Defense gets job done for Trinity
After falling behind by five points at the end of the first quarter, Trinity tightened up defensively and thwarted host Keytone Oaks’ offense over the final 24 minutes as the Hillers rallied for a 62-39 victory in the Section 5-AAA opener Friday night.
Keystone Oaks (0-1, 1-3) led 20-15 after one quarter, but Trinity (1-0, 2-2) outscored the Golden Eagles 17-5 in the second quarter to take a seven-point lead at intermission. Trinity then won the second half 30-14.
Ben Phillis had a double-double for the Hillers with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Nick Moretti led Trinity in scoring with 14 points. Joey Koroly and Dylan Kern each scored 11 points.
Jake Morgan paced KO with 11 points.
Seton-La Salle 73, Washington 63: Seton-La Salle eruped for 28 points in the second quarter on the way to a 73-63 victory over Washington in Section 3-AA.
Ryan Norkus led the Rebels with 23 points and Andrew Rodgers added 17. Paris Ford chipped in with 11 and Christian DelGreco 10.
Seton-La Salle (1-0, 3-0) outscored Washington 28-16 in the second quarter to take a 45-29 lead.
Dequay Isbell paced Washington (0-1, 1-2) with 18 points. Markel Pulliam added 15 points and Khalil Young 10.
Ringgold 68, Thomas Jefferson 48: Ringgold had five players score in double figures and the Rams held host Thomas Jefferson to only 19 second-half points in a 68-48 come-from-behind victory in the Section 4-AAA opener.
Ringgold trailed 29-28 at halftime, but took control of the game by outscoring the Jaguars 21-9 in the third quarter.
George Martin led Ringgold (1-0, 3-1) with 21 points with 19 coming after halftime. Nico Law and Dakota Browning each had 12 points for Ringgold, and Anthony Pampena and Ethan Defide had 10 apiece.
T.J. Mason led TJ (0-2, 0-5) with 20 points, which included five three-pointers.
Charleroi 59, Beth-Center 22: John Arnold scored nine of his game-high 15 points in a huge second quarter for Charleroi as the Cougars picked up their first win, 59-22, over visiting Beth-Center in the Section 4-AA opener.
Charleroi (1-0, 1-3) led 7-3 after one quarter then Blitzed B-C in the second quarter, outscoring the Bulldogs 28-4 to open a 35-7 lead.
Sam Miceli scored 14 points for Charleroi, which made eight three-pointers.
B-C falls to 0-1 in section and 1-3 overall.
Bishop Canevin 85, Chartiers-Houston 70: John Weldon led five Bishop Canevin players in double figures with 22 points as the Crusaders defeated visiting Chartiers-Houston 85-70 in the Section 3-AA opener.
The loss was the first for Chartiers-Houston (0-1, 3-1), which was the final Washington County team to lose this season.
C-H received a game-high 35 points from senior guard Alec Ferrari, who made 16 of 17 free throws. A.J. Myers also scored in double figures as he finished with 16. The Bucs had closed to within five points of the Crusaders early in the fourth quarter before Bishop Canevin ended the game with a flurry.
Justin Dix (14 points), Mitch King (14) Walter Bonds (11) and Mitch Crawford (10) followed Weldon in double figures for Canevin (1-0, 4-0).
Frazier 67, Bentworth 44: Alvin Ross led three Frazier players in double figures with 19 points as the Commodores won the Section 4-AA opener 67-44 over host Bentworth.
Caleb Cox and Damian Lovis each scored 16 points as Frazier moved to 2-1 overall.
Levi Jordan led a balanced Bentworth attack with 12 points. He was the only player in double figures for the Bearcats (0-1, 2-2).
Brentwood 55, Fort Cherry 50: Brentwood used a 13-point performance by Connor McWilliams and a huge advantage at the free-throw line to defeat host Fort Cherry, 55-50, in the Section 3-AA opener.
Brentwood (1-0, 2-2) made 19 of 36 free throws compared to 12-for-15 by Fort Cherry.
Phil Baker paced FC (0-1, 0-4) with 14 points. Alex Babirad and Devon Brown followed with 11 points each.
Baldwin 53, Peters Township 49: Anthony Starvinski had 15 points, including six in the crucial fourth quarter, as Baldwin outlasted Peters Township, 53-49, in a Section 4-AAAA game.
Doug Altavilla added 13 points for Baldwin (1-0, 1-2), which outscored in the Indians (0-1, 2-2) 23-16 in the final quarter.
Tim Swoope led PT with 19 points, while Nick Valentic added 12.
Geibel Catholic 60, West Greene 52: James Ewing scored 20 points to lead Geibel Catholic to a 60-52 Section 3-A win over West Greene.
Kyle Toth added 16 points for the Gators (1-0, 3-1).
Craig Weaver scored 17 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for the Pioneers (0-1, 1-3), while also got 11 points each from Bray Jackson and Kolton Rush.
Burgettstown 60, Carylnton 52: Dylan Rush scored nine of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and also grabbed nine rebounds as Burgettstown defeated Carlynton, 60-52, in a Section 3-AA game.
Hunter Lecker led the Blue Devils (1-0, 2-2) with 17 points and also had nine rebounds as Burgettstown erased a 43-38 deficit entering the fourth quarter. Logan Triebsch scored 13 points in the winning effort.
Tarik Isac scored 30 points for Carlynton (0-1, 2-2), 26 of which came in the first half.
West Allegheny 58, McGuffey 51: Tyler Buffett had 15 points to lead West Allegheny to a 58-51 Section 5-AAA victory over McGuffey.
Andrew Koester added 11 points and Sean Orsini chipped in 10 for the Indians (1-0, 2-1).
Damien McCloskey had 18 points to lead McGuffey (0-1, 1-2), while Shaun Sanders added 15 and Zach Maxwell 13 in the losing effort.
Avella 45, Mapletown 30: C.J. Norman’s 14 point s paced Avella to a 45-30 Section 3-A win over Mapletown.
Avella (1-0, 1-2) outscored the Maples (0-1, 0-4) 23-9 in the second half.
Ben Boone scored 14 points to lead Mapletown.
In other games:
Waynesburg lost at Brownsville 69-56 in Section 4-AA. No details were made available to the Observer-Reporter.
Mapletown 41, Avella 36:
For the first time in almost five years, the Mapletown girls team had a happy bus ride home as the Maples defeated host Avella 41-36 in Section 3-A.
Mapletown won on the road for the first time since beating West Greene on Jan. 19, 2010.
Lauren Senetrik scored nine points to lead the Maples (1-0, 1-3), who were 19 of 36 from the foul line.
Joelle Georgetti scored 10 points to lead Avella (0-1, 1-3), which made only 10 of 26 free throws.