Jan 31, 2020 7 min read

Austin Crouse, in his first game back after missing five straight, made two free throws with four seconds remaining Friday, giving West Greene a 42-41 victory over host Mapletown and clinching a playoff berth out of Section 2-A for the Pioneers.

It is the fifth consecutive year West Greene has made the playoffs, which is a school record.

Mapletown, which led 14-9 after one quarter and 22-16 at halftime, was up 41-40 when Crouse was fouled, setting up the game-winning free throws.

Ben Jackson helped rally West Greene (6-4, 7-10) by scoring 17 points.

Mapletown freshman Landan Stevenson scored a game-high 19 points. Matt Atwood added 10 for the Maples (1-10, 1-17), who were coming off their first win of the season.

Trinity 76, Thomas Jefferson 56: Trinity playoff received a huge boost as Michael Koroly scored 27 points and Jordane Adams added 19 in the Hillers’ impressive 76-56 victory over host Thomas Jefferson in Class 5A Section 2.

The win moves Trinity to 7-5 in the section and 12-7 overall. TJ, which is currently in second place in the section, falls to 8-4 and 12-7.

Trinity took control in the first quarter, opening a 23-10 lead as Koroly scored nine in the period and Adams had seven of his points in the first eight minutes.

The Hillers led 39-21 at halftime and 60-40 after three quarters. The Jaguars closed to within 10 points in the fourth quarter but Trinity finished strong.

Adams was 9-for-9 at the free-throw line. Dylan King scored 13 for the Hillers.

Isaac McNeil had 19 points to lead TJ and Noah Pierce scored 12.

South Fayette 53, Montour 52: Kade St. Ledger made a game-winning shot as time expired, giving South Fayette an important 53-52 victory over host Montour in Class 5A Section 2.

South Fayette (7-5, 11-7) enters the final week of the regular season tied for second place in the section with Trinity. West Allegheny is one game back of the Lions and Hillers while Montour (5-6, 8-11) trails by 1½ games.

Montour rallied from a 31-25 halftime deficit to take a one-point lead in the closing seconds, before St. Ledger’s game-winning shot. It was part of a 20-point night for St. Ledger.

James Eubanks led Montour with 20 points.

Charleroi: 73, Beth-Center 43: Joe Caruso scored a game-high 23 points and first-place Charleroi moved a full game ahead of Washington in the Class 3A Section 4 standings with a 73-43 win over Beth-Center.

Charleroi is 10-1 in the section and 15-5 overall with one league game remaining. Washington (8-1, 12-5) had its game against Southmoreland postponed and rescheduled for Wednesday.

The Cougars were in charge from the start against Beth-Center (1-9, 7-12), building leads of 16-5 after one quarter and 37-14 at halftime.

Will Wagner scored 16 points for the Cougars. Andrew Bower led Beth-Center with 14 points.

Waynesburg 53, South Park 50: Lucas Garber scored 12 of his game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter as Waynesburg pulled out a 53-50 victory over host South Park in Class 4A Section 3.

Waynesburg (2-7, 9-11) led 21-20 at halftime and the third quarter ended tied at 37-37. Garber was the difference in the fourth as he made a pair of three-pointers. Chris King scored four of his seven points in the fourth for the Raiders, who were 4-for-4 at the free-throw line in the final period.

South Park (1-8, 6-12) received 16 points from both Aidan Rongaus and Keith Hutton. The Eagles were 8for-8 at the free-throw line in the game.

Canon-McMillan 42, Baldwin 41: Syn’cere Southern scored a game-high 18 points and Canon-McMillan fought off a late comeback by Baldwin to defeat the Highlanders 42-41 in Class 6A Section 2.

Canon-McMillan (2-7, 7-12) trailed 14-5 after one quarter before outscoring Baldwin 23-10 in the second for a 28-24 halftime lead. Southern scored 12 of his points in the key second quarter.

The Big Macs pushed their lead to 40-32 after three quarters before being held to only two points, a field goal by Cole Stanley, in the final eight minutes.

Baldwin (0-9, 6-13), however, could muster only nine points in the fourth quarter. Connor Gitzen led the Highlanders with 12 points.

Carmichaels 68, Bentworth 49: Sparked by Christopher Barrish’s 20 points, Carmichaels used a big first half to defeat visiting Bentworth 68-49 in Class 2A Section 2.

Carmichaels (2-9, 9-11) scored 51 points in the first half and led by 26 at the break. Barrish scored 18 of his points in the first half. Al Cree finished with 17 points for the Mikes and Drake Long tossed in 13.

Bentworth’s Landon Urcho and Shawn Dziak each had 10 points.

Sewickley Academy 58, Burgettstown 56: Sewickley Academy overcame an early deficit and edged host Burgettstown 58-56 in Class 2A Section 3.

Sewickley Academy (6-4, 7-10), which is closing in on a playoff berth, trailed 16-8 after one quarter as Burgettstown (2-8, 6-13) started strong. The Panthers, however, gained a 28-27 edge at halftime and led 44-40 after three quarters.

George Zheng led three Sewickley Academy players in twin figures with a game-high 17 points to go with six assists.

Dylan Poirier and Jackson LaRocka each had 14 points for Burgettstown. Cole Shergi and Johnny Baronick finished with 10 points apeice.

Mt. Lebanon 66, Peters Township 45: Jake Hoffman scored 23 points, which included five three-pointers, as Mt. Lebanon defeated visiting Peters Township in a battle of playoff-bound teams from Class 6A Section 2.

Blaine Gartley had 17 points and Andy Sapp 11 for the Blue Devils, who made 13 three-pointers.

Peters Township was paced by Sam Petrarca’s 12 points.

Jeannette 64, Chartiers-Houston 58: Jeannette, the third-ranked team in Class 2A, outscored Chartiers-Houston 7-1 in the second overtime period to pull out a 64-58 victory on the Bucs’ home court.

Both teams scored four points in the first overtime. All five C-H points in the extra sessions came on free throws.

Jackson Pruitt scored 16 points to pace the section-leading Jayhawks (9-1, 13-7), Toby Cline had 14 and Keith Rockmore 13.

Austin Arnold of C-H (3-7, 9-10) had a game-high 18 points. Evan Simpson followed with 14 points and Seth Dunn had 11.

Geibel Catholic 80, Jefferson-Morgan 56: Enzo Fetsko and Cole Kendall combined for 42 points, powering Geibel Catholic to an 80-56 victory over host Jefferson-Morgan in Section 2-A.

Geibel (8-3, 13-6) led by only 17-13 after one quarter, then the Gators put up 44 points over the next two quarters to open a 61-43 advantage. Fetzko finished with a game-high 23 points, Kendall had 19 and Drew Howard scored 12 for Geibel.

Jefferson-Morgan (3-7, 5-15) also had three players score in double figures: Elijah Saeson (15), Tyler Kniha (13) and Troy Wright (10).

Seton LaSalle 84, Fort Cherry 51: Michael Bigley scored 20 points, Daniel Boehme had 16 and Seton LaSalle rolled past host Fort Cherry 84-51 in Class 3A Section 2.

Henry Karn scored a game-high 21 points for Fort Cherry (1-10, 4-15). Noah Babirad had another double-digit scoring game with 11 points.

Brentwood 58, California 56: C.J. Ziegler scored 28 points, which included five three-point field goals, as Brentwood overcame a slow start and beat host California 58-56 in Class 2A Section 2.

Malik Ramsey led California with 21 points, Nate O’Savage had 16 and Matt Trunzo 10.

Girls results

Burgettstown 60, Carmichaels 24: Senior Celeste DeVecchio scored 18 points and Burgettstown rode two big quarters to a 60-24 victory at Camichaels in Class 2A Section 3.

The Blue Devils (8-2, 14-6) outscored the host Mikes 20-7 in the first quarter, and after leading 27-17 at halftime broke the game open with a 28-2 scoring edge in the third quarter.

Avery Havelka finished with 14 points and Jill Frazier had 10 for Burgettstown, which plays Chartiers-Houston on Monday with the winner likely finishing in second place in the section.

Mia Ranieri led Carmichaels (1-9, 4-15) with 13 points.

Mapletown 39, Geibel Catholic 19: Morgan Williamson and Krista Wilson combined for 29 points and Mapletown won its second game in a row, a 39-19 victory over visiting Geibel Catholic in Section 2-A.

Mapletown (2-7, 3-14) led 12-9 after one quarter and then outscored the Gators 27-10 the rest of the way.

Alex Caldwell led Geibel (1-10, 1-15) with five points.