank

Three county teams remain the Trib top five rankings headed into the holiday break.

Norwin (4-2) is up a spot to No. 3 in Class 6A. Southmoreland (7-0) is No. 4 in Class 4A, and Greensburg Central (3-1) is holding tight at No. 2 in Class A.

Southmoreland is the only county team with a perfect record. Senior Charity Henderson just returned to the lineup for the Scotties after recovering from a softball-related injury.

The Scotties are allowing just 27.9 points per game, the second-lowest total in the WPIAL.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Greensburg Salem, Hempfield, Jeannette, Latrobe, Mt. Pleasant, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Southmoreland