Jan 7, 2022 7 min read

It took undefeated Belle Vernon a quarter to get going, but once the Leopards did there was no stopping them Friday night.

Quinton Martin scored 23 points and Belle Vernon won a showdown for first place in Class 4A Section 3 by rolling over visiting Uniontown, 77-56 in boys basketball action.

Belle Vernon (4-0, 10-0) trailed 19-17 after one quarter but dominated the second period by a 23-8 margin to take a 40-27 lead into halftime. The Red Red Raiders never recovered.

Martin had a double-double as he grabbed 13 rebounds. Daniel Gordon scored 19 points, Devin Whitlock had 12 points and eight assists, and Logan Cunningham checked in with 11 points for the Leopards.

Tanner Uphold led Uniontown (2-1, 4-4) with 14 points.

Jefferson-Morgan 71, Bentworth 51: Jefferson-Morgan played its first game since Dec. 20 and made up for lost time by defeating visiting Bentworth 71-51 in Class 2A Section 4.

The Rockets (1-0, 5-1), who extended their winning streak to five games, jumped on Bentworth early, building a 23-9 lead after one quarter and stretching it to 44-27 at halftime.

Colt Fowler led the way for J-M with 26 points. Joshua Wise was the only other J-M player to hit double figures as he scored 13.

Landon Urcho scored a game-high 28 points for Bentworth (0-1, 2-6) and Aiden Bochter tossed in 15.

Moon 64, Trinity 50: Trinity won the first and fourth quarters but it wasn’t by enough to offset what Moon did in the middle two quarters in the Tigers’ 64-50 victory in Class 5A Section 2.

Trinity held a 16-12 lead after one quarter and outscored Moon (1-1, 4-6) by a 23-20 margin in the fourth quarter.

However, Moon outscored Trinity 6-0 in the second quarter to take an 18-16 lead into halftime, then put up a 26-11 edge in the pivotal third quarter.

Elijah Gilfoyle led Moon with 27 points and Collin Sunday had 12.

Trinity (0-1, 4-5), which was without a couple of its key players, had three in twin figures as Owen Wayman scored 17 points, which included five three-point baskets. Dante DeRubbo had 16 points and four three-pointers, and Gio Cipoletti tossed in 11.

Laurel Highlands 73, Ringgold 49: Ringgold hung with undefeated Laurel Highlands for one quarter, then the Rams’ scoring disappeared and LH ran away with a 73-49 victory in Class 5A Section 1.

Laurel Highlands (2-0, 8-0) led by only 21-18 after one quarter on the Rams’ home court before outscoring Ringgold 47-18 over the next two quarters.

Keondre DeShields led the Mustangs with a game-high 26 points. Brandon Davis scored 16 and Rodney Gallagher had 15.

Nick Peccon paced Ringgold (0-3, 4-7) with 22 points and Zion Moore had 21.

West Greene 51, Propel Montour 45: West Greene’s Ian Van Dyne scored a game-high 20 points, which included five clutch free throws in the fourth quarter, as the Pioneers defeated visiting Propel Montour 51-45 in Class A Section 2.

West Greene (1-1, 3-8) saw its six-point halftime lead cut to 36-34 entering the fourth quarter. But Van Dyne’s scoring, with included him making five of six attempts from the foul line, enabled the Pioneers to outscore the Legends 15-11 in the pivotal fourth quarter.

Kaden Shields also reached double figures for the Pioneers with 10 points.

Dauj Jones topped Propel Montour (0-2, 2-7) with 17 points, which included four baskets from behind the arc. Jaiden Williams had 13.

Bethel Park 37, Canon-McMillan 34: Canon-McMillan dug itself an early hole and almost made its way back to the top before falling 37-34 at Bethel Park in a Class 6A Section 2 game.

The outcome wasn’t decided until Canon-McMillan (0-2, 4-4) missed a three-point shot as time expired.

The Big Macs trailed 10-3 after one quarter, 19-16 at halftime and 31-29 entering the final period.

Jake Samosky’s 10 points led the Big Macs.

Jaden Goodman had a game-high 14 for Bethel Park (2-0, 9-1).

Bishop Canevin 85, Mapletown 33: Bishop Canevin remained unbeaten in Class A Section 2 with an 5-33 victory over Mapletown.

Kai Spears led the Crusaders (2-0, 4-3) in scoring with 20 points. Landan Stevenson had 11 for the Maples (1-1, 4-3), which had a four-game winning streak end.

Chartiers Valley 64, South Fayette 54: Chartiers Valley picked up its first win of the season, 64-54, over South Fayette in Class 5A Section 2.

The Colts (1-0, 1-7) led 30-17 at halftime before South Fayette trimmed the gap to 41-34 entering the fourth quarter.

Jayden Davis led CV with a game-high 26 points.

Nate Deans had 16 points and Logan Lutz 10 for South Fayette (1-1, 4-5).

Monessen 62, California 37: Monessen overcame a slow start to win at California 62-37 in Class 2A Section 4.

The Greyhounds trailed 12-7 after one quarter, then outscored the Trojans 24-4 in the second quarter to take a 31-16 lead into halftime.

Lorenzo Gardner topped Monessen in scoring with 21 points. Hunter Assad had 15 to lead California.

Chartiers-Houston 66, Northgate 54: Chartiers-Houston rebounded from a poor game at the free-throw line to make 20 of 25 foul shots in a 66-54 victory over host Northgate in Class 2A Section 2.

Lucas Myers scored 22 points for the Bucs (1-1, 3-7), which led 29-28 at halftime and stayed in front because of its performance at the charity stripe.

Manny Ntumngia had 13 for the Bucs and Avery Molek had 10.

Josh William scored a game-high 23 points for Northgate (0-2, 5-5).

In other games: Upper St. Clair edged Peters Township 54-45 in Class 6A Section 2. No game details were reported.

Girls results

Trinity 89, Ringgold 19: Trinity put five players in double figures, led by Eden Williamson’s 20 points, and the Hillers rolled to a lopsided 89-19 victory over Ringgold in a Class 5A Section 3 game at Hiller Hall.

Trinity (4-0, 8-1) wasted no time in taking control of the game, outscoring Ringgold 32-5 in the first quarter and 48-8 in the first half. It was the 16th consecutive section victory for the Hillers.

Maddy Roberts scored 17 points for Trinity, Macie Justice added 15, Alyssa Clutter had 12 and Kristina Bozek 11.

Avella 62, Mapletown 44: Hanna Brownlee led three Avella players in double figures with 18 points and the Eagles shot down Mapletown, 62-44, in Class A Section 2.

Avella (2-0, 4-3) used Brownlee’s long-range shooting to stop a five-game winning streak by Mapletown (1-1, 5-4). Brownlee scored 15 of her points on five three-point field goals, including two in the first quarter when Avella bolted out to a 19-8 lead.

The Eagles kept the lead in double figures the rest of the way as they led 31-19 at halftime and 47-29 after three quarters.

Avella’s Ava Frank scored 16 points and Katie Dryer had 13.

Mapletown’s Taylor Dusenberry scored a game-high 21 points and teammate Krista Wilson had 16, but the Maples received only seven points from the rest of the team.

West Greene 52, Waynesburg 41: Anna Durbin scored a game-high 20 points and West Greene held visiting Waynesburg without a field goal in the foruth quarter to storm back for a 52-41 victory over the Raiders in a non-section game.

West Greene (6-3) trailed 26-23 at halftime and 36-32 after three quarters but outscored Waynesburg (6-3) 20-5 in the all-important fourth quarter.

Katie Lampe helped West Greene by scoring 11 points.

Kaley Rohanna paced Waynesburg with 19 points and Clara Paige Miller had 14.