Jan 10, 2023 6 min read

Braiden Wise scored a game-high 19 points and Washington used a nearly perfect first half Tuesday night to roll to a 65-21 victory over visiting Waynesburg in a Class 3A Section 4 boys basketball game.

Washington (5-0, 10-2) ran its winning streak to eight games and remains the lone team in the section that is unbeaten in league play.

Wash High could have quit scoring after one quarter against Waynesburg (0-4, 2-11) because the Prexies already had enough points. Wash High led 30-0 after eight minutes of play and 44-4 at halftime. The only trouble spot for the Prexies was at the free-throw line, where they made only three of 12 attempts before halftime.

Wise scored 17 of his points in the first half, including 13 in the opening quarter.

Ruben Gordon was the only other Wash High player in double figures. He had 10 points. Nine different Prexies cracked the scoring column.

Dane Woods led Waynesburg with 10 points.

McGuffey 42, Brownsville 36: McGuffey moved into sole possession of second place in Class 2A Section 4 with a 42-36 home-court win over Brownsville.

The Highlanders (3-1, 9-5) built a lead in the first half and then was able to grind out the victory. McGuffey led 9-6 after one quarter and 20-12 at halftime. The Highlanders’ lead remained at eight points after three quarters.

Jantzen Durbin led the McGuffey offense with 13 points and Grayson Wallace chipped in with 11. The Highlanders have won four of their last five.

Trent Wible had 13 pointsw for Brownsville (3-2, 7-3).

Avella 51, Cornell 31: Brothers Colton and Westley Burchianti combined for 27 points and Avella picked up its first Class A Section 1 victory, 51-31, at Cornell.

Avella (1-0, 3-11) snapped a four-game slide by taking control early, jumping out to a 13-2 lead after one quarter. The Eagles padded their lead to 27-9 at halftime and 43-17 after three quarters.

Colton Burchianti led a balanced attack for Avella with 14 points. Westley Burchianti followed with 13 and Bryce Wright finished in double figures with 12.

Julian Cordice and Ameer Turner combined for all but three of Cornell’s points. Cordice scored a game-high 18 points and Turner had 10. The Raiders are 0-2 in section and 0-9 overall.

Jefferson-Morgan 60, California 52: Josh Jacobs led three Jefferson-Morgan players in double figures with 15 points and the Rockets rode a strong second quarter to a 60-52 victory over visiting California in a Class A Section 2 game.

California led 11-10 after one quarter before Jefferson-Morgan took control of the game by outscoring the Trojans 22-10 in the pivotal second quarter for a 32-21 halftime lead. California outscored J-M by three points over the second half.

The win moves J-M to 2-1 in the section and 8-5 overall. The Rockets have won four of their last five. California slipped to 0-3, 4-8.

Troy Wright scored 14 points for the Rockets and Huston Guesman had 12.

Aidan Lowden led the Trojans with a game-high 21 points. Dom Martini scored 11.

Thomas Jefferson 61, Trinity 59: Noah Prosser and Brody Evans combined for nine three-point field goals and Thomas Jefferson held off host Trinity 61-59 to stay unbeaten in Class 5A Section 1.

The game was tied 45-45 after three quarters. TJ (3-0, 7-4) moved ahead at 61-58 with less than 30 seconds remaining and Trinity in possession of the basketball. The Jaguars fouled Trinity’s Dante DeRubbo, who scored a game-high 21 points, before he could shoot a potential game-tying three-pointer. That sent DeRubbo to the foul line where he made the first first attempt and had to intentionally miss the second try but the Hillers were unable regain possession.

Prosser scored 20 points and made six three-pointers for the Jaguars, who had averaged 95 points per game over their last two contests. Evan Berger followed with 17 points and Evans’ 11 included a trio of three-pointers.

Tim Hodges scored 12 points and Drew Collins had 11 for Trinity (1-2, 6-6). The Hillers play at Peters Township on Friday night.

Burgettstown 73, Bentworth 58: Zack Schrockman and Andrew Bredel combined for 42 points, powering Burgettstown to a 73-58 win over Bentworth in a Class 2A Section 4 game at the Blue Devils’ gymnasium.

Burgettstown (3-1, 5-6), which has sole possession of third place in the section, broke open a close game by outscoring Bentworth 27-12 in the third quarter to open a 62-49 lead.

Schrockman led the Blue Devils with 23 points and Bredel was close behind with 19. Caleb’s Russell’s 14 points and James Leuice’s 11 gave Burgettstown four players in double figures.

Landon Urcho poured in a game-high 26 points for Bentworth (2-3, 7-5), which led 19-18 after one quarter and 37-35 at halftime. Chris Harper and Ben Hays each scored 10.

Hempfield 46, Canon-McMillan 44: A furious fourth-quarter rally was enough for Hempfield to come away with a 46-44 victory over Canon-McMillan in a Class 6A Section 2 game.

Canon-McMillan (0-3, 3-8) went into the fourth quarter with a 34-31 lead but Hempfield (1-2, 5-7) outscored the Big Macs, 15-10.

Evan Morris led C-M with 15 points and Eamon O’Donoghue tossed in 13. The Big Macs have lost four in a row.

Hempfield was led by Harrison Sowers’ 19 points and Drew Gordon’s 13.

Carmichaels 77, Frazier 59: A strong second half propelled Carmichaels to a 77-59 victory over visiting Frazier in a Class 2A game in Section 4.

The Mikes were paced by Dom Colarusso’s 25 points and Aydan Adamson’s career-high 21. Carmichaels (2-2, 8-5) outscored Frazier (0-4, 1-12) by a score of 43-33 in the second half.

Tyler Richmond scored 16 points and Alec Anderson popped in 10 points for the Mikes.

Brennan Stewart scored 22 points, Keyshaun Thompson 19 and Logan Butcher 10 for Frazier.

Monessen 74, West Greene 47: A big fourth quarter by Monessen run put the finishing touches on West Greene, 74-47, in a Class A Section 2 game.

Monessen (3-0, 10-1) outscored the Pioneers (1-2, 2-9) by a score of 29-9 in the final quarter.

Lorenzo Gardner scored 26 points and Jaisen Blackman tossed in 23 to lead Monessen’s offense.

For West Greene, Kaden Shields scored 15 points, Lane Allison poured in 13 and Parker Burns added 13.

Laurel Highlands 69, Belle Vernon 64: Rodney Gallagher and Keondre DeShields combined for 46 points, leading Laurel Highlands to a 69-64 win over visiting Belle Vernon in Class 4A Section 3.

The loss was the second straight in section play for Belle Vernon (1-2, 5-6) and sets up a showdown next week between LH (3-0, 10-1) and Uniontown for first place in the section.

LH forged a 40-30 halftime lead and the Leopards were never able to regain control of the game.

Gallagher scored a game-high 24 points, DeShields followed with 22 and Mason Bolish had 11 for the Mustangs.

Quinton Martin’s 19 points and 13 rebounds paced the Leps. Zion Moore had 17 points and Trevor Kovatch 16. Braden Laux grabbed 11 rebounds.

In other games: Geibel Catholic was a 93-66 winner at Mapletown in Class A Section 2. No game details were reported by press time.

Girls results

Beth-Center defeated Jefferson-Morgan 58-37 in a non-section game. No game details were reported.