Jan 6, 2020 7 min read

Alyssa Pollice made one of two free throws in the waning seconds as Bishop Canevin held off hot-shooting Chartiers-Houston, 51-47, in a battle for first place in Class 2A Section 3 Monday night in girls basketball action.

The Pollice free throw, part of her game-high 17 points, gave Canevin (5-0, 7-4) the four-point lead it would maintain the rest of the way.

Chartiers-Houston (3-1, 6-5) were quickly behind 8-0 then recovered with three-point shooting. The Bucs made 10 three-pointers on the night, including five from Zameriah Edwards, who finished with a game-high 19 points. Sister Zalayah Edwards made a trio of three-pointers and scored 13 points.

After Canevin took the early lead, C-H went on a 17-2 run and eventually went into halftime tied 20-20.

Savannah Abbott scored 11 points for the Crusaders.

McGuffey ended its struggles in Class 3A Section 2 in a big way.

McGuffey 56, Beth-Center 34: Controlling play from the start, the Highlanders rode balanced scoring to earn their first section victory with an upset win over Beth-Center, 56-34.

Prior to Monday night, McGuffey (1-4, 5-6) was winless in section play. Dating back to last season, the Highlanders had lost six section games in a row.

Kiera Nicolella helped change that with a 23-point night, the leading scorer for either team. Claire Redd and Abby Donnelly helped balanced McGuffey’s offense with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Beth-Center (2-2, 6-3), which trailed 28-17 at the half, was paced by Anna Sloan’s 13 points.

The Bulldogs were outscored 18-2 in the final quarter.

Trinity 56, Moon 54: Courtney Dahlquist scored 14 points and Trinity held off a late charge by Moon, 56-54, in a key Class 5A Section 1 game.

Trinity (4-1, 8-2) led at every quarter stop, including 29-27 at halftime and 43-38 after three quarters. The Hillers led by five points with two minutes remaining and were able to protect the lead. Moon made a three-pointer in the closing seconds to make it a two-point game.

Kaylin Venick followed Dahlquist in the scoring column for Trinity with 13 points and Riley DeRubbo had 10.

Emma Theodorsson had a game-high 15 points for Moon (3-2, 8-3), which had its six-game winning streak end.

West Greene 56, Washington 12: West Greene made it a perfect 10 to start the season as the Pioneers used another fast start to defeat visiting Washington 56-12 in a non-section game.

The win makes West Greene 10-0 while Washington drops to 3-7.

The Pioneers led 24-3 after one quarter and 40-7 at halftime.

Elizabeth Brudnock led West Greene with a game-high 13 points that included three three-point field goals. Anna Durbin and Brooke Baner each contributed 11 points.

Avella 55, Jefferson-Morgan 14: Avella pushed its winning streak to four games with a 55-14 victory over visiting Jefferson-Morgan in Section 2-A.

The Eagles (3-0, 7-2) took control early, building leads of 26-2 after one quarter and 40-11 at halftime. The win moves Avella to within a half-game of first-place West Greene in the section. The Eagles and Pioneers will meet next Monday in Avella.

Brianna Jenkins led the Eagles in scoring against J-M with 11 points. Hanna Brownlee was close behind with 10 points.

Savannah Clark scored nine points to lead Jefferson-Morgan (1-3, 1-7).

Burgettstown 61, Carmichaels 15: Avery Havelka scored 21 points and Burgettstown won its third consecutive Class 2A Section 3 game in convincing fashion, 61-15, over visiting Carmichaels.

The win sets up a key section game Thursday for Burgettstown (3-1, 8-4) at Chartiers-Houston, which is tied for second place with the Blue Devils.

Against Carmichaels, the Blue Devils shut out the Mikes in the first quarter and led 26-0. Burgettstown stretched the gap to 43-5 at halftime.

Freshman Jill Frazier scored 14 points for the Blue Devils, Mia Ranieri led Carmichaels with nine points.

Monessen 43, California 37: Monessen played great defense for three quarters, then had to fight off a wild comeback by California before defeating the Trojans 43-37 in Section 2-A.

Monessen (2-2, 7-3) held California to only seven first-half points and shut out the Trojans in the second quarter. The Greyhounds led 33-15 after three quarters but were outscored 22-10 over the final eight minutes. Cal was able to draw to within four points in the fourth quarter but could get no closer.

Kendelle Weston led three Monessen players in double figures with 17 points. Qitarah Haqrdison had 14 and Mercedes Majors 10.

California (2-3, 5-6) was led by Ca’Mari Walden’s 17 points.

Mt. Lebanon 69, Canon-McMillan 32: Three players scored in double figures as Mt. Lebanon limited Canon-McMillan to single-digit point totals in three of the four quarters to defeat the Big Macs, 69-32, in a Class 6A Section 2 game.

Ashleigh Connor, Reagan Murdoch and Patrice Smith led the balanced scoring attack for Mt. Lebanon (4-1, 9-2). Connor led all scorers with 26 points. Murdoch added 12 points and Smith finished with 11 for the Blue Devils, who led 35-19 at halftime.

Canon-McMillan (0-5, 1-10) was held to 17 combined points in the first, third and fourth quarters. Elli Kotar led the Big Macs with 12.

Seton LaSalle 56, Charleroi 46: Edging Charleroi in each of the first three quarters, Seton LaSalle earned an important Class 3A Section 2 win on the road against the Cougars, 56-46.

Seton LaSalle (5-0, 8-3) was in first place and Charleroi (3-2, 6-5) entering the night.

It was a three-headed attack for the Rebels as Vanessa Hudson scored 18 points, while Chloe Lestitian and Sarah Merlina each added 15.

Bella Skobel led the way for Charleroi with 17 points. Kaitlin Wagner finished with 13.

Mapletown 40, Geibel Catholic 26: The Mapletown girls rode a strong second quarter for a 40-26 road victory at Geibel Catholic in Section 2-A.

It was the first win of the season for Mapletown (1-3, 1-7) and first-year head coach Kaitlyn Novak. The Maples broke a 5-5 tie at the end of the first quarter with a 15-2 advantage in the second quarter for a 20-7 halftime lead.

Krista Wilson led the Maples with a game-high 15 points. Mekenzie Reda had 12. Gayle Pokol and Morgan Sandzimier both scored seven points for Geibel (1-3, 1-5).

In other games: Thomas Jefferson held off South Fayette 52-43 in Class 5A Section 1 and Frazier defeated visiting Bentworth, 40-25, in Class 2A Section 3.

Boys results

McGuffey 64, Southmoreland 49: C.J. Cole had another impressive stat line to lead McGuffey to a win over visiting Southmoreland, 64-49, to remain unbeaten in Class 3A Section 4.

Cole scored 35 points and grabbed 24 points in the win for McGuffey (4-0, 11-2). Ethan Janovich chipped in for the Highlanders with 15 points and Josiah Newton helped on the glass with 10 rebounds.

Southmoreland (1-2, 2-9) trailed by 10 points, 19-9, after the first quarter. The Scotties’ deficit shrunk to six points by halftime primarily because of Brandon Peterson, who scored 27 points.

Hundred (W.Va.) 44, Jefferson-Morgan 38: Crossing the state line, Cody Fules helped guide a fast start as Hundred (W.Va.) held off a furious third-quarter rally to defeat Jefferson-Morgan, 44-38, in a non-section game.

Fules scored a game-high 22 points as Hundred had a 26-13 lead at halftime.

That advantage quickly went away when Jefferson-Morgan (2-8) scored 21 points in the third quarter to take a 34-33 lead into the fourth.

The Rockets couldn’t keep the momentum in the fourth quarter and were outscored 11-4.

Tahj Jacobs led J-M with 12 points.