Girls basketball roundup: Zalar scores 1,000th as Carmichaels clinches
Sophia Zalar scored a game-high 31 points, including her 1,000th career point, leading Carmichaels to a 54-40 home-court victory over Bentworth in a Class 2A Section 4 girls basketball game Monday night.
The win clinches a playoff berth for Carmichaels (5-4, 7-12).
Zalar scored her 1,000th point when she made a three-pointer from the right side with 4:22 remaining in the second quarter.
Megan Voithofer finished with 11 points for the Mikes.
Amber Sallee scored 19 points, including four three-point baskets, to lead Bentworth (2-8, 4-14).
West Greene 64, Geibel Catholic 47: Taylor Karvan scored 21 points, sparking West Greene to a 64-47 home-court win over Geibel Catholic in Class A Section 2.
The win keeps West Greene (6-1, 10-7) tied for first place with Monessen. The Pioneers play the Greyhounds on Thursday with the winner taking sole possession of first place.
West Greene had trouble shaking Geibel (3-4, 9-10) in the first half and led 33-31 at halftime. The Pioneers then played some sticky defense in the second half and held the Gators to only 16 points.
Kasie Meek scored 17 points for West Greene and Kendra Tharp hit double figures, finishing with 12.
Geibel’s Emma Larkin scored a game-high 28 points.
Trinity 68, Moon 38: Trinity made 12 three-point field goals and shot down Moon 68-38 in a Class 5A Section 4 game at Hiller Hall.
Trinity (6-1, 12-5), which has won five in a row, keeps its section title hopes alive. The Hillers led 43-28 after three quarters and then put up 25 points over the final eight minutes.
Riley Corrins led a balanced Hillers attack with 12 points. Kristina Bozek was right behind with 11.
Waynesburg 57, McGuffey 33: Kaley Rohanna scored 19 points, Josie Horne had a double-double and Class 3A Section 4 leader Waynesburg used two big quarters – the first and the fourth – to defeat visiting McGuffey, 57-33, on the Raiders’ home court.
Waynesburg (6-1, 15-2) led 18-7 after one quarter. The Raiders were on top 37-26 after three quarters and then pulled away with a 20-7 scoring edge in the final period.
Horne scored 15 points and grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds. Peyton Cowell had 10 rebounds for the Raiders.
Lexi Ewig paced McGuffey (2-5, 12-7) by scoring 11 points.
Monessen 63, Jefferson-Morgan 27: Monessen won its 10th game in a row, a 63-27 victory over Jefferson-Morgan in a Class A Section 2 game.
Four players scored in double figures for the Greyhounds (6-1, 12-4): Myasia Majors (14), Madison Johnson (14), Svetlana Vining (11) and Na’Jaziah Carter (10).
Leighana Gooden and Ava Wood each scored eight points for the Rockets (0-7, 0-18).
Burgettstown 61, Sto-Rox 12: Burgettstown maintained its hold on first place in Class 2A Section 2 with a 61-12 victory over Sto-Rox.
The Blue Devils are 7-0 in the section with three games remaining and are 13-5 overall.
Eden Rush scored 15 points and Addie Cairns added 10. Kaitlyn Nease had a double-double, 13 points and 10 rebounds and Jillian Frazier scored 13 points and had seven steals.
Sto-Rox, which has lost six games in a row, fell to 1-6 in the section and 3-13 overall.
Belle Vernon 56, Southmoreland 33: Jenna Dawson tossed in a season-high 21 points, powering Belle Vernon to a 56-33 road win over Southmoreland in Class 4A Section 3.
Belle Vernon (9-1, 13-6) increased its winning streak to six games and kept its section title hopes alive. Southmoreland slipped to 0-9, 1-18.
The Leopards took control of the game in the early stages, building leads of 19-8 after one quarter and 34-11 at halftime.
Kenzi Seliga had 14 points for Belle Vernon and Farrah Reader had 11 points and six rebounds. Tessa Rodriguez had eight assists and six steals.
Southmoreland’s Maddi Moore scored 13 points.
California 59, Beth-Center 23: Rakiyah Porter scored a game-high 23 points, sparking California to a 59-23 win over Beth-Center in a Class 2A Section 4 game played on the Trojans’ hardwood.
Porter made five three-point field goals, accounting for more than half of her point total. Addison Gregory and Samantha Smichnick each totaled 10 points for the Trojans (6-3, 9-8), who have clinched a WPIAL playoff berth.
Callie Dorsey scored eight points to lead Beth-Center (1-9, 4-15).
Brentwood 43, Fort Cherry 42: Close games have been the trademark of Fort Cherry but this time the final seconds weren’t kind to the Rangers.
Brentwood’s Jenna Yee made a three-pointer from the wing with 1.6 seconds remaining to give the Spartans a 43-42 win in a Class 2A Section 2 game.
The win keeps Brentwood in the thick of the section title hunt at 6-1 (10-8 overall). Fort Cherry is 4-3, 12-7.
Brentwood led 25-16 at halftime before Fort Cherry put together a big third quarter, outscoring the Spartans 19-8 to take a 35-33 lead.
Raney Staub led the Rangers with a game-high 13 points.
Yough 54, Charleroi 38: Laney Gerdich and Hailey Bock each scored 16 points and Yough remained in a tie for second place in Class 3A Section 4 with a 54-38 win over visiting Charleroi.
Charleroi (3-4, 8-8), which has lost five in a row, fell behind 16-9 at the end of one quarter but closed to within 24-21 at halftime. Yough, which has won four straight, pulled away by outscoring Charleroi 18-6 in the pivotal third quarter.
McKenna DeUnger led Charleroi with a game-high 19 points.
Bethel Park 61, Peters Township 60: Mary Boff scored 16 points and Bethel Park was one point better on this night than Peters Township, 61-60, in a Class 6A Section 2 game.
Sophia Nath scored 13 points and Rebecca Gillenberger added 12 for Bethel Park (3-5, 6-10), which snapped a four-game losing streak.
Gemma Walker scored a game-high 23 points for Peters Township (3-6, 9-9), which has lost three games in a row.
The teams were tied at halftime, 28-28. Bethel Park inched ahead, 47-46, after three quarters and matched PT point for point in the fourth.
In other games: Avella moved closer to clinching a playoff berth with a 58-34 road win over Mapletown in Class A Section 2. No game details were reported by press time.