Feb 7, 2023 7 min read

A strong middle two quarters led the South Fayette boys basketball team to a crucial 48-45 victory over first-place North Hills in a Class 5A Section 4 game Tuesday night.

Michael Plasko scored 21 points and Elijah Hill added 14 points for South Fayette (4-5, 11-9), which outscored North Hills, 32-18, over the second and third quarters.

Royce Parham led all scorers with 26 and Zach Pollaro chipped in 10 for North Hills (7-2, 16-5).

Peters Township 77, Trinity 58: Peters Township pulled away from Trinity in the second half on the way to a 77-58 victory in a Class 5A Section 1 game.

The win leaves Peters Township (8-1, 17-3) neck-and-neck with Bethel Park in first place.

Jack Dunbar led the Indians with 33 points, thanks in part to four three-point field goals. Cam Mills added 15. Peters Township, which has won 10 in a row, outscored Trinity, 37-20, in the second half.

Drew Collins scored 18 points and Jacob Dunkle added 10 for the Hillers (3-6, 8-12), who lost the third game in a row.

Fort Cherry 77, Carmichaels 36: The trend for Fort Cherry this season has been to overrun its opponents in the first half. At Carmichaels on Tuesday night. the Rangers had to wait until the second half to deliver its knockout punch.

Owen Norman scored a game-high 29 points and Class 2A Section 4 champion Fort Cherry defeated Carmichaels 77-36.

The game was close for two quarters as Fort Cherry (11-0, 19-2) led by only five points, 23-18, at halftime. The Rangers then opened the second half by scoring 13 consecutive points and 18 of the quarter’s first 20 points. Fort Cherry led 58-27 by the end of the quarter.

Shane Cornali scored 12 points and Matt Sieg added 10 for the Rangers, who have won 17 straight.

Aydan Adamson led Carmichaels (5-6, 12-9) in scoring with 10 points.

Burgettstown 68, Frazier 43: Andrew Bredel scored 19 points, leading four Burgettstown players in double figures, and the surging Blue Devils rolled to a 68-43 home-court win over Frazier in Class 2A Section 4.

Burgettstown (8-3, 12-8) has won six in a row. The Blue Devils had no trouble with Frazier (1-10, 2-19), forging leads of 17-5 after one quarter and 38-14 at halftime.

Caleb Russell scored 18 points for Burgettstown, Zack Schrockman had 15 and James Leuice scored 10.

Keyshaun Thompson’s 15 points were tops for Frazier.

Monessen 61, Mapletown 44: Lorenzo Gardner scored 24 points and Monessen pulled away in the second half for a 61-44 victory over host mapletown in Class A Section 2.

The win keep Monessen in first place at 8-1 in the section. The Greyhounds are 18-2 overall.

Despite the loss, Mapletown (3-6, 7-11) clinched a playoff berth when Jefferson-Morgan defeated West Greene.

Monessen led 35-27 at halftime and then pulled away by outscorign the Maples 14-4 in the third quarter.

Dante DeFelice had 15 points for the Greyhounds and Rodney Johnson scored 10.

Braden McIntire paced Mapletown with 14 points, Cohen Stout had 12 and Landan Stevenson 10.

Jefferson-Morgan 52, West Greene 40: Troy Wright scored 16 points, sparking Jefferson-Morgan to a 52-40 home-court win over West Greene in Class A Section 2.

Jefferson-Morgan (6-3, 13-8) clinched a winning record in section play. The Rockets held West Greene (1-7, 4-16) to 10 points in the first half as J-M moved out to a 14-point lead.

Jordan Jacobs scored 10 points for the Rockets.

Lane Allison again led the Pioneers in scoring as he tossed in a game-high 19 points.

Ringgold 57, Connellsville 54: Ringgold outscored host Connellsville 17-10 in the pivotal fourth quarter to rally for a 57-54 win in Class 5A Section 1.

Winless Connellsville led at the first three quarter stops, 23-16, 32-31 and 44-40 before Ringgold (2-7, 4-17) mounted its comeback.

Aiden Angotti led four Ringgold players in double figures with 17 points. Daryl Tolliver had 13, Lorenzo Glasser 12 and Jake Pehowic 11.

Connellsville’s Anthony Piasecki scored a game-high 29 points.

Yough 50, McGuffey 30: Yough had Terek Crosby and that proved to be the difference as the Cougars edged McGuffey 50-42 in a Class 3A Section 4 game.

Crosby scored a game-high 30 points as Yough improved to 9-2 in the section and 14-7 overall. McGuffey slipped to 5-6, 11-10 but the Highlanders clinched a playoff berth when Brownsville defeated Charleroi.

McGuffey led 24-22 at halftime but Crosby took over in the second half. Yough grabbed a 35-31 lead after three quarters and outscored the Highlanders 15-11 in the fourth.

Philip McCuen and Ayden Cunningham each tossed in nine points for McGuffey.

Serra Catholic 78, Chartiers-Houston 72: Isiah Petty and Joey DeMoss combined for 50 points as Serra Catholic defeated Chartiers-Houston 78-72 in a non-section game matching two playoff-bound teams from Class 2A.

A slow start proved costly to Chartiers-Houston (15-6). The Bucs fell behind 23-10 after one quarter and trailed 45-29 at halftime. C-H outscored Serra (12-8) in the two remaining quarters.

Petty scored a game-high 26 points and DeMoss had 24. Pete Burke added 13 points for the Eagles.

Avery Molek led the C-H attack with 21 points. Jake Mele followed with 16 and Nate Gregory had 12.

Bentworth 80, Beth-Center 61: Bentworth kept its hopes for a playoff berth alive in Class 2A, Section 4 with an 80-61 victory over Beth-Center.

Landon Urcho led Bentworth (5-7, 11-10) with 31 points. Ben Hays scored 14 points, Christian May had 12, and Chris Harper 10 for the Bearcats, who scored 20 points in all four quarters to reach 80.

For Beth-Center (0-19, 1-20), Brody Tharp tossed in 19 points, Dom Revi 13, Jonah Sussman 13 and Jason Zellie 11.

Belle Vernon 72, Albert Gallatin 42: Belle Vernon locked up third place in Class 4A, Section 3 with a 72-42 victory over Albert Gallatin.

Quinton Martin and Zion Moore each scored 23 points for Belle Vernon (5-4, 10-10), which led 48-20 at halftime.

Blake White led Albert Gallatin (0-9, 3-14) with 10 points.

Upper St. Clair 68, Canon-McMillan 43: Upper St. Clair clinched a tie for first place in Class 6A, Section 2 with a 68-43 victory over Canon-McMillan.

A win over Baldwin on Friday gives USC first place in the section.

Nick Sukernek scored 14 points and Matthew Gaither added 12 for the Panthers (8-1, 13-8), who led 34-16 at halftime.

Eamon O’Donoghue’s 10 points paced Canon-McMillan (0-9, 3-18).

Carlynton 72, Avella 25: Chase Jones scored 22 points, Jaden McClure added 19 and carlynton prevented Avella from clinching a playoff berth by defeating the Eagles 72-25 in Class A Section 1.

Carlynton (7-2, 14-6) won its third straight. The Cougars scored 56 points in the first half.

Westley Burchianti scored 10 points for Avella (3-6, 6-15), which is tied with Western Beaver for the final playoff spot from the section.

Mount Pleasant 71, Waynesburg 14: Yukon Daniels scored 19 points, Brayden Caletri had 18 and Mount Pleasant rolled to a 71-14 win over visiting Waynesburg in Class 2A Section 4.

Mount Pleasant (4-7, 5-15) led 15-0 after one quarter and 33-9 at halftime.

Alex VanSickle scored 10 points for Waynesburg (1-9, 3-17).

Geibel Catholic 78, California 60: Jaydis Kennedy scored 27 points and Geibel Catholic kept its title hopes alive in Class A Section 1 with a 78-60 win at California.

Jacob Ziolecki paced the California attack with 17 points and Noah Neil scored 11.

Geibel led 39-29 at halftime and then outscored the Trojans 21-6 in the third quarter.

Girls results

Upper St. Clair 67, Canon-McMillan 33: Class 6A Section 2 champion Upper St. Clair cruised to a 67-33 win over Canon-McMillan.

USC (11-0, 18-2) extended its winning streak to 12 games. The Panthers led 25-6 after one quarter and 42-13 at halftime.

Mia Brown led USC with 20 points and Rylee Kalocay had 17.

All of the scoring for Canon-Mac (1-10, 5-14) was done by three players. Nadia Davis led with 12 points, Kelsey Wandera had 11 and Lauren Borella 10.

West Greene 55, Jefferson-Morgan 21: West Greene got back on the winning track with a 55-21 road win over Jefferson-Morgan in Class A Section 2.

Kasie Meek scored 13 points and Taylor Karvan had 11 to lead the Pioneers (7-2, 11-9), who had lost their last two games. West Greene was in control throughout, forging leads of 22-9 after one quarter and 37-16 at halftime.