WPIAL Basketball Playoff Recaps for Tuesday, February 21st

By: Bruce Markey
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 | 12:08 AM

It was Day Three of the First Round and the bracket busting theme from Friday and Saturday continued Tuesday night. Double-digit winners continue to find success in the opening round…with those eye-brow raisers coming Tuesday night in Boys AAA and Girls AA. Here are recaps from those two tournament as well as the completion of Round One in Girls Class AAAA.

A special THANKS to Mark Schaas, Mike Krcil, Mark Uriah, Justin McKim, Don Rebel, Bob Barrickman, Dennis Fischer, Ken Laird, Randy Gore, Brian Mroziak, Greg Kuntz, Terry Neary, Mike Azadian, Lee Mohn, Melissa Carle, Steve Nagler, Bob Gregg and T.J. DiStefano for their help on these recaps.

WPIAL BOYS CLASS AAA First Round:

New Castle Red Hurricane 74 – Highlands Golden Rams 58  
The number one seeded Red Hurricane survived a major scare provided by Micah Mason and the Golden Rams to remain unbeaten on the season and advance to the quarterfinals.
Mason scored 20 of his 30 points in the first half. Highlands led 14-13 after one and 36-35 at the break. The first half saw seven ties and six lead changes. But New Castle, as they have done all season, made a run and in a big way in the third quarter. Corey Eggleston scored on a reverse lay up to put New Castle up 41-40, combined with a Shawn Anderson three from the left corner took the Canes from a point down to up seven at 49-42. New Castle scored the final six points of the quarter, outscoring Highlands 21-7 in the third to lead 56-43 at the break. Eggleston continued his scoring ways in the fourth, scoring 8 of his team high 22 points to lead to Canes to a 23-0 record. Anthony Richards scored 17, with 5 three pointers, Anderson scored 15 and Malik Hooker 14 to pace New Castle. The Canes committed only six turnovers, while forcing 18 Golden Ram miscues. Mason ended the game with six three pointers, the all-time leading three point scorer in WPIAL history. He finishes his outstanding career with 2,272 points, good for 12th on the all-time WPIAL scoring list. Gage Clark added 11 for the Golden Rams, who end the season at 9-15. This was also the final game for Highlands head coach Shawn Bennis, he announced his resignation a couple of weeks ago. New Castle will meet Mars in the quarterfinal round on Friday, site and time to be determined.

Mars Fighting Planets 57 – West Mifflin Titans 42  
A hot start, excellent rebounding and tenacious defense all contributed to the Mars Fighting Planets defeating the West Mifflin Titans 57-42 in the 8 vs 9 contest in boys Class AAA.  Mars went 8 for 13 from the floor in the first quarter to race out to a 20-9 lead after eight minutes, and the Titans never really recovered.  West Mifflin also seemed doomed at times to one-shot possessions as the Planets' 6-foot-7 junior center Josh Goetz would clear the defensive glass consistently after a Titan miss.  Goetz tied teammate Zach May for a game high 15 points, as well.  Mitchell Buzard poured in 11, including 8 in that decisive first quarter.  After being held to under 10 points in each of the first three quarters, the Titans made a bit of a run in the fourth to seemingly put the game back within reach, but when sophomore guard Ryan Maha fouled May late, head coach Lance Maha received a technical foul in the ensuing argument.  May sank three of the four foul shots and the Planets kept possession of the ball, effectively ending the Titans' hopes at a miracle rally.  West Mifflin, whose season ends with a 13-9 record, was led by senior center Kyron Mason with 14 points. Maha chipped in 9.  Mars' reward for dispatching the Titans – and improving to 17-6 on the year – is top-seeded New Castle.  They'll meet the Red Hurricane on Friday night.

Trinity Hillers 72 –  Keystone Oaks Golden Eagles 62  
Trinity handed fourth-seeded Keystone Oaks just its third loss of the year, 72-62 Tuesday night in the WPIAL AAA boys basketball playoffs. Jared Deep led the Hillers with 22 points. Christian Koroly added 16 and Corey Hunsberger 13 for Trinity. The Golden Eagles’ Rocco Contristano led all scorers with 23, after being held to just 4 points in the first half. Trinity slowed the pace of the game in through three quarters, leading 39-34. And while KO picked up the tempo in the fourth quarter, Trinity never allowed the Golden Eagles to get the lead under four the rest of the way. Trinity improves to 14-10 with the victory and will play Beaver in the quarter finals Friday night at a site and time to be determined.

Beaver Bobcats 68 – South Fayette Lions 65 
Last Friday, the Beaver boys basketball team won its first playoff game in 25 years—a preliminary round victory over Thomas Jefferson. It took the Bobcats four days to win their next one. Battling back from a 19-point deficit, No. 12 Beaver stunned fifth-seeded South Fayette, 68-65, in a WPIAL Class AAA first round game Tuesday night at West Allegheny. Cory Nesmith’s layup with 26 seconds remaining gave the Bobcats their first lead, 66-65. Moments later, Nick Conjeski connected on two free throws. A last ditch effort by the Lions’ failed, although they managed to get off two 3-point shots in the closing seconds. With the score 4-4 early in the first quarter, South Fayette (16-7) went on a 15-0 run and cruised to a 34-20 halftime advantage. Beaver’s Christian Herstine scored 15 of his game-high 25 points in the 2nd half as the Bobcats’ clawed their way back. Austin Logan (15) and Conjeski (10) also finished in double figures for Beaver. The Lions were led by Zach Challingsworth’s 23 points and Evan Bonnaure’s 19.  The Bobcats will face No. 13 Trinity on Friday in the quarterfinals.

Montour Spartans 59 – Indiana Little Indians 33  
The WPIAL Class AAA defending champions pitched a shutout in the third quarter en route to a 26-point victory Tuesday night in First Round action at Gateway High School. The Spartans held a 35-23 lead at the half, but put the game away in the third quarter by outscoring the Little Indians 7-0. Montour was led by a game high 18 points for Ryan Lewis while Kevin Sculli added 15 points. Indiana had one player in double figure scoring as Logan Weaver pumped in 16 points for the Little Indians, whose season ends with a final record of 15-9. The second-seed Spartans improve to 18-3 and will now face Blackhawk on Friday in the district Quarterfinals.  

Blackhawk Cougars 52 – Uniontown Red Raiders 43  
Cory Ostach missed time recently with a foot injury but the Blackhawk senior appeared to be healthy Tuesday night as he scored 24 points to lead the Cougars to a 52-43 victory over Uniontown in a AAA first round game.  Blackhawk led by eight points in the third quarter before a 3-point shot by Josh Nypaver at the buzzer gave the Red Raiders their first lead of the contest at 32-30 heading into the fourth period.  Uniontown upped its lead to four early in the final stanza before the Cougars stormed back on a 20-7 run the rest of the way.  Free throw shooting was the difference as Blackhawk connected on 15 of 19 from the charity stripe while the Red Raiders were only five of 11 at the line.  Uniontown finished its season at 15-7 while Blackhawk improved to 14-9 and will meet Montour on Friday night in a quarterfinal match.

Hampton Talbots 68 – Elizabeth Forward Warriors 59  
The #3 seeded Hampton Talbots advanced to the Quarterfinal Round of the McDonalds/WPIAL Triple A basketball playoffs with a 68-59 victory over the #19 seeded Elizabeth Forward Warriors at North Hills High School on Tuesday night. Hampton, (20-3) led 17-12 at the end of the first quarter, extending its lead to 13 at the half, 35-22.  The Talbots then built their advantage to 54-37 at the close of the third quarter.  Hampton led by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter before the Warriors put on a late charge to close the gap to nine points at the end. Hampton senior forward Mark Pilarski led all Talbots scorers with 20 points, 16 coming in the second half.  Sophomore forward Ryan Luther added 16 for Hampton and twin brother, Collin, a guard, pitched in 10 of his own.  Senior guard Nate Pelco scored 20 points to pace Elizabeth Forward, including five three point baskets, senior forward Eric Danko had 17, and senior guard Bryce Leach netted 11, all in the fourth quarter. Hampton will meet the #11 seeded Central Valley Warriors, an upset winner over Greensburg-Salem, on Friday night at a site and time to be determined.  Elizabeth Forward ended its season with a 13-11 overall record.

Central Valley Warriors 49 – Greensburg-Salem Golden Lions 43
The Central Valley Warriors now have their third WPIAL boys basketball playoff victory in just their second year of existence as they eliminated the Greensburg Salem Golden Lions in AAA first round action by a score of 49-43 at Fox Chapel High School on Tuesday evening.  CV point guard Curtis Lewis was the star of the game dropping in a game best 24-points, including three three-pointers and a 7 of 8 free throw shooting night.  The Lions were led in scoring by senior forward Julian Thompson’s 23-points in the losing effort.  Thompson had ten points in the first quarter despite the undersized Warriors playing a triangle defense around the Greensburg Salem frontcourt, and the game was tied at 17 after the first frame.  However, as the game wore on Thompson and fellow forward Waylon Fink (four points) were held in check in the post, while at the other end Central Valley racked up eight three-pointers all told and used the nifty ballhandling of Lewis, Mike Sims, and Daniel Steffine to grind clock and control the game’s pace.  Steffine and Sims each hit important triples in the fourth quarter to stretch a one-point lead out to “burn” distance, as they finished with 9 and 7-points respectively in support of Lewis.

WPIAL CLASS AAAA First Round:

Oakland Catholic Eagles 49 – Peters Township Indians 30 
The top seeded Eagles struggled early but pulled away slowly and steadly to advance to the quarterfinal round. Oakland Catholic jumped out to a 8-0 lead, but Peters Township pulled even early in the second quarter to knot the score twice at 8 and 11 all. But the Eagles outscored the Indians 12-2 over the remainder of the second quarter to lead 23-13 at the break. Oakland Catholic maintained the lead in the third quarter, with 9 of their 10 points coming from behind the arc on three’s by Bobbi Baker, Madison Caufield and Rachel Vigliotti. Baker led the scoring for Oakland Catholic with 15 points, including a pair of threes. Audra Phibbs scored all of her ten points in the fourth quarter, Caufield added nine, all on three pointers from the left corner. The Eaqles committed 15 turnovers, they are now 22-1 on the season, getting back on the winning track after falling to Seton LaSalle in the regular season finale. Marissa Morgan led the way for Peters Township with 11 points, the Indians turned the ball over 19 times, closing out the season at 12-12.

Bethel Park Black Hawks 54 – North Allegheny Tigers 36 
By dominating the boards and using 67-percernt shooting in the second half, the Bethel Park Blackhawks advanced past the North Allegheny Tigers, 54-36, in the opening round of the WPIAL playoffs.  Bethel Park outrebounded the Tigers 35-20 and used second chance opportunities to post a 21-16 halftime lead despite shooting just 28-percent from the field.  With continued success on the glass and lights out shooting in the second half, the Blackhawks pulled away for the victory.  BP sophomore Megan Marecic looked impressive in her continued recovery from an ACL injury as she posted 19 points and pulled down seven rebounds.  Fellow sophomore Sami Simpson notched 10 points and seven rebounds while senior Justine Carroll finished with 16 points and seven boards.  North Allegheny was paced by Alexis Aiken, who did her best to keep the Tigers in the game, as the senior scored 15 points.  North Allegheny’s season ends with a 16-6 mark.  Bethel Park improves to 15-8 and advances to face Oakland Catholic in the quarterfinals on Friday night.

Mount Lebanon Blue Devils 70 – Norwin Knights 38  
The three time defending PIAA State Champion Mt. Lebanon Lady Blue Devils started their quest for 4 in a row with a convincing 70 to 38 win over Norwin in a Girls WPIAL "AAAA" 1st Round playoff game on Tuesday Night at Chartiers Valley High School.  Mt. Lebanon jumped out to a 19-10 1st quarter lead, lead 32 to 15 at halftime and cruised in the 2nd half.  Liz Tommasi lead Mt. Lebanon with 18 points while Emma Pellicano was also in double figures with 14 points for the Blue Devils who improved to 20-3 on the season and advance to the quarterfinals on Friday.  Abbey Zorzi was the only Norwin player in double figures with 11 points.  The Knights lost in the 1st Round of the playoffs for the 4th straight year and finish the season with a 12-11 record.

Pine-Richland Rams 46 – Plum Mustangs 43  
Both the Pine-Richland Rams and the Plum Mustangs entered their 7-10 (respectively) 1st-Round matchup in the Quad-A Girls' bracket with identical 14-8 overall records.  Plum also had 4 key players out of the lineup as Alexis Amato, Karleigh Weichler, and Vanessa Whiteman were lost for the season with torn ACL's, and Jordan Seneca was lost for an extended period of time with a fractured nose.  The Mustangs, however, got out of the gate fairly fast as they were able to frustrate Pine-Richland with their smothering zone defense, creating a number of turnovers while turning them into offense at the other end of the court.  Sophomore point guard Krista Pietropola mixed up her game, covering every end of the floor and scoring 9 of her 25 points in the 1st half.  PR went over 5 minutes of the 1st quarter without a FG, and they trailed after 1, 12-6.  Both teams tightened the defenses in the 2nd period, holding the other to 5 points a piece, and the helftime score was 17-11 in favor of Plum.  A pivotal point in the game transpired, however, in the 3rd quarter when Plum freshman forward Courtney Zezza picked up her 4th personal foul and spent most of that quarter on the bench.  With the Mustangs' inside physical presence off the floor, the Rams attacked the defense of Plum as seniors Kara Peters, Rachel Verbanac, and Brittany Byerly all scored big to give PR the lead for the first time in the game.  The Rams outscored the Mustangs, 19-11, in the 3rd, and they went on a 16-4 run after Zezza pick up her 4th foul.  The 4th quarter would see both Peters and Verbanac foul out, but Byerly picked up the scoring slack both from the field and the charity stripe, hitting 4 clutch free throws to ice the game for PR.  Byerly had 13 of her 15 points in the 2nd half to give the Rams a 46-43 victory and a spot in the Quad-A quarterfinals.  Verbanac added 10, and Peters 6.  Senior Emily Johanson, who was held largely in check by the Mustangs as she averages 17 points/game, still contributed 7 in the win.  Aside from Pietropola's 25, Zezza's 9 points kept the Mustangs close, but just short.  Plum's season ends at 14-9 while Pine-Richland's season continues at 15-8, and they await the winner of the 2-15 matchup between Mt. Lebanon and Norwin. 

 
WPIAL CLASS AA First Round:

Seton-LaSalle Rebels 81 – Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Chargers 32 
The defending WPIAL Girls Class AA Champion Seton LaSalle Rebels stuck to the script this evening as they soundly defeated Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 81-32 in a first round matchup at West Allegheny High School.  The Lady Rebels used relentless defensive pressure to force numerous OLSH errors during the first half and take an insurmountable 48-16 lead at the break.  Things hardly changed during the final two quarters as Seton outscored the Chargers 33-16 to sew up the victory.  Naje Gibson and Angela Heintz paced the undefeated (22-0) Lady Rebels with 16 points each while Emilee Gallagher and Tia Scuilli led the Lady Chargers with 10 points each.  Seton LaSalle advances to a quarterfinal matchup on Friday while OLSH ends its season at 15-9.

Beaver Falls Tigers 61 – Quaker Valley Quakers 47  
At Ambridge High School in Girls WPIAL AA first round action the Beaver Falls Tigers the number nine seed, beat the number eight seeded Quaker Valley Quakers by a score of 61-47. The Quakers led early 9-4 due to superb play from Junior guard Sierra Perlik. She had 10 first half points. The Tigers responded with a 7-0 run to end the quarter and led 11-9 after one period. Into quarter two Beaver Falls went on a roll. At one point from mid first to early third they went on a 30-10 run. Their domination was led by staunch defense, great rebounding, and great shooting by star Junior guard Ayana Vaughn. She hit 6 three pointers, and had 24 first half points. She couldn't miss, from three point land hitting 5 in a row at one point. The Tigers led 34-19 at the half. Into quarter three Beaver Falls continued their onslaught and  led by twenty going into the fourth 48-28. The fourth quarter saw QV come back and cut the lead to eleven two different times,but it proved too little too late as the Tigers held on for the win. Vaughn paced the Tigers with 30 points. Senior forward Alexus Lake chipped in 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Tigers. The Quakers were led by Perlik with 13 and Deanne Ryan with 12, and Rahel Smith with 10. QV falls to 14-10. The Tigers improve to 15-9 and will face top seeded Seton La Salle in the quarter finals on a date and time to be determined.

Keystone Oaks Golden Eagles 56 – Deer Lakes Lancers 38 
Keystone Oaks pulled off the upset last night at Moon defeating Deer Lakes 56-38 in the first round of the playoffs.  Keystone Oaks came back from a 9 point deficit in the preliminary round but never trailed against Deer Lakes.  Keystone Oaks defense forced 25 turnovers which led to many fast break attempts.  Keystone in the 2nd half continued to attack the basket and get to the hoop and score and draw fouls.  Deer lakes did not have an answer.  Keystone Oaks was led by Alexa Xenakis with 21 points and Maryssa Agurs with 20.  For Deer Lakes Rebecca Babincak had 18 points.  Deer lakes finishes there season 17-5.  keystone Oaks will now play Friday night against Greensburg Central Catholic in the quarterfinals.

Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions 44 – Burrell Buccaneers 42  
The Lady Bucs gave the Centurions all they could handle in this Class AA first round matchup.  Defenses were scrappy on both sides from the opening tip.  Seven different players scored in the first quarter that ended in favor of GCC, 12-11.  Burrell rallied in the second quarter, outscoring GCC 10-7.    Junior Jenna Ehrlich, the eldest on the Lady Bucs roster, dominated the boards and scored eight first half points.  Freshman Italia Biondi had eight points for the Centurions, who trailed 21-19 at the half.  GCC leading scorer Karly Mellinger was held scoreless throughout the first two quarters, but came alive in the third, hitting a big three-pointer to ignite the Centurions.  The front three of the GCC defense—Biondi, Mellinger, and Carolyn Appleby—began trapping in the backcourt, frustrating the Lady Bucs.  Ehrlich and freshman guard Sydney Bordonaro kept the Burrell hopes alive, as they survived a 9-0 GCC run, and found themselves in a tie game with only 15 seconds remaining.  Italia Biondi once again used her speed to go coast to coast and put the Centurions up by two points with seven seconds to go.  Burrell had one last chance, but it was Biondi again coming up big with a steal out of the GCC press to seal the victory for the Centurions.  Jenna Ehrlich led Burrell with 15 points.  Sydney Bordonaro put up 12 points for the Lady Bucs, who will end their season at (18-5).  The future looks bright for Burrell, though, with no seniors on its roster.  GCC was led by Italia Biondi’s 16 points.  The Centurions move to (17-5), and will face Keystone Oaks on Friday.

Bishop Canevin Crusaders 63 – Mohawk Warriors 27  
Showing their worthiness of a #2 ranking, the Bishop Canevin Crusaders soundly defeated the Mohawk Warriors in the first round of the Girls Class AA Basketball Championships.  The Crusaders jumped out to a 19-10 lead after one quarter and lead by 19 points at the break and cruised into the quarterfinals by outscoring Mohawk 16-0 in the third quarter.  Bishop Canevin was lead by standout junior Erin Waskowiak who had 25 points and several assists.  Waskowiak, who averaged 20.4 points per game in the regular season, scored 17 of her game-high total in the first half.  Carly Force (17) and Celina DePietro (11) joined Waskowiak in double-figures for the Crusaders (19-4).  Mohawk was lead by Shelby Brown who had 8 points.  With the loss, the Warriors’ WPIAL season ends with an 18-6 record.  With the win, Bishop Canevin will take on Avonworth on Friday night.

Avonworth Antelopes 50 – Bentworth Bearcats 36  
Lauren Mayernik scored 24 points and pulled down a dozen rebounds leading Avonworth past Bentworth, 50-36, and a berth in the WPIAL Quarterfinals Friday night.  The Antelopes (19-4) scored the game's first six points and never trailed, leading by as much as 20 midway through the second quarter and 31-14 at the half.  Bentworth (18-4) closed the gap in the third, but missed multiple opportunities to really get back in the game.  After the teams traded three-pointers in the first two minutes, Avonworth didn't score for the next five minutes.  But the Bearcats managed only six points in that span.  When Bentworth went on a 9-0 run in the middle of the final quarter, it only closed the margin to 42-34.  Bentworth didn't score again until the final buzzer was sounding.  Montee'a Hunter added 11 points for the Antelopes who face #2 Bishop Canevin Friday.  Jessica Dorazio scored 14 points for Bentworth.

New Brighton Lions 58 – Jeannette Jayhawks 55  
Four players in double figures outpaced Ciara Gregory's game-high 33 points as New Brighton upset #3 Jeannette, 58-55.  The Lions jumped in front 20-10 with Kiyonna McFrazier scoring eight points, Kaitlyn Hopkins another six in the game's first six minutes.  Then, Gregory and Dominique Hall combined on a 9-0 Jayhawk run to close the quarter 20-19.  The lead changed hands four times in next 90 seconds but the game turned on Gregory's charge into McFrazier just across half court.  That put the Jeannette junior on the bench with her third foul and ignited a 15-0 run, giving New Brighton a 42-28 halftime lead, one it would never give up.  Gregory led quite a charge back, scoring 14 points in the third and pulling the Jayhawks twice within two points.  Every time, though, New Brighton had just enough of an answer–a Hopkins rebound and putback, a McFrazier steal and fast break, a couple free throw makes by Jasmine Oravitz and Kiersten Manor.  The free throw success was hard to come by as New Brighton missed 10 of 15 in the fourth quarter, including three straight front end of one-and-one's, but Jeannette missed the rebounds the first two times down by only three.  Those missed chances kept the Lions (13-8) ahead and moving on to the quarterfinals against Steel Valley.  Alexis Aspiotes led New Brighton with 14 points.  Oravitz scored 13, McFrazier and Hopkins each had a dozen.  Dominique Hall scored 10 for Jeannette (13-9).

Steel Valley Ironmen 76 – Riverside Panthers 61  
The #11 Steel Valley Lady Ironmen used the combination of the inside game of C.C. Dixon and 10 three pointers from four different players to upset the #6 Riverside Lady Panthers 76-61 Tuesday night at North Hills High School. Ashley McCallister led the way with five three balls, Taylor Szczepankowski had three, Emily Olson and Jonnah Labishak each added one. Steel Valley led 18-14 after one period and and 32-28 at the half. The Lady Ironmen pulled away early in the third, thanks to a 15-5 run to start the quarter and took advantage of several Riverside miscues. However, the Lady Panthers fought back and were only down 57-48 after three. The third quarter saw a total of 45 points scored between the two teams, 25 for Steel Valley and 20 for Riverside. In the 4th quarter Steel Valley would make their free throws coming down the stretch and outscore Riverside 19-13 to complete the upset victory and advance to the quarterfinals. The Lady Ironmen had four players in double figures led by Ashley McCallister with 24. Right behind her was C.C. Dixon with 23, Emily Olson added 14 and Taylor Szczepankowski netted 10. The Lady Panthers had three players in double figures lead by Sam Weir with 20 points. Alex Deep added 19 and Nicole Mansfield scored 12. Steel Valley improves to 18-5 and will face #14 New Brighton, who upset #3 Jeannette, Friday night at a site and time to be determined. Riverside finishes at 16-7.

Tags: Bethel Park, North Allegheny