Jan 31, 2023 7 min read

Close games had not been going the way of Carmichaels this season – until Tuesday night.

Colin Andrews made a three-point field goal from the left wing as time expired, giving Carmichaels a 59-58 home-court victory over Bentworth in a key Class 2A Section 4 boys basketball game.

It was the only basket made by Andrews in the game.

The Mikes (4-5, 11-8), who were 0-4 in games decided by three points or less, overcame a six-point deficit in the final 30 seconds to move into fourth place and a half-game ahead of Bentworth (4-6, 10-9) for the final playoff berth out of the section.

The game was close throughout but Bentworth opened a six-point lead two minutes into the fourth quarter. The Bearcats still led by six points, 57-51, with 30 seconds remaining. A three-pointer by Carmichaels’ Dom Colarusso, who scored a game-high 29 points, cut the gap to 57-54 with 24.6 seconds left. After a timeout, Carmichaels forced a turnover in the backcourt, which led to a layup by Colarusso that trimmed the Bearcats’ lead to 57-56.

Bentworth made the front end of a one-and-one with 10.8 seconds to play but missed the second free throw. Carmichaels rebounded the miss and the raced ball upcourt. A drive into the lane set up a pass to Andrews on the left wing for his game-winning shot.

Tyler Richmond was the only other player in double figures for the Mikes. He finished with 11.

Bentworth had four players in double figures led by Landon Urcho and Ben Hays with 15 points apiece. Chris Harper scored 12 and Christian May 10.

Peters Township 90, Connellsville 42: Brendan McCullough and Jack Dunbar combined for 49 points to help Peters Township blow past Connellsville, 90-42, in a Class 5A Section 1 game.

McCullough led the way with 25 points and Dunbar added 24 for the Indians (6-1, 15-3), who led 59-29 at halftime. Mick Vacello contributed 12 points.

Case Shearer scored 10 points for the Falcons (0-7, 0-19), whose losing streak has reached 31 straight since last season.

Bethel Park 62, Trinity 53: Ben Guffey scored 29 points and Bethel Park held off a second-half surge to be Trinity, 62-53, in a Class 5A, Section 1 game.

Shawn Davis pitched in with 12 points for BP (6-1, 11-6), which led 38-18 at halftime but was outscored, 35-24, over the second half.

Dante DeRubbo led the Hillers (3-4, 8-10) with 14 points. Owen Wayman tossed in 11.

Uniontown 69, Belle Vernon 52: Bakari Wallace scored a game-high 24 points to help Uniontown to a 69-52 victory over visiting Belle Vernon in a Class 3A, Section 4 game.

Kamore Braxton added 16 points and Calvin Winfrey 15 for Uniontown (7-0, 16-2), which outscored BV, 23-11, in the final eight minutes.

Zion Moore scored 23 points and Quinton Martin had a double-double: 13 points and 11 rebounds, for Belle Vernon (4-3, 9-9).

South Fayette 56, Chartiers Valley 34: Elijah Hill scored 23 points and South Fayette upended Chartiers Valley, 56-34, in a Class 4A, Section 5 game.

A quick start gave the Lions a 13-4 lead against the cold-shooting Colts (3-4, 14-5). South Fayette kept up the pressure and outscored CV, 15-6, in the second quarter for a 28-10 lead at halftime.

Michael Plasko tossed in 17 points for the Lions (2-5, 9-9), who outscored the Colts, 18-14 over the final eight minutes.

Jayden Davis scored 15 points to lead CV.

Monessen 72, Jefferson-Morgan 40: Lorenzo Gardner and Davontae Clayton each scored 18 points and a big second quarter sparked Monessen to a 72-40 win over Jefferson-Morgan in a Class A Section 2 game played on the Greyhounds’ home court.

Monessen (6-1, 16-2) maintained a share of the section lead. The Greyhounds led 17-14 after one quarter and then outscored Jefferson-Morgan 20-3 in the pivotal second period for a 37-17 halftime lead.

Jaisen Blackman helped Monessen’s cause by scoring 14 points.

Troy Wright led Jefferson-Morgan (4-3, 11-8) with 10 points.

McGuffey 54, Charleroi 43: Jantzen Durbin scored 17 points and McGuffey played a strong second half to come from behind and defeat visiting Charleroi 54-43 in a Class 3A Section 4 game.

The win enhanced the playoff chances for McGuffey (5-4, 11-8). The Highlanders trailed 21-19 at halftime but took control of the game in the second half as they outscored Charleroi (4-6, 9-11) by a 35-21 margin.

Tristian McAdoo scored 14 points for McGuffey.

Jake Chambers was the lone Cougar in double digits with 13 points.

Chartiers-Houston 70, Frazier 45: Nate Gregory led a balanced Chartiers-Houston attack with 15 points and the Bucs cruised to a 70-45 home-court win over Frazier.

The Bucs (9-1, 15-4), who are solidly in second place in the section behind Fort Cherry, won their fifth straight. C-H had nine of their 11 players crack the scoring column.

Manny Ntumngia followed Gregory, tossing in 13 points. Avery Molek netted 11 and Jake Mele had 10. The Bucs led 34-17 at halftime and outscored Frazier (1-8, 2-17) by a 22-10 margin in the third quarter for a 56-27 advantage.

Keyshaun Thompson had 18 points and Brennan Stewart 15 for the Commodores.

Burgettstown 69, Beth-Center 56: Zack Schrockman poured in a game-high 23 points and Burgettstown used a big first half to defeat visiting Beth-Center 69-56 in Class 2A Section 4.

Burgettstown (6-3, 10-8) jumped out to a 26-9 lead after one quarter and padded its advantage to 45-24 at halftime.

Andrew Bredel scored 10 points for the Blue Devils.

Beth-Center (0-10, 1-18) had 19 points by Jason Zellie and 13 from Brody Tharp.

Mapletown 70, California 61: Mapletown took a step toward a playoff berth out of Class A Section 2 with a 70-61 home-court victory over California.

Mapletown (3-4, 6-9) made nine three-pointers and converted 19 of 29 free throws. California (1-6, 5-12) made 10 from behind the arc but was only 7-for-12 at the free-throw line.

A.J. Vanata led four Mapletown players in double figures with a game-high 22 points. Landan Stevenson followed with 18, Braden McIntire scored 17 and Choen Stout had 11.

Aidan Lowden’s 17 points were tops for the Trojans. Jacob Ziolecki had 16 and Vinny Manzella 13.

Baldwin 75, Canon-McMillan 68: Nate Wesling scored 21 points and Baldwin helped its playoff chances with a 75-68 win at Canon-McMillan in Class 6A Section 2.

Nate Richards scored 17 points, James Wesling 14 and Joey Carr 14 for Baldwin (4-3, 11-7), which currently holds the final postseason spot from the section.

Canon-McMillan (0-7, 3-16) was led by Ryan Galaicic’s 20 points. Michael Dixon followed with 12.

Rochester 79, Avella 39: Xavier Rigby and Jerome Mullins combined for 48 points to lead Rochester to a 79-39 victory over Avella in a Class A Section 1 game.

Rigby scored 26 points and Mullins tossed in 22 for Rochester (5-2, 8-10), which led 45-18 at halftime.

Westley Burchianti scored 18 points for Avella (2-5, 5-14).

Girls results

Canon-McMillan 48, Bethel Park 41: Nadia Davis scored a game-high 18 points and Canon-McMillan made 23 free throws in the second half pick up its first Class 6A Section 2 win of the year, 48-41, over visiting Bethel Park.

The Big Macs (1-8, 5-12) led 19-13 at halftime and stayed in front by holding Bethel Park (3-6, 6-11) to eight points in the third quarter and making 24 of 39 free-throw attempts in the game.

Lauren Borella made 10 of 18 free throws in the second half for Canon-McMillan.

Ella Harmon had 11 points to lead Bethel Park.

Waynesburg 50, Frazier 43: Waynesburg outscored Frazier 19-12 in the pivotal fourth quarter and defeated the upset-minded Commodores 50-43 in a non-section contest.

Waynesburg (16-2) overcame a sluggish first half that ended with Frazier (5-12) leading 18-16. The game was tied 31-31 entering the final period.

Kaley Rohanna and Josie Horne each tossed in 19 points to lead the Raiders’ attack. Horne had a double-double, grabbing 10 rebounds. Peyton Cowell also had 10 rebounds. Waynesburg went 25-for-28 at the free-throw line with Rohanna and Horne each going 9-for-9.

Frazier’s Delaney Warnick scored a game-high 26 points.

Connellsville 60, Ringgold 50: Hillary Claycomb scored 18 points and host Connellsville defeated Ringgold 60-50 in a non-section game.

Whitney Bobish scored 12 points and Bailey Liska had 10 as the Falcons (4-16) snapped a six-game losing streak.

Abbey Whaley scored a game-high 22 points for Ringgold (4-14) and Angelina Massey was close behind with 20.