WPIAL Basketball Playoff Recaps for Wednesday, March 2nd

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, March 2, 2011 | 12:00 AM

There will be a new champion in Boys Class AAAA and Girls Class AAA after Wednesday nights postseason action. Chartiers Valley and Gateway boys along with North Catholic girls return to Battle on the Bluff for district gold, while Mount Lebanon boys and New Castle girls turn their attention to the upcoming state playoffs. Here are all of the recaps from Semifinals Wednesday in the 2011 WPIAL Basketball Playoffs.

Thanks to Glenn Thompson, Bob Gregg, Don Rebel, Steve Nagler, Bob Barrickman, Jim Frederick and Dan Zangrilli for their help on these recaps.

WPIAL CLASS AAAA Semifinals:

Gateway Gators 47 – Butler Golden Tornado 45
Gateway punched their second straight ticket to the WPIAL championship game on Wednesday night with a 2 point win over the Butler Golden Tornado. As usual with the Butler playoff games this year they did just enough to hang around in the first half. Barnett Harris and Devon Cotrell patrolled the paint in the first half with great rebounding and plenty of 2nd chance shots. Butler however would come storming back in the third quarter after trailing by 8 at the half. Bobby Swartout erupted in the third both offensively and defensively with power moves in the paint and a couple of blocked shots. The third quarter ended with the teams tied and ready for an exciting 4th quarter. Butler and Gateway traded blows in the 4th, but it would come down to two long range shots for Butler in the final seconds that would not fall… Gateway won the game 47-45 and is moving on to the finals.

Chartiers Valley Colts 54 – Mount Lebanon Blue Devils 48
Four players reached double figures and the Colts had just enough defense as Chartiers Valley beat Mt. Lebanon, 54-48. After seeing Mt. Lebanon jump in front 8-0, Chartiers Valley scored the next 14 points and never trailed again. Spencer Casson, Wayne Capers and Matt Noszka combined to tie the game at eight. Christian Kuntz hit a trey with 10 seconds to play in the first, giving the Colts the lead. Nozska's trey in the first 10 seconds of the second capped the 14-0 run. CV kept the lead at 4-6 points through most of the second, pushing it to 24-15 just seconds in the third. Mt. Lebanon's Paul Lang scored 9 points in the third, keeping the Blue Devils in range but the Colts led 38-28 after three. A Mt. Lebanon timeout and a tightening of defensive pressure flustered Chartiers Valley (20-5), forcing one turnover after another. Mt. Lebanon scored 9 straight points to get within two with 4:28 to play. With 3:00 left, it was still a 2-point CV lead. The Colts continually found themselves at the foul line, where they had converted only 2 of the first 8 chances. But in the fourth, when they got only one field goal, Nozska's three-ball the opened the quarter, Chartiers Valley hit on 11 of 16 at the charity stripe. Kuntz drained 5 of 7 in the quarter, Steve Burda 3 of 4. Mt. Lebanon had won 10 in a row coming in, the second time the Blue Devils lost a 10-game winning streak this year. Chartiers Valley takes on Gateway, a 47-45 winner over Gateway. Noszka had 14 points, Kuntz 13. Capers and Casson had 10 apiece, with Casson blocking 12 shots in the game. Luke Hagy scored 14 for Mt. Lebanon, Lang finished with 12 and Evan Eaton added 11.

WPIAL CLASS AA Semifinals:

Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions 73 – Sto-Rox Vikings 53
Red hot shooting from the field helped top-seed Greensburg Central Catholic advance to the Class AA championship game with a victory Wednesday night over Sto-Rox at Fox Chapel High School. While the Centurions were lights out, shooting 78.4 percent from the field, the GCC defense limited the Vikings to 37.7 shooting. Thus Greensburg Central Catholic was able to race out to a 16-8 edge after one quarter and led by 16 by halftime at 36-20. Sto-Rox never made a serious run in the second half thanks to the Centurions stingy defense. GCC had three scorers in double figures led by Jesse Reed's 25 points while teammates Jake Swan had 15 points and P.J. McLaughlin had 13 points. Shawn Smith had a big game for Sto-Rox, leading all scorers with 28 points. The Vikings fall to 21-4 and will now prepare for the PIAA state playoffs while Greensburg Central Catholic improves to (23-2) will play for WPIAL gold Saturday afternoon when they face Monessen at the A.J. Palumbo Center in the Class AA Championship Game.

Monessen Greyhounds 48 – Wilkinsburg Tigers 44
For the third time this year, Section foes Monessen and Wilkinsburg squared off and for the third time this year, the Greyhounds came out on top as they advanced to the WPIAL Class AA finals with a 48-44 victory over the Tigers. Senior F Cam Johnson was nearly unstoppable tonight as he scored a game-high 21 points to go with 23 rebounds and also added a huge block of a Wilkinsburg 3-point shot in the waning seconds of play. Johnson scored fifteen of his 21 points in the second half. Wilkinsburg trailed by seven points at halftime but outscored Monessen 15-7 in the 3rd quarter to take a one-point lead as they were able to capitalize on eight Greyhound turnovers in that frame. However, Monessen was able to steady the ship in the decisive 4th quarter despite missing six of the eight foul shots that they took down the stretch. Wilkinsburg was led by senior F Robert Taylor with 15 points. The Hill brothers combined for 16 points as well for the Tigers. Wilkinsburg's WPIAL journey ends with a record of 17-6 but they will head to the state playoffs. Monessen Semi-final victory brings their record to 22-2 and they will face top-seeded Greensburg Central Catholic in the championship game.

WPIAL CLASS AAA Semifinals:

Blackhawk Cougars 69 – Indiana Little Indians 61
Blackhawk allowed a 17-point second quarter lead to be cut to four in the fourth quarter but tremendous free throw shooting enabled the Lady Cougars to hold off Indiana, 69-61 in the WPIAL AAA girls semifinals. Blackhawk made 26 of 29 foul shots and connected on their first 15 tries from the charity stripe. St. Francis, Pa. recruit Alexa Hayward led the Lady Cougars with 21 points while fellow senior Rachel Curtiss had 14 and sophomore Alexis Graham added 13 for the winners. Senior Leslie Stapleton, who will play college ball at nearby IUP, led the Lady Indians with 25 points and senior Kristin Brice chipped in with 14. The loss broke an 8-game winning streak and left the number one seed Lady Indians at 23-2. Blackhawk has won 11 in a row and improved to 20-5. The Lady Cougars will play in the championship for the first time in 10 years at the Palumbo Center on Saturday against Section 2 rival Ambridge. The Lady Bridgers handed Blackhawk its last loss, 65-50. Indiana will join Blackhawk in the PIAA playoffs which begin next week.

Ambridge Bridgers 46 – New Castle Red Hurricane 43
How often does a team get another shot at a section foe for a trip to the championship? Add to the suspense that the underdog is an 11th seed and had been beaten by that club by margins of 25 and 14 points, respectively. That is the situation that faced Ambridge Wednesday at North Allegheny as the Lady Bridgers took on two-time defending WPIAL AAA Ladies Champ..New Castle. Ambridge applied an effective 2-3 zone to bottle up the Lady Canes inside game and hit critical free throws down the stretch in a 46-43 upset of the number 2 seed in the girls tournament. Added to the defensive plan was the ability of Ambridge's top rebounder…6-2 Erin Smith…to stay out of foul trouble. She had left early in the previous two wins but was most effective against New Castle in scoring 14 points on the inside. Meanwhile..outside..it was the duo of sophomore Katie Fischer and senior Sam Santiago who led the way. Fischer was magnificent handling the ball and assisting in the offense while Santiago scored all 13 of her points in the second half when Ambridge overcame a 23-19 halftime deficit with a 13-4 3rd period run. And in the 4th quarter when 21-4 New Castle made a push…Ambridge connected on 8 of 13 at the line including a 4-4 performance by junior reserve Rachel Deiter. Ja-Nia McPhatter paced N-C with 17 while LaShauna Brothers and Christina Talbert, who were both averaging 17 a game, were limited to 8 and 6 points for the contest. Ambridge, which was playing in its first WPIAL semi in 10 years, advances to face another Section 2 team in the finals this weekend…Blackhawk. The 20-6 Lady Bridgers split with 20-5 Blackhawk during the regular season.

WPIAL CLASS A Semifinals:

Fort Cherry Rangers 40 – Rochester Rams 34
Beka Bellhy popped a 3-pointer as the third quarter ended, igniting a rally that carried Fort Cherry past Rochester, 40-34, and into the WPIAL Finals. The Rangers' leading scorer pocketed 20 points on the night, none bigger than the shot to the Rams' chin. Rochester built a 12-6 lead at the end of one, scoring the quarter's last eight points. Ivorie Law had seven in the period for Rochester, finishing the game with 17. The Rams played with a lead of 4-8 points through the second and third quarters, though both teams were very sloppy after intermission–each with 6+ turnovers in the third quarter alone. Late in the third with Rochester up by six, the Rangers got a steal. A long pass was tipped out of bounds under the Fort Cherry basket with 1.2 seconds remaining. Jessie Merckle's in-bounds pass found a wide-open Bellhy straight on at the top of the key. The junior swished home a three-pointer that staggered the Rams. Fort Cherry scored 4 straight to open the fourth, taking the lead for the first time since late in the first. Merckle hit two foul shots in that sequence. Hayden Kimbrough's in-close basket put Rochester back in front, 28-27. About a minute later, buckets by Merckle, Rachel Bellhy and Carlena Gasbarro gave Fort Cherry (22-3) a 4-point lead with under 3 minutes to play. Kimbrough gave the Rams (17-7) one last hope, scoring with 2:37 remaining, pulling Rochester within two. After running more than 30 seconds off the clock, the Rangers had an in-bound play, Merckle fed Bellhy for an instant-replay of the late-third-quarter backbreaker to seal the win. Bellhy and Law were the game's only players in double figures. #4 Fort Cherry will face #3 North Catholic, a 59-33 winner over Monessen. The Rangers win also ended the PIAA playoff hopes for #1 seed Vincentian Academy, the team Rochester beat in the quarterfinals.

North Catholic Trojanettes 59 – Monessen Greyhounds 33
For the third straight year, No. 3 North Catholic will play for a Class A WPIAL Championship as they secured a shocking 59-33 semifinal victory over the previously unbeaten No. 2 Monessen Greyhounds. A strong offensive attack combined with a stifling defensive game plan were recipes for success for North Catholic. The Greyhounds were held without a field goal until 1:46 remained in the first period. All the while, the Trojanettes received offensive contributions from nine different players. Leading the way was Kendall Hoffman who finished with a game-high 17 points. North Catholic held a 30-15 lead at the break and outscored the Greyhounds 17-4 in the third period to roll on to the District 7 finals. North Catholic will take on Fort Cherry.