High school basketball: Gregory scores 34 as C-H wins section championship

Feb 4, 2025 6 min read

Nate Gregory pumped in a career-high 34 points as Chartiers-Houston routed winless Mapletown 79-18 Tuesday night to win the outright Class 2A Section 3 championship.

It is the first boys basketball section championship for Chartiers-Houston since 2018. The Bucs are 12-1 in section and 18-2 overall with one league game remaining, Friday at Jefferson-Morgan.

Against Mapletown (0-12, 0-18), Chartiers-Houston raced out to a 31-8 lead after one quarter and 48-10 at halftime.

Justus Buckingham was the only other C-H player to score in double figures. He had 14 points.

Lucas Stevenson scored eight points for Mapletown.

McGuffey 63, Sto-Rox 42

McGuffey’s Aydan Cunningham continued his strong season with a game-high 24 points, including his 1,000th career point, as the playoff-bound Highlanders defeated visiting Sto-Rox 63-42 in Class 3A Section 2.

McGuffey (5-4, 14-6) led 40-17 at halftime. Cunningham pumped in his 1,000th during the third quarter, when the Highlanders increased their lead to 57-29.

Belle Vernon 83, Greensburg Salem 48

Zion Moore and Trevor Kovatch combined for 52 points, nine three-point baskets and 11 steals as Belle Vernon defeated Greensburg Salem 83-48 and won the Class 4A Section 3 title.

Moore scored a game-high 28 points and Kovatch followed with 24, including six three-pointers.

The Leopards improve to 11-1 in section, 18-4 overall and have won 12 in a row. Belle Vernon has not lost since December.

Curtis Wade had 10 points for the Leopards. Moore had six steals and Kovatch five.

Fort Cherry 62, West Greene 61

Shane Cornalie drove the length of the court and put in a layup at the final buzzer, giving Fort Cherry a 62-61 win over West Greene in a matchup of playoff-bound teams from Class 2A Section 3.

The game was close throughout as Fort Cherry (8-4, 10-8) held leads of 17-16 after one quarter and 36-32 at halftime. West Greene (9-4, 11-8) pushed ahead 48-44 at the end of three quarters but Cornali’s basketball gave Fort Cherry an 18-13 edge in the pivotal fourth quarter.

Evan Rogers and Matt Sieg each scored 14 points to lead the Rangers. Cornali’s final basket gave him 11 and Gavin Grace chipped in with 10.

Lane Allison had a game-high 24 points for West Greene. Parker Burns had 14 and Darren Knight 11.

Peters Township 77, Ringgold 45

Dylan Donovan scored 20 points, including six of Peters Township’s 14 three-point field goals, and the Indians defeated visiting Ringgold 77-45 in Class 5A Section 3.

Sean Thelk had 15 points, all coming on three-point baskets, and Nick McCullough had 12 for the Indians (8-3, 14-6), who led 30-27 at halftime before pulling away with a 29-7 scoring edge in the pivotal third quarter.

Dennis Hawkins led Ringgold (0-10, 4-15) with 13 points and Szyair Dungee had 11.

Jefferson-Morgan 51, Carmichaels 28

Dayten Marion scored 16 points to lead Jefferson-Morgan (10-3, 14-6) past Carmichaels (4-9, 5-15) in Class 2A Section 3.

Houston Guseman added 13 points and Jeremiah Roberston scored 10 for the Rockets, who trailed 7-6 at the end of the first quarter, but outscored Carmichaels 45-21 the rest of the way.

Alex Toth scored 11 for the Mikes.

Charleroi 54, Brownsville 29

Noah Pletcher poured in 20 points for playoff-bound Charleroi (4-5, 10-10) in a Class 3A Section 4 victory.

Amaru Staub added 10 points for the Cougars, who held Brownsville (4-16, 2-7) to single-digit point totals in all four quarters.

Kaden Wimmer finished with nine points for the Falcons.

Beth-Center 50, Burgettstown 40

Jason Zellie had 22 points to help Beth-Center snap a five-game game losing streak and clinch a playoff spot in Class 2A section 3 with a win at Burgettstown

The Bulldogs (6-7, 9-12) got off to a slow start and trailed Burgettstown (2-11, 5-15), 12-6 at the end of the first quarter, but outscored the Blue Devils, 24-11 in the second.

Braden Hull finished with 10 points for the Bulldogs.

Blake Neal scored 18 for Burgettstown and hit four three-pointers. Parker Rommes added 14 points.

Norwin 55, Canon-McMillan 51

Norwin outscored Canon-McMillan 17-14 in the fourth quarter to secure a tightly-contested Class 6A Section 2 game.

Alex Graney led the way for the Knights with 13 points and King Carver scored 11.

Roman Koenemund led three Big Macs in double figures with 13 points. Dylan Kelly scored 11 and Ty Jansma finished with 10.

Monessen 67, St. Joseph 51

Rodney Johnson scored 16 points, leading four Monessen players in double figures, as the Greyhounds defeated visiting St. Joseph 67-51 in Class A Section 2.

Monessen (5-4, 13-6) trailed 13-12 after one quarter before moving out to a 27-18 halftime lead and extending the gap to 19 points after three quarters.

Jae’kwon Cragette scored 13 points for the Greyhounds, Jayveyon Jeffries had 12 and Devontae Robinson 11.

Gabe Maltose led St. Joseph (2-6, 7-12) in scoring with a game-high 19 points.

Aquinas Academy 82, Avella 57

Aquinas Academy scored 55 points in the first half and went on to an 82-57 win over visiting Avella in Class A Section 2.

Aquinas (8-1, 17-3) put up 34 points in the opening quarter and led 55-32 at halftime.

Ryan Bell was the leading scorer for Avella (1-8, 9-12) with 15 points.

Ligonier Valley 47, Waynesburg 39

Waynesburg made a long trip to Ligonier Valley came away with a 47-39 loss in a battle of playoff teams from Class 3A Section 4.

Cole Headlee scored 14 points and Austin Surber had 12 for the Raiders.

In other games

South Fayette was a 53-34 winner at Trinity in a Class 5A Section 3 game at Hiller Hall. Carlynton defeated Washington 61-48 in a Class 3A Section contest. The loss, combined with McGuffey’s win over Sto-Rox, eliminated the Prexies from playoff contention. Bentworth scored 45 points in the second half to win at California 74-57 in Class 2A Section 1. No game details were reported by press time.

Girls results

Peters Township 63, Uniontown 19

Peters Township won the Class 5A Section 4 outright championship with an easy 63-19 win at Uniontown.

The Indians are 11-0 in section and 18-2 overall.

Natalie Wetzel led PT with 15 points and Jordyn Welsh tallied 12.

Norwin 32, Canon-McMillan 30

The Big Macs (5-4, 11-8) nearly pulled off a win against Class 6A Section 2 leader Norwin (8-1, 12-7), but ultimately dropped a tight contest.

The game was tied 11-11 at halftime, but Norwin used an 11-7 advantage in the third quarter to pull ahead.

Faye Saunders had a game-high 12 points for the Big Macs.

Bella Furno scored eight for the Knights.

West Greene 56, Carmichaels 16

West Greene took a breather from section play and dispatched Carmichaels on senior night.

Madelyn Roberts had 12 points and Marissa Tharp scored 10 to lead a cast of 11 different players who reached the scoring column for West Greene (13-7).

Roberts, Marissa Tharp, Kendra Tharp and Kylee Davis opened the game with four consecutive 3-point baskets. From there, West Greene was off and running, building leads of 20-6 after one quarter and 39-10 at the half.

With the win, West Greene swept all six games versus Greene County opponents this season. Joselyn Carter’s 6 points led Carmichaels (2-18).