Jan 2, 2017 By Eleanor Bailey 8 min read

With the holidays behind them, area basketball coaches are looking forward to 2017 as league play commences anew. Peters Township’s Gary Goga summed up the feelings of local floor bosses awaiting action this first week of the New Year.

“It’s the best time of the year. NFL playoffs and section games,” he said.

This week, the Indians hosted Baldwin last night before entertaining Trinity at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 6.

Over the holidays, the Indians found there was no place like home as they dominated their own tournament. Peters Township opened with a win against South Fayette, 62-52, and closed with a triumph against Washington, 64-59.

While seven players broke into the scorebook, Dax Ploskina led the way with 24 markers against the Little Prexies, whom the Indians trailed by as many as 13 in the first half. He tallied 17 points against the Lions, 14 of which occurred in the first half as PT broke into the lead, 31-28, by halftime. Michael Cortese was tops against SF with 19 points.

“It was good to get some non-section games in and the team played well at times,” said Goga of PT’s tournament showing. “We worked out some things and hope to keep improving and working on fundamentals moving into section play.”

During the Peters Township Tournament, Upper St. Clair also tuned up for its clash Jan. 6 at Baldwin. The Panthers thumped South Fayette, 88-44, and dispatched Washington, 61-56.

Against the Lions, Kyle Meinert tossed in 24 tallies. Matt Kissinger (11) and Gabe Houy (10) also finished in double figures for the Panthers, who forced 23 turnovers in the game. Against the Little Prexies, Meinert again was tops, finishing with 19. Houy and Darius Radfur each pitched in 11 points.

Despite an 0-2 showing in the tournament, South Fayette continued to develop under first-year head coach Dave Mislan.

Camron Garland and Noah Plack led SF with nine and seven markers, respectively, against USC. Matt Thomas was the leader for the Lions in their loss to Peters. He registered 21 points.

“We’re still trying to find the right rotations,” said Mislan. “We have to do a better job playing through adversity like we faced.”

BP girls win

All the adversity the Lady Hawks of Bethel Park faced occurred during the pre-season as they lost key players due to knee injuries, including 1,000-point scorer Justina Mascaro. The senior had several scholarship offers when she tore her ACL during the summer.

As for whether or not she’ll play this season, that question cannot be answered now, says BP skipper Jonna Burke. “Justina is working very hard though,” Burke added. “It’s up to the doctor.”

With Mascaro’s morale-backing from the bench, the Lady Hawks have prevailed. They won their own holiday tournament. BP opened with a 52-37 win against Mohawk then edged South Fayette, 47-43, for the championship.

Against the Warriors, Maddie Dziezgowski led the way. The freshman tossed in 12 points.

“Maddie has been a very pleasant surprise for us,” Burke said. “She’s been asked to do a lot more than she normally would be expected to do as freshman, due to Mascaro being out. She provides an offensive lift for us and hits the boards hard.”

While Maria Cerro and Becca Rodriguez pitched in 11 points each and Emma Papalia buried three, 3-pointers to complement Dziezgowski’s efforts against Mohawk, Kam Lach and Ashley Spence dominated the attack against South Fayette, which won a WPIAL title last year at the Class AAA level. Lach fired in 15 tallies while Spence provided 14 points and eight rebounds against the Lions. Spence garnered MVP honors while Lach was named to the all-tournament team.

“Kam has been a consistent performer for us and comes up big with her 3-point ability,” Burke acknowledged. “Ashley was just a workhorse.”

All in all, Burke was delighted with her team’s performance and the impact it may have on the squad moving into league action this week. The Hawks host Upper St. Clair at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 5.

“I was very pleased with our team effort,” Burke said.

” Mohawk had a solid scrappy team and made us work to come away with the victory. South Fayette always has a strong team and our girls stepped up.

“The tournament provided a little momentum for us heading back into section play. Hopefully we’ve learned a few things that will help us be competitive in our tough section.”

SF ladies learn too

South Fayette, likewise, learned a lesson from its loss to BP that will prepare the Lions as they resume Section 3-AAAA action at South Park at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 5.

“Well, we weren’t happy with our effort for the first few minutes of the game. We stood around a lot, but we had a good push back in the latter stages of the game,” said SF coach Matt Bacco.

“We love testing ourselves against teams like BP. They are so well coached and play so hard that you learn about yourself, and while we didn’t win, we felt we came away from the game with some valuable information about ourselves moving forward. We intend to use it to get better.”

No one played better than Sam Kosmacki. She earned all-tournament honors for the Lady Lions. She led the way with 24 points in SF’s opening win, 62-31, against Seton-La Salle, which lost in the consolation contest, 50-38, to Mohawk.

“Sam played two solid games,” Bacco said. “She is a kid that can create a lot of offense.”

The tournament split created some openings for the Lady Lions to ready themselves for another run at a section title and a WPIAL championship.

“Our goal is to get better as we move into section play,” Bacco said. “We have experimented with some different things in the pre-section games, and we think that we have a lot of room for growth. We expect to play our best ball as we approach tournament time.”

CM battles Lebo

Canon-McMillan at Mt. Lebanon at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 5 proves to be a preview of playoff action down the road as both clubs are expected to challenge Peters Township for the Section 3 title in Class 6-A.

The Lady Macs, who shared the section banner with PT last season, prepped for their showdown with Lebo by participating in the California University Hoopfest. They defeated Obama Academy, 51-42, but lost to Fairmont, W.Va., 67-55.

In the win, Izzy Allen and Cheyenne Trest pitched in 14 and 12 tallies. In the loss, Trest exploded for 21 points, including her 1,000th career marker. Tamara Mathis followed with 12 tallies.

Meanwhile, Lebo beat Blackhawk, 61-33, in its own round-robin tournament. The Blue Devils also played Hoover, Ohio but lost, 62-53.

Chartiers Valley lost to Trinity, 58-41, and Fairmont, 63-59, in the Cal. U. Hoopfest. Mackenzie Wagner had 11 points against the Hillers.

CM boys at BP

Meanwhile, the Big Macs will visit Bethel Park in a key boys’ section match at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 6. Both teams are coming off strong holiday tournament performances.

Canon-Mac claimed the championship in the Trinity Tournament, knocking off the host club, 68-45, in the finals and beating Brownsville, 91-47, in the opener.

R. J. Bell (26) and Kenyon Lewis (11) scored in double digits during the championship game, in which the Big Macs buried eight, 3-point field goals in the first half.

Against the Falcons, Britton Beachy surpassed the 1,000-point plateau in his scholastic career. Jake Davey (14), Jason Fowlkes (17), Bell (12) and Carson Miller (12) all finished in double figures.

Bethel Park defeated Dublin Jerome, 71-61, but lost to Groveport Madison, 65-49, and Upper Arlington, 57-34, in the Penn-Ohio Tournament. In the win, Alex Mullen topped out at 27 points. He supplied 22 tallies in the loss to Groveport.

CH split

Chartiers-Houston split decisions in their holiday tournament appearances.

The Buccanneers edged Brownsville, 77-76, but lost to the Hillers, 84-65, in the Trinity Tournament. In the win, A.J. Myers and Cam Hanley exploded for 35 and 22 points, respectively. In the loss, Hanley and Myers chipped in 25 and 23 tallies.

Meanwhile the C-H girls beat Freeport, 50-28, but succumbed to Beaver, 67-42, in the LGFC Tourmanet at Riverside.

Alexa Williamson pumped in 19 points and Jala Walker pitched in 10 tallies in the loss to the Bobcats. Williamson registered a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds in the victory.

Marisa MVP

Sophomore Makenna Marisa garnered MVP laurels as Peters Township won the Steelton Highspire Tournament.

She scored a game-high 16 markers in the opening win, 66-25, versus Susquehanna. She followed with a 15-point performance in a 74-40 win over the host club in the championship contest.

Ally Zuccharini joined Marisa on the all-tournament list. She tallied 15 points against Steelton and 14 against Susquehanna. Lillian Young had 14 points and 16 points in the triumphs. Emily Conwick added 13 in the final.

Other action

The Mt. Lebanon boys competed in the Palm Beach Shootout over the holidays. The Blue Devils beat American Heritage, 60-56, but lost to Alt. Christian Shores from Virginia, 54-46, and West Broward, 60-59.

Behind 30 points from Mitchell King, Bishop Canevin defeated Imani Christian, 66-53, to capture the championship in its own holiday tournament. In the opener, the Crusaders beat Quigley Academy, 92-34.