Jan 28, 2020 10 min read

Building on its second-half momentum, visiting California outscored Serra Catholic 11-6 in overtime to upset the first-place Eagles, 70-65, in a Class 2A Section 2 boys basketball game Tuesday night.

Serra Catholic’s Josiah Pais tied the game with a late three-pointer to send it into overtime, but the final two quarters belonged to the Trojans.

Four players scored in double figures for California (5-4, 10-7), including Malik Ramsey’s 18 points, to battle back from a 31-24 halftime deficit. The Trojans outscored Serra Catholic (8-2, 10-7) in the third quarter 20-13 to tie the game.

Cochise Ryan had 16 points, Kwondre Porter added 14 to go along with Nathan O’Savage’s 13 as the Trojans won their fifth consecutive game.

Pais scored 18 points to lead Serra Catholic, which had its three-game winning streak snapped. Mark Thomas and Cam German had 13 and 12 points, respectively. The loss knocked Serra out of the section lead.

Trinity 69, Moon 58: Scoring a career-high 34 points, Michael Koroly guided Trinity to a much-needed victory over Moon, 69-58, in a Class 5A Section 2 game.

Koroly made a trio of three-pointers and had joined Michael Dunn with a pair of fast-break layups after steals in the fourth quarter to build the lead for the Hillers.

The win keeps Trinity (6-5, 11-7) in the mix for a playoff spot in a jumbled section. The Hillers are tied with South Fayette for third place. Montour is in fourth place, trailing only by a half game after losing to Thomas Jefferson Tuesday.

Dylan King scored 14 points for the Hillers. Michael Dunn and Jordane Adams also cracked double figures with 10 points each.

Moon (3-8, 5-12) was led by Logan Young’s 16 points. Zach Hurley scored 11.

West Allegheny 71, South Fayette 59: Jackson Faulk powered a strong fourth quarter as West Allegheny upended South Fayette in Class 5A Section 2, 71-59.

Faulk scored a game-high 24 points as West Allegheny (5-6, 10-9) outscored the Lions 27-17 to pull away in the final eight minutes. Scott Bilivous also finished in double digits with 14.

South Fayette (6-5, 10-7) trailed by six at halftime but trimmed its deficit to just two points entering the fourth quarter. Connor Mislan had 16 points, Drew Franklin scored 15 and Kade St. Ledger chipped in with 13.

Washington 86, Frazier 34: Washington wasted no time taking control against visiting Frazier as the Prexies scored 33 first-quarter points en route to an 86-34 rout in Class 3A Section 4.

The win keeps Washington (8-1, 12-5) a half-game behind section leader Charleroi, which won 57-47 over Southmoreland.

The Prexies led 33-10 after one quarter and 51-22 at halftime. The lead grew to 68-34 after three quarters before Wash High shut out Frazier 18-0 in the fourth quarter.

Brandon Patterson scored eight of his game-high 20 points in the Prexies’ big first quarter. Marlon Norris and Ian Bredniak each tossed in 18 points.

Frazier (1-9, 1-16) received 16 points from Luke Santo and 10 from Joshua Skotnicki.

Belle Vernon 79, South Park 62: Devin Whitlock scored 32 points and Belle Vernon bounced back from a close loss to Uniontown by rolling to a 79-62 win over host South Park in Class 4A Section 3.

The Leopards (6-2, 14-5) outscored South Park in only two quarters but they were by big margins. Belle Vernon led 23-11 after one quarter and outscored the Eagles 25-12 in the third period.

Thomas Hepple scored 16 points for the Leps and Mitchell Pohlot had 11.

Keith Hutton had a big game for South Park (1-7, 6-11) with 22 points. Aidan Rongaus had 13.

Peters Township 74, Baldwin 61: Sam Petrarca and Colin Cote combined for 46 points and Peters Township clinched a playoff berth from Class 6A Section 2 with a 74-61 victory over visiting Baldwin.

Petrarca scored a game-high 25 points with 19 coming in the first half when the Indians (4-4, 10-8) forged a 43-33 lead. Cote kept PT in front, scoring 10 of his 21 points in the second half.

Loagn Pfeuffer contributed 12 points for the Indians, who made seven t6hree-pointers.

Connor Gitzen and Connor Lavelle each had 14 points for Baldwin (0-8, 6-12).

McGuffey 67, Beth-Center 62: Preventing an upset by making 24 of 34 free throws down the stretch, McGuffey held off Beth-Center, 67-62, in a Class 3A Section 4 game.

A three-headed offensive attack for McGuffey was led by C.J. Cole, who had 41 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Nick Dinka and Ethan Janovich both had 10 points as the three accounted for 61 of the Highlanders’ 67 points. All of Janovich’s points came in the second half.

Beth-Center (1-8, 7-11) also found success at the foul line, going 14-for-18 and staying with McGuffey to nearly pull off a fourth-quarter comeback. The Bulldogs scored 26 points in the fourth quarter but couldn’t erase its nine-point deficit entering the last eight minutes.

Andrew Bower scored 22 to lead Beth-Center. Easton McDaniel and Rueben Miller each had 11.

Burgettstown 47, Mohawk 46: Johnny Baronick made a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left to make a long drive to Mohawk worth it, defeating the Warriors 47-46 in a Class 2A Section 3 game.

Mohawk (0-10, 4-16) missed a three-pointer and Baronick grabbed the rebound to seal the victory, ending the Blue Devils seven-game losing streak.

A back-and-forth game, Burgettstown (2-7, 6-12) trailed by just one point after the first and third quarters. The two teams were tied at halftime, 22-22.

Cole Shergi’s game-high 24 points led the Blue Devils, while Mohawk had four players score in double figures. Josh Kurtz and Will Bloom each had 12 points for the Warriors.

Mapletown 51, Avella 48: Erasing a 11-point halftime deficit, Mapletown completed the comeback with a strong second half to win its first game of the season, 51-48, over Avella in Class A Section 2.

The Maples were 0-9 in the section and 0-16 overall entering the game. They also trailed 28-17 after the opening two quarters until using balanced scoring to chip away.

Ryan Tuttle and Landan Stevenson each scored 11 points for Mapletown. Matt Atwood added 10 and seven rebounds as the Maples outscored Avella (1-8, 4-15) in the second half 34-20. Stevenson also had five rebounds, six steals and seven assists.

Gabe Lis scored 23 points for the Eagles, while Justin Dryer finished with 10.

Upper St. Clair 60, Canon-McMillan 42: The Canon-McMillan offense didn’t come alive until the fourth quarter and it was too little, too late.

Despite 25 points in the fourth, the Big Macs fell to Class 6A Section 2 foe Upper St. Clair, 60-42.

Syn’cere Southern scored 13 points to lead C-M (1-7, 6-12), which combined to score just 17 points in the first three quarters.

Upper St. Clair (6-2, 16-3) balanced its offense as Ethan Dahlem, Jack Moore and Luke Gensler all finished with 13 points. Andrew Casey chipped in with 10 for the Panthers.

Charleroi 57, Southmoreland 47: Inching further away in each of the final three quarters, Charleroi won its ninth Class 3A Section 4 game in a row by defeating Southmoreland, 57-47.

Helping Charleroi (9-1, 14-5) and keep its half-game lead in the section over Washington was Legend Davis, who led all scorers with 20 points. Joe Caruso added 11 for the Cougars as they led by four at halftime, nine after three quarters and ended the game with a double-digit victory.

Bishop Canevin 83, Jefferson-Morgan 41: A high-powered, balanced Bishop Canevin offense scored 53 points in the first half en route to an 83-41 victory over Jefferson-Morgan to remain undefeated in Class A Section 2.

Dom Elliott, Kevaughn Price and Nevan Crossey all scored in double figures for the Crusaders. Elliott led that effort with 22 points. Price finished with 17 and Crossey added 15.

Bishop Canevin (10-0, 15-3) had a commanding 73-35 lead after three quarters.

Colt Fowler was the lone player for Jefferson-Morgan (3-6, 5-14) with double digits, scoring 11 points.

Brentwood 59, Chartiers-Houston 55: C.J. Ziegler scored 20 points and Brentwood kept its Class 2A Section 2 title hopes alive with a 59-55 win over visiting Chartiers-Houston.

It was the second win for Brentwood (8-2, 13-4) by single digits over Chartiers-Houston (3-6, 9-10), which dropped under the .500 mark for the season.

The score was tied 23-23 at halftime before Brentwood pushed out to a 44-38 lead after three quarters.

Austin Arnold of C-H took game scoring honors with 21 points. Evan Simpson and Ahlijah Vaden each scored 12.

Jeannette 65, Carmichaels 50: Jeannette moved into sole possession of first place in Class 2A Section 2with a 65-50 victory over visiting Carmichaels.

Jeannette (8-1, 12-7) has won 11 of its last 12. The Jayhawks, who led 37-26 at halftime, received 16 points from Jackson Pruitt, 12 from Anton Good and 10 from Keith Rockmore.

Carmichaels (1-9, 7-11) also had three players in double figures led by Al Cree’s 11 points. Drake Long and Mike Stewart each chipped in with 10 points.

In other games: Uniontown clinched the Class 4A Section 3 championship with a 70-51 victory over Ringgold, and Elizabeth Forward clinched a playoff berth out of the same section with a 56-55 win at Waynesburg. North Catholic defeated Fort Cherry 84-38 in Class 3A Section 2. No game details were reported.

Girls results

Mapletown 40, Hundred (W.Va.) 36, OT: Morgan Williamson scored four of her game-high 24 points in overtime as Mapletown outlasted host Hundred (W.Va.), 40-36.

It was the second win of the season for Mapletown (2-14), which finished the game with only five available players after one fouled out. Williamson’s scoring helped Mapletown to a 16-15 lead at halftime and 25-24 edge after three quarters. Hundred used an offensive rebound and basket to tie the score at 34-34 and force overtime but the Hornets were outscored 6-2 in the extra session.

MeKenzie Reda had a basket for Mapletown in overtime, and Williamson had a field goal and two free throws.

Sydney Duckworth was the leading scorer for Hundred with 12 points.

Belle Vernon 54, South Park 50: Rachel Wobrak scored 20 points and hauled down 14 rebounds, powering Belle Vernon to a 54-50 victory over visiting South Park in a non-section game.

Belle Vernon (11-7) led 28-22 at halftime and 40-35 after three quarters.

Viva Kreis scored 13 points for the Leopards, Jenna Dawson had 10 and Taylor Rodriguez led the floor game with seven assists.

Danielle DeProspo had another big game for South Park (11-7) with 17 points.

Waynesburg 58, Bentworth 29: Riley Morehead scored a game-high 17 points as Waynesburg defeated Bentworth in a non-section game, 58-29.

The win ends a three-game losing skid for the Raiders, who improve to 6-13 overall. The loss extends the losing streak for Bentworth (4-15) to four games.

Waynesburg’s Clara Paige Miller also reached double figures with 11 points.

Caroline Rice led Bentworth with 15.