High school basketball roundup: Peters Township’s upset bid falls short against top seed
Colin Luellen’s basket off an offensive rebound with two seconds remaining capped a wild fourth-quarter comeback and gave top-seeded Pine-Richland a 64-62 victory over Peters Township in the WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinals Saturday afternoon at North Hills High School.
Peters Township (16-8), the No. 9 seed, led 36-28 at halftime and took a 57-43 lead into the fourth quarter.
Pine-Richland (21-2) closed the game on a 17-1 run. The Rams tied the score at 62-62, then won on Luellen’s basket, which came after a controversial no-call on an inbounds pass by the Rams. Pine-Richland missed a driving layup on the play but Luellen was left alone under the basket for the followup.
Sam Petrarca led Peters Township in scoring with 22 points, including 10 in the third quarter, when the Indians outscored Pine-Richland, 19-11.
Thomas Melonja had 17 points for the Indians and Dax Ploskina 14.
Dan Petcash scored a game-high 23 points for Pine-Richland, which extended its winning streak to 20 games. Gregg Shulkosky had 13 points and Logan Murray scored 11.
Peters Township can still make the state playoffs, but only if Pine-Richland goes on to win the WPIAL championship.
Girls results
Neshannock 67, Washington 27: Washington’s run through the WPIAL Class 3A girls playoffs ended Saturday afternoon with a 67-27 loss to top-seeded Neshannock at Sewickley Academy.
The season, however, might not be over for the Prexies (19-5). That’s because, if Neshannock defeats Avonworth in the semifinals Wednesday at Moon, then Washington will be assured of a berth in the PIAA tournament as either the fifth- or sixth-place team from the WPIAL. If Avonworth upsets Neshannock, then the season is over for Washington.
Neshannock (21-2), which was playing its first postseason game after getting a bye in the opening round, led 14-9 after one quarter before holding Wash High scoreless in second quarter. The Lancers increased their lead to 27-9 at halftime, then scored 40 second-half points.
The Lancers, who have won 17 in a row, were led in scoring by Kaylee George, who scored 17 points and had half of Neshannock’s six three-pointers. Neleh Nogay followed with 15 points and Brie Dean had 13.
Torri Finley was the only player from Washington to score in double figures. She had 10 points on five field goals. No other player had more than four points.