Boys’ basketball roundup
After dropping its first league battle, Mt. Lebanon rebounded to beat Bethel Park, 60-42, in boys’ basketball action.
The victory came on the heels of a 69-64 loss at Canon-McMillan and kept the Blue Devils tied for first place in Section 2, 6A with the Big Macs. Both are 7-1 in the division.
In the triumph, Caden Hinckley and Hayden Mitchell scored in double figures with 223 and 15 tallies respectively. Ryan Meis first in 12 for the Hawks, who slipped to 6-3 in the section and 10-6 overall.
In the loss to the Big Macs, Sean Loughran (18), Mitchell (18) and Antonio Garofoli (11) scored in double figures. Jason Fowlkes led the Big Macs with 18 followed by Ethan Beacy (16), Drew Engel (10) and Elliott Walker (10).
C-M leapfrogged ahead of Lebo in the WPIAL Class 6A rankings. The Big Macs are ranked third and Lebo, fourth, behind Penn Hills and Pine-Richland. Both have qualified for the playoffs. After a visit to Connellsville last night (Jan. 30), the Blue Devils had section games with Baldwin (Feb. 2), at Peters Township (Feb. 6) and Upper St. Clair (Feb. 9) remaining before the post-season.
After C-M, Lebo and BP, the race is on for the final playoff spot and at the start of the week, USC clung to fourth place with a 4-5 record. Overall the Panthers are 9-9 after their win, 78-51, against Connellsville. USC had a key game against Baldwin on Jan. 30. The Highlanders remained in playoff contention after defeating Peters Township, 45-40. Colin Cotte had 18 for the Indians and Mike Goa had 13 for the Highlanders.
Peters (Feb. 2) and Lebo (Feb. 5) remain on the section schedule and should should determine the playoff hopes for the Panthers. Baldwin, meanwhile, must face Lebo (Feb. 2), C-M (Feb. 6) and Bethel (Feb. 9) to close out their section action.
In Section 3 of the WPIAL’s Quad-A division, South Fayette remained in the playoff hunt. With a 45-30 win against McGuffey, the Lions improved to 7-3 in the division and 10-6 overall. They are tied for second place in the section.
Connor Mislan led the Lions with 17 markers while Noah Plack supplied 13 tallies.