Dec 27, 2019 10 min read

Syn’cere Southern made a layup with two seconds left in regulation to lift Canon-McMillan over Blackhawk, 52-51, in the Trinity Tournament boys basketball opener Friday night at Hiller Hall.

The layup from Southern stood as the game-winning basket after Blackhawk (2-5) missed a shot at the buzzer.

Snapping a five-game losing streak, Canon-McMillan (2-5) led 24-17 at halftime but was outscored by seven points in the third quarter and went to the fourth tied at 36-36.

Tommy Samosky scored a game-high 20 points for the Big Macs. Cole Stanley finished with 14.

Blackhawk’s Ryan Heckathorn and Tyler Fedisin each made four three-pointers en route to 17 and 14 points, respectively.

Carmichaels 41, Geibel Catholic 37: Christopher Barrish made a pair of free throws with 5.7 seconds left to prevent any last-second heroics as Carmichaels edged Geibel Catholic, 41-37, in the Carmichaels King Coal Lions Tournament.

The win snaps a three-game losing streak for the Mikes and sends them to the tournament championship against Beth-Center.

The free throws from Barrish was the final points of his game-high 13. Dylan Wilson scored 10 points for Carmichaels (3-4).

Chartiers-Houston 63, Propel Montour 25: Seth Dunn and Ahlijah Vaden each scored 14 points as Chartiers-Houston downed Propel Montour, 63-25, in the opener of the Avella Tournament.

After a six-day hiatus, Chartiers-Houston (5-2) had no troubles heating up early, outscoring Propel 30-2 in the first quarter behind Dunn and Vaden.

The Bucs, who advance to a winners’ bracket game at 5:30 p.m. tonight against McGuffey, also got scoring from Evan Simpson, who finished with 12 points.

McGuffey 63, Fort Cherry 28: Holding Fort Cherry to single-digit point totals in the first two quarters, McGuffey built an early lead to defeat the Rangers, 63-28, in the Avella Tournament.

McGuffey (8-1), which won its third straight game, led 17-9 after the first quarter and 29-13 at halftime.

C.J. Cole led all scorers with 26 points. Ethan Janovich also scored in double figures for the Highlanders with 13 points.

Brenden Anderson led Fort Cherry (1-6) with 11 points.

Trinity 74, Albert Gallatin 60: Jordane Adams and Michael Koroly combined for 43 points as tournament host Trinity made seven three-pointers to defeat Albert Gallatin, 74-60.

Adams had 23 points for the Hillers, while Koroly finished with 20 points. Noah Johnson also reached double figures for Trinity (6-2) with 10 points.

Albert Gallatin (2-6) trailed 30-24 at halftime but fell further behind in the third quarter when the Hillers scored 24 points.

Dylan Shea scored a game-high 25 points for AG.

Connellsville 60, Washington 53: Propelled by a strong second half, Connellsville erased an 11-point halftime deficit to upend Washington, 60-53, in the Greensburg Salem Tournament.

It was the first loss of the season for Washington (5-1), which had a 35-24 lead at halftime. The Prexies were then outscored 20-6 in the third quarter and 16-12 in the fourth.

Josh Maher led Connellsville (3-4) with 18 points. Kolby Keeby and Ahmad Hooper had 13 and 12 points, respectively, for the Falcons.

Washington was paced by 19 points from Tayshawn Levy. Marlin Norris reached double-digits with 10 points.

Belle Vernon 69, Charleroi 66: Mitchell Pohlot scored 19 points and Belle Vernon advanced to the championship game of the Charleroi tournament by defeating the host Cougars, 69-66.

Belle Vernon (6-3), which has won five of six, led 30-25 at halftime and 56-45 after three quarters before withstanding a fourth-quarter by Charleroi (5-4).

Charleroi’s Will Wagner scored a game-high 30 points and made four of the Cougars’ nine three-point field goals. Charleroi, however, could get no closer than the three points in the fourth quarter.

Pohlot led four Belle Vernon players in double figures. Devin Whitlock had 13 points and seven steals. Jared Hartman scored 12 points and Cam Nusser had 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Peters Township 58, South Fayette 44: Colin Cote and Sam Petraca combined for 33 points and Peters Township’s defense held South Fayette to only 12 field goals as the Indians cruised to a 58-44 victory in PT’s holiday tournament.

Cote led Peters Township (5-3) with 17 points, all coming in the first three quarters. Cote made five of PT’s eight three-pointers. Petraca followed with 16 points, all but two coming after the first quarter.

Brandon Janiela paced South Fayette (4-3) with 14 points. The cold-shooting Lions made only three field goals in the first half.

Burgettstown 62, Avella 59: Burgettstown’s Dylan Pourier and Cole Shergi combined for 50 points and they were all needed as the Blue Devils rallied to beat Avella 62-59 in the opening round of the Eagles’ tournament.

Burgettstown (2-5) led 30-22 at halftime before Avella (1-6) rallied and took a 43-42 lead into the final quarter.

Pourier led Burgettstown with a game-high 27 points and Shergi followed with 23.

Gabe Lis led a balanced attack for Avella with 14 points. Brandon Samol had 11.

Beth-Center 75, Mapletown 40: Andrew Bower scored 24 points, Nick Martin had a double-double and Beth-Center advanced to the title game in the Carmichaels Lions Club’s King Coal Tournament with a 75-40 victory over Mapletown.

Beth-Center (5-2) led 34-21 at halftime and then put the game out of reach by outscoring the Maples (0-6) by a 25-7 margin in the third quarter.

Martin had a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds. Easton McDaniel followed Bower in the scoring column with 11 points.

Landan Stevenson led Mapletown with 17 points.

Propel Braddock Hill 63, Bentworth 18: C.J. Johnson scored 24 points, leading Propel Braddock Hills to a 63-18 victory over Bentworth in the opening round of the Bearcats’ tournament.

Johnson made four of Propel Bradock Hills’ seven three-point field goals. Malik Carey followed with 17 points.

Bentworth (0-7) was led by Jersey Timlin’s five points.

Eden Christian 45, Jefferson-Morgan 34: Slowly building its lead throughout the game, Eden Christian held off Jefferson-Morgan, 45-34, in the Bentworth Tournament.

Eden Christian (6-1), winner of five straight, led by three points after the first quarter and six at halftime, 22-16.

After a low-scoring third, Eden Christian held off a Jefferson-Morgan (1-6) rally by outscoring the Rockets 18-12 in the fourth.

Elijah Manges of Eden Christian led all scorers with 21 points. Tahj Jacobs scored 15 points for the Rockets.

California 44, West Greene 42: Trailing with a little over a minute left in regulation, California connected on three of four foul shots after a pair of infractions, including a technical by West Greene, to down the Pioneers in a non-section game, 44-42.

West Greene (2-5) had an opportunity to tie or take the lead but turned the ball over with eight seconds left.

Benjamin Jackson had a double-double for the Pioneers with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Nathan O’Savage was the lone scorer to reach double figures for California (5-3). He finished with 18.

Ringgold 69, Southmoreland 50: Ringgold got off to a fast start with 22 points in the first quarter and 19 in the second to cruise past Southmoreland, 69-50, in the Charleroi Tournament.

Luke Wyvratt scored a team-high 20 points for the Rams, who have won six consecutive games to improve to 6-1. Chris Peccon and Demetrius Butler continued the balanced scoring for Ringgold with 18 and 10 points, respectively.

Riley Comforti led Southmoreland (2-6) with 25 points.

Girls results

South Fayette 79, Bayside (Fla.) 20: Three players scored in double figures as South Fayette had 51 first-half points in a 79-20 rout of Bayside (Fla.) in the KSA Holiday Tournament.

South Fayette (4-4) scored 31 points in the first quarter and 20 in the second to take a commanding 51-10 halftime lead.

Clare Relihan led the Lions with 18 points. Mia Webber finished with 14 and Jessica Stabile added 13.

Peters Township 43, Erie McDowell 36: Trailing by three points entering the fourth quarter, Peters Township played strong down the stretch to come back and defeat Erie McDowell, 43-36, in the North Allegheny Tournament.

Peters Township (4-3) outscored McDowell 14-4 in the final eight minutes, an effort led by Journey Thompson, who led all scorers with a game-high 24 points.

Avana Sayles added 10 points for PT.

McGuffey 36, Fort Cherry 28: The offense came alive in the fourth quarter for McGuffey.

Trailing 26-15 entering the final eight minutes, the Highlanders exploded to scored 19 points to stun Fort Cherry, 36-28, in the McGuffey Tournament.

Leading the rally was Kiera Nicolella, who tied for a game-high 13 points. Abby Donnelly chipped in with 10.

Annika Reinhart scored 13 points for Fort Cherry (3-4).

Albert Gallatin 50, Washington 32: Junior guard Bryan Bezjak scored 23 points, powering Albert Gallatin to a 50-32 victory over Washington in the Laurel Highlands tournament.

Albert Gallatin (4-3) broke open the game in the second quarter, when the Colonials outscored the Prexies 18-2 to build a 30-13 lead.

Randi Thomas led Wash High (2-4) was led in scoring by Randi Thomas’ 13 points. The Prexies are scheduled to play Uniontown today at 1:45 p.m.

Waynesburg 46, Carmichaels 23: Clara Paige Miller and Nina Sarra combined for 33 points as Waynesburg defeated host Carmichaels 46-23 and advanced to the championship game of the Carmichaels Lions Club’s King Coal tournament.

Miller scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Waynesburg (3-4) and Sarra was close behind with 15 points and six steals.

Emma Hyatt was the leading scorer for Carmichaels (2-7).

Belle Vernon 57, Derry 45: Belle Vernon rode a big first half and received 18 points from Rachel Wobrak to defeat Derry 57-45 in the Mt. Pleasant tournament.

Belle Vernon (5-2) had a good start, building a 36-17 halftime lead. That was enough for the Leopards (5-2).

Chartiers-Houston 45, Northgate 19: Dominique Mortimer and Zamierah Edwards combined for 29 points as Chartiers-Houston pushed its record above the .500 mark with a 45-19 victory over Northgate in the Riverside tournament.

Mortimer led the way for C-H (4-3) with 19 points and Edwards reached double figures by scoring 11 points.

Burgettstown 49, Avella 47: Emily Prasko scored 15 points and Burgettstown shook off a slow start to defeat Avella, 49-47 in the opening round of the McGuffey tournament.

Burgettstown (6-2), which will play McGuffey in the championship game, trailed 10-5 after one quarter before trimming Avella’s lead to 26-23 at halftime and forging a 36-36 tie after three quarters.

Genna DeMario scored 10 points for the Blue Devils, none bigger than her free throws that gave Burgettstown a one-point lead in the closing seconds. After an empty possession by Avella, Celeste DeVecchio converted one of two free throws to make it a two-point lead for the Blue Devils.

Burgettstown’s Avery Havelka stopped a late Avella scoring opportunity by drawing a pivotal charging foul.

Avella’s Bess Lengauer scored a game-high 19 points. The Eagles fell to 3-2.