Local roundup: Rockets rally past Raiders in Greene County showdown
Jefferson-Morgan rallied for a non-section victory over Waynesburg Central in a battle of Greene County on Monday in boys basketball action.
The Rockets (10-4, 15-7) trailed 21-13 after the first quarter, but outscored the Raiders, 20-13, in the second period to cut the deficit to 34-33 at halftime.
Jefferson-Morgan clung to a 48-47 lead after the third period, but a 23-15 advantage in the fourth quarter put the game away.
The Rockets’ Jeremiah Robertson scored a game-high 21 points. Teammate Dayten Marion added 17 points. Houston Guesman put in 14.
Alex VanSickle led Waynesburg (7-3, 9-12) in scoring with 20 points. Cole Headlee had 14 and Dane Woods 11. Austin Surber put in 10.
Headlee had six assists and the Raiders’ Jack Ricciuti pulled down seven rebounds.
Girls basketball
Waynesburg Central 59, California 39 — Peyton Cowell had a double-double in the Lady Raiders’ victory over the Lady Trojans in non-section play.
Cowell scored a game-high 20 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Teammate Chatham Knight added 12, and Briena Coon and Mya Smith put in 10 points apiece.
Olivia Gibson led California (7-3, 11-7) in scoring with 14 points.
Waynesburg (4-8, 10-12) had an 11-8 lead after the first quarter and a 28-21 halftime advantage. The Lady Raiders outscored the Lady Trojans, 31-18, in the second half.
Saturday, Feb. 8
Westminster 79, Waynesburg 72 – Drew Weir scored 20 points as the Titans out-scored the host Yellow Jackets 44-38 in the second half to claim a PAC men’s basketball victory at Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse.
The game featured 24 lead changes and 13 ties.
Mick Hergenrother had 19 points, including a basket with 3:49 remaining that put Westminster ahead to stay, and Alex Rothwell added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Titans (4-12, 7-14).
Waynesburg (5-11, 7-14) took its last lead on a jump shot by Jalen Goins to make it 66-65 with 4:02 left. Westminster closed the game on a 14-6 run.
Antone Baker totaled 22 points and 19 rebounds for the Yellow Jackets who also got 13 points from Jaylen Davis and 10 apiece from Goins and PJ Suggs.
Women’s basketball
Waynesburg 76, Westminster 61 – Mia Henkins scored 15 points and the host Yellow Jackets gradually pulled away for a PAC victory over the Titans.
Waynesburg Central graduate Clara Paige Miller hit three 3-pointers in scoring 13 points and also snagged eight rebounds, and Madisen Dayton also tallied 13 points for Waynesburg (6-10, 11-10).
The Yellow Jackets also got six points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals from Kalista Friday and 10 boards from Tori Wesolowski.
Syka Maddie tossed in a game-high 20 points for Westminster (3-13, 3-18) which also got 11 points from Grace Cano.
Penn State DuBois 72, Penn State Fayette 43 – Natalie Bowser dropped in 22 points as Penn State DuBois beat visiting Penn State Fayette in a PSUAC game.
Shannon Shaw followed close behind with 21 points for DuBois (8-5, 10-9).
Carmichaels graduate Sophia Zalar led Fayette with 11 points and six rebounds. Takiah Cheathon contributed 10 points and four assists and Reagan Rudder added 10 points and five rebounds for Fayette.
Boys basketball
Serra Catholic 78, Waynesburg Central 53 – Owen Dumbroski racked up a game-high 31 points, Mark Johnson followed with 16 and Jake Holmes had 11 as host Serra Catholic (18-3) triumphed over the Raiders in a non-section game.
Dane Woods totaled 13 points and 11 rebounds for Waynesburg (9-12) which also got 12 points from Jack Ricciuti, 10 points from Cole Headlee and seven assists from Austin Surber.
Friday, Feb. 7
Waynesburg Central 76, Mount Pleasant 60 – Alex Eck compiled 24 points and 16 rebounds as the visiting Raiders triumphed over the Vikings in a Section 4-3A boys basketball game to finish in a second-place tie with Ligonier Valley.
Cole Headlee totaled 17 points and seven assists for Waynesburg (7-3, 9-12) which also got 10 points from Jack Ricciuti.
The Raiders held a 31-29 halftime lead then used a 27-15 advantage in the third quarter to go up 58-44 and stayed in control the rest of the way.
Cole Massari had 21 points to lead Mount Pleasant (0-10, 0-22) which also got 11 from Jordan Grieff.
West Greene 64, Beth-Center 39 – Lane Allison rang up a game-high 29 points and the visiting Pioneers rolled past the Bulldogs to finish in a three-way tie with Jefferson-Morgan and Fort Cherry for second place in Section 3-2A.
West Greene led 26-20 at halftime then exploded to a 26-8 advantage in the third quarter to go up 52-28.
Matt Wassil (11) and Darren Knight (10) also hit double figures in scoring for the Pioneers (10-4, 12-8).
Parker Amos scored 13 points to lead Beth-Center (6-8, 9-13) which has also qualified for the playoffs.
Chartiers-Houston 49, Jefferson-Morgan 36 – Nate Gregory scored 24 points in the first-place Bucs’ Section 3-2A victory at Jefferson-Morgan.
Justus Buckingham added 12 points for Chartiers-Houston (13-1, 19-2) which led by just three before out-scoring the Rockets (10-4, 14-7) 18-8 in the fourth quarter.
Jeremiah Robertson tallied 20 points for J-M which dropped into a second-place tie with West Greene and Fort Cherry.
Burgettstown 71, Mapletown 47 – Blake Neal’s 18 points led the way for the Blue Devils in a Section 3-2A win at Mapletown.
Sam Elich added 16 points for Burgettstown (3-11, 6-15).
Lucas Stevenson scored a game-high 19 points for the Maples (0-14, 0-20).
Fort Cherry 73, Carmichaels 32 – Shane Cornali scored 17 points in the Rangers’ Section 3-2A win over the visiting Mikes as Fort Cherry secured a share of second place in the section.
Evan Rogers had 12 points for the Rangers (10-4, 12-8).
Robbie Wilson-Jones paced Carmichaels (4-10, 5-17) with eight points.
Girls basketball
Chartiers-Houston 50, Jefferson-Morgan 10 – Ava Capozzoli and Allie Wingard each tossed in 13 points as the visiting Bucs (10-0, 18-4) completed a sweep through Section 3-2A play by beating Jefferson-Morgan.
Bailey Cervone scored seven points for the Lady Rockets (0-10, 1-20).
Thursday, Feb. 6
Carmichaels 35, Jefferson-Morgan 33 – Ke’Lani Chun’s basket in the final seconds gave Carmichaels a Section 3-2A girls basketball win at Jefferson-Morgan and clinched a WPIAL playoff spot for the Lady Mikes.
Carmichaels (3-7, 3-18) held a two-point lead when the Lady Rockets’ Catelynn Teagarden scored on a fast break to knot the score at 33-33 with 30 seconds left. Shun then delivered her game-winning shot with nine seconds remaining.
Joselyn Carter led Carmichaels with 15 points. The win pulled the Lady Mikes into a fourth-place tie in the section with Bentworth. The two split their regular-season series.
Jefferson-Morgan led 12-7 after the first quarter and 16-15 at halftime. The Lady Mikes surged to a 23-22 advantage in the third quarter and survived a tight fight in the final frame.
Brelynn Wood and Bailey Cervone paced the Lady Rockets (0-9, 1-19) with nine and eight points, respectively.
West Greene 55, Avella 52 – Kendra Tharp poured in 26 points, including six in overtime, as the visiting Lady Pioneers edged Avella in overtime in a Section 2-A clash.
Ava Franks rang up a game-high 27 points for the Lady Eagles (4-10, 9-13) who were knocked out of the playoff race with the loss.
The game was tied 10-10 heading into the second quarter before Avella grabbed leads of 22-16 at halftime and 32-31 after three. West Greene (8-6, 15-7) surged to a three-point lead late in regulation when Frank hit a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime.
Undeterred, the Lady Pioneers out-scored the hosts 8-5 in the extra frame to earn the win.
Madelyn Roberts added 15 points for West Greene which was just 9 for 29 from the foul line but still won its fourth game in as many days. The Lady Pioneers finished in fourth place in the section.
Waynesburg Central 44, Charleroi 26 – Peyton Cowell rang up 18 points as the host Lady Raiders knocked off the Lady Cougars in a Section 3-3A game.
Briena Coon and Mya Smith chipped in with six points apiece for Waynesburg (3-8, 8-12).
Eden Smith tied for game-high honors with 18 points for Charleroi (0-12, 0-22).
Bishop Canevin 57, Mapletown 20 – Isabella Sysak and Kya Cooley each tossed in 16 points in the Lady Crusaders’ Section 2-A victory at Mapletown.
Natalie Kirsch followed with 10 points for Bishop Canevin (6-8, 11-9).
Treslee Weston totaled eight points and six rebounds for Mapletown (1-13, 3-19), which led 9-8 after the first quarter. The Lady Maples also got 11 rebounds from Sophia Jennings.
Wednesday, Feb. 5
West Greene 43, Bishop Canevin 41 – West Greene outscored Bishop Canevin by 13 points in the second quarter to rally for a Section 2-1A girls basketball victory at West Greene.
The Lady Pioneers, who improved to 7-6 in section play and 14-7 overall, clinched fourth place in the section.
The Lady Crusaders (5-8, 10-9) had a 13-6 lead after the first quarter, but a 17-4 advantage in the second period had the home team ahead 23-17 at halftime.
Bishop Canevin had a 24-20 edge in the second half, but West Greene was able to hang on.
The Lady Pioneers’ Madelyn Roberts scored a game-high 19 points. Teammate Kendra Tharp added 11.
The Lady Crusaders were led in scoring by Natalie Kirsch’s 13 points.
Albert Gallatin 57, Waynesburg Central 26 — The Lady Colonials had three players in double figures to down the Lady Raiders in non-section play at Albert Gallatin.
Grayce Panos led the game in scoring with 17 points. AG’s Mya Glisan had 15 and Mikayla Shea chipped in with 11.
Waynesburg Central’s Peyton Cowell scored 12 points.
The Lady Colonials (1-11, 8-12) had a 10-6 lead after the first quarter and a 24-14 halftime advantage. Albert Gallatin outscored the Lady Raiders, 33-12, in the second half.
Boys basketball
California 53, Carmichaels 35 — The Trojans slowly built up their lead after each quarter break en route to a non-section victory at Carmichaels.
California (0-13, 3-17) had two players in double figures, as Caden Monticelli put in 12 and Vinny Manzella added 11. Monticelli had 10 rebounds for the double-double. Teammate Niko Georgagis added 10 rebounds.
The Mikes’ Robbie Wilson-Jones led the game in scoring with 18 points. He also pulled down 11 rebounds.
Fort Cherry 73, Mapletown 12 — The Rangers put up 50 first-half points in a Section 3-2A win at Fort Cherry.
The Rangers’ Shane Cornali led the game in scoring with 15 points. Fort Cherry improved to 9-4 in section play and 11-8 overall.
Tuesday, Feb. 4
Jefferson-Morgan 51, Carmichaels 28 – Dayten Marion scored a game-high 16 points and the Rockets clinched at least a share of second place in Section 3-2A with a boys basketball win over the host Mikes.
Houston Guesman followed with 13 points for Jefferson-Morgan (10-3, 14-6) which trailed 7-5 after the first quarter but surged to a 23-15 halftime lead and pulled away from there.
Jaymison Robinson added 10 points for J-M.
Alex Toth tossed in 11 points for Carmichaels (4-9, 5-15).
Fort Cherry 62, West Greene 61 – Shane Cornali scored the last of his 11 points on a driving layup as time ran out to give the Rangers a Section 3-2A win at West Greene.
Matt Sieg tallied a team-high 16 points for Fort Cherry (8-4, 10-8) which trailed 48-44 going into the fourth quarter. Evan Rogers (14) and Greg Grace (10) also hit double figures for the Rangers.
Lane Allison rang up a game-high 24 points for the Pioneers (9-4, 11-8) who also got 14 from Parker Burns and 11 from Darren Knight.
Ligonier Valley 47, Waynesburg Central 39 – Michael Vargulish-Graver scored 18 points in the host Rams’ Section 4-3A win to pull into a second-place tie with the Raiders.
Michael Wisniewski tossed in 13 points for Ligonier Valley (6-3, 12-8).
Cole Headlee paced Waynesburg (6-3, 8-11) with 14 points, Austin Surber added 12 points and Alex Eck pulled down 16 rebounds.
Chartiers-Houston 79, Mapletown 18 – Nate Gregory racked up 34 points in the first-place Bucs’ Section 3-2A win over the visiting Maples.
Justin Buckingham had 14 points for Chartiers-Houston (12-1, 18-2).
Lucas Stevenson tossed in eight points to pace Mapletown (0-12, 0-18).
Girls basketball
West Greene 56, Carmichaels 16 – Madelyn Roberts led the Lady Pioneers with 12 points in a non-section win over the visiting Lady Mikes.
Marissa Tharp chipped in with 10 points for West Greene (13-7).
Joselyn Carter led Carmichaels (2-7, 2-18) with six points.