High school basketball: Fort Cherry clinches berth in PIAA playoffs
High school basketball
Fort Cherry rebounded from its loss in the WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinals by rolling past Laurel, 67-37, in a girls basketball consolation game Monday night on the Rangers’ home court.
The Rangers (18-6) clinched a spot in the state tournament. They got off to a hot start, outscoring Laurel, 20-4, in the first quarter and finished the game with a 10-3 margin in the fourth.
Brooke Cornali led four Rangers in double figures with 21 points. Julie Klose added 18 points, Gianna Bianchini scored 13 and Emily Pfender produced a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Alexis Bair led the Spartans with 10 points.
Fort Cherry will play either Aliquippa or Burgettstown in the fifth place game on Wednesday. Laurel (13-12) gets the loser of Aliquippa/Burgettstown in the seventh place game. The winner of that game advances into the state tournament.
Sewickley Academy 57, West Greene 32:
Nina Caputo and Mikeala Mbandi combined for 33 points, powering Sewickley Academy to a 57-32 win over host West Greene in a Class A consolation-round game.
The win sends Sewickley Academy (15-10) into the fifth-place contest. West Greene’s season comes to an end with a 17-8 record. The WPIAL qualifies only six Class A teams for the PIAA tournament.
Sewickley Academy led by double digits in the first quarter but West Greene rallied and pulled to within 18-15 at the end of eight minutes. The Pioneers drew to within two points early in the second quarter, but they did not make a field goal in the period and went into halftime down 31-19.
The Panthers moved out to a 39-23 advantage at the end of three quarters.
Caputo scored a game-high 17 points and Mbandi, only a freshman, added 16.
Jillisa Yeater was the lone West Greene player to score in double figures. She finished with 11 points.
Aliquippa 63, Burgettstown 41
Aliquippa defeated visiting Burgettstown 63-41 in a Class 2A consolation round game.
Burgettstown will play Laurel in the WPIAL’s seventh-place game on Wednesday. The winner will advance to the state tournament with the loser having its season end.
Boys results
Penn Hills 59, Ringgold 52:
Amon Hawthorne pumped in a game-high 26 points, Calix Clark added 16 and Penn Hills defeated Ringgold 59-52 in a Class 5A consolation-round game.
Both teams have clinched berths in the PIAA tournament. Ringgold will enter as either the seventh- or eight-place team from the WPIAL.
Penn Hills (18-7) took a 22-17 at the end of the first quarter and the remainder of the game was almost even. Both teams scored 12 points in the second quarter and 10 in the third. Penn Hills held a 15-13 edge in the fourth quarter.
Dennis Hawkins led the Rams in scoring with 14 points. Demetri Lowe added 12 points.
Ringgold, the No. 15 seed, will play at either No. 9 Shaler or No. 5 Gateway on Wednesday in the seventh-place game.
Hopewell 84, Belle Vernon 79:
James Armstrong pumped in 49 points, sparking host Hopewell to an 84-79 victory over Belle Vernon in a Class 4A consolation-round game.
Hopewell (16-9) moves on in the consolation bracket while Belle Vernon has its season end with a 14-11 record.
The Leopards, despite Armstrong’s big game, led 64-60 after three quarters and were still up by three points with only two minutes remaining.
Hopewell outscored Belle Vernon 24-15 in the pivotal fourth quarter.
Elijah Major and Cam Jenko led four Belle Vernon players in double figures, each scoring 16 points. Dane Daugherty added 12 points and Luca Ghilani had 10.
Brody Rock and Justin Sherig each netted 11 points for the Vikings.
SUMMARIES
Boys Results
Ringgold 17 12 10 13 – 52
Penn Hills 22 12 10 15 – 59
Ringgold: Dennis Hawkins, 14 points; Demetri Lowe, 12.
Penn Hills: Amon Hawthorne, 26 points; Calix Clark, 16.
Belle Vernon 20 23 21 15 – 79
Hopewell 18 22 20 24 – 84
Belle Vernon: Elijah Majors, 16 points; Cam Jenko, 16; Dane Daugherty, 12; Luca Ghilani 10.
Hopewell: James Armstrong, 47 points; Brody Rock, 11; Justin Shegog, 1
Girls Results
Laurel 4 13 17 3 – 37
Fort Cherry 20 20 17 10 – 67
Laurel: Alexis Blair, 10 points.
Fort Cherry: Brooke Cornali, 21 points; Julie Klose, 18; Gianna Bianchini, 13; Emily Pfender, 10.
Sewickley Academy 18 13 8 18 – 57
West Greene 15 4 4 9 – 32
Sewickley Academy: Nina Caputo, 17 points; Mikeala Mbandi, 16.
West Greene: Jillisa Yeater, 11 points.