South Fayette upends Chartiers Valley
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Despite the defensive efforts of Brendan Cruz (31), Gavin Orosz (32) gets the shot off during South Fayette’s 56-34 victory over Chartiers Valley.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
South Fayette’s Nico Lamonde leaps between two Chartiers Valley defenders Daniel Slizik (13) and Julius Best (14) on his way to the basket.
South Fayette upended Chartiers Valley, 56-34, in Section 4-AAA boys basketball action.
The Lions opened a 9-0 lead and never trailed. They stretched the advantage to 13-4 by first quarter’s end and 38-20 after three quarters.
Elijah Hall led the uprising, firing in a game-high 23 points. Michael Plasko pumped in 17.
Chartiers Valley’s Jayden Davis, who recently joined the 1,000-point club, was held to 15 points, eight below his scoring average.
SF evened its record at 9-9. Though 2-5 in the section, the Lions are in range to gain one of the four playoff spots available as Moon and CV had three and four losses respectively heading into the final week of regulation action.
Prior to their showdown, SF and CV participated in the PBC Hall of Fame Classic held at Montour. The Lions lost to Penn Hills, 46-40, while the Colts succumbed to Lincoln Park, 79-65.
Hill (19) and Plasko (11) paced SF in scoring while Davis (29) and Drew Sleva (15) were the leaders for CV.
In Class 5A, Peters Township and Bethel Park have clinched playoff slots. The two teams were tied for first place in Section 1 with 6-1 records heading into February action. The teams face off at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10 at AHN Arena in McMurray.
The Indians improved to 15-3 overall with wins against Thomas Jefferson, 83-64, and Connellsville, 90-42.
The win on the road against TJ avenged a previous triple-overtime loss, 105-100, on Jan. 3 for the Indians. In the triumph, Brendan McCullough exploded for 31 points. Jack Dunbar followed with 24 and Jake Ziegler chipped in with 17.
In the rout against the Falcons, McCullough and Dunbar topped out with 25 and 24 points, respectively, while Mick Vacarello contributed 12 tallies.
Meanwhile the Black Hawks, who must still battle TJ at home on Feb. 11, toppled Trinity, 62-53, and Ringgold, 63-31.
Against the Hillers, Ben Guffey tossed in 29 tallies while Shawn Davis provided 12 points.
Against the Rams, Guffey and Nick Brown each scored nine points.
In Class 6A, Mt. Lebanon and Upper St. Clair both have qualified for the playoffs. The rivals squared off for the Section 2 title on Feb. 3.
Prior to the confrontation, the Blue Devils were 7-0 in the division and the Panthers had one loss, a double-overtime decision to Lebo.
Overall, the Blue Devils improved to 13-5 overall with wins against Baldwin, 50-49, and Hempfield, 49-30.
Tanner Donati was tops with 14 points against the Highlanders. He shared scoring honors with Michael Pfeuffer as each registered 13 points against the Spartans.
USC bettered its overall mark to 11-8 with wins against Norwin, 63-33, and Hempfield, 67-65.
Nick Sukernek led the Panthers against the Knights with a dozen points.
In the overtime win against the Spartans, Julian Dahlem topped out with 23 markers. Christian Wieczenski followed with 12 points.
Girls action
Upper St. Clair, Mt. Lebanon, South Fayette and Chartiers Valley will participate in the WPIAL girls basketball playoffs but Peters Township and Bethel Park have some work to do if they are to qualify for postseason action.
With wins against Lebo, 52-44, and CV, 73-44, the Panthers preserved their unblemished mark (9-0) in Section 2. They were 16-2 overall after a 67-43 triumph over Highlands in the Joey Fabus Memorial Classic held at Bethel Park.
Against Highlands, Kate Robbins exploded for 30 points. Rylee Kalocay added 15.
Kalocay was tops against Lebo with 20 points. Mia Brown tacked on 12. Payton Collins (15) and Tori Pettko (14) were tops for the Blue Devils, who dropped to 7-3 in the league and 13-6 overall with the loss.
Against CV, Paige Dellicarri buried five 3-pointers to pace the Panthers with 15 tallies. Robbins finished with 12 points and Kalocay followed with 11 markers.
The top four teams in the section qualify for the WPIAL 6A playoffs, which are scheduled to start Feb. 15 and conclude with championship contests March 2-4 at the Petersen Events Center. The PIAA state finals are set for March 23-25 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
PT and BP were contending with Baldwin for the final playoff spot in Section 2 of Class 6A.
Before heading into weekend action, the Indians and Black Hawks were 3-6 in the section. They split decisions with BP winning the most recent fray, 61-60, on Jan. 30.
In the game, Mary Boff (16), Sophia Nath (13) and Rebecca Gillenberger (12) were in double figures for the Lady Hawks while Gemma Walker (23), Brianna Morreale (12) and Daniela Radulovich (10) led PT.
While the Indians battled Lebo over the weekend before traveling to CV, the Lady Hawks had two clashes to play against USC, one in the league finale in the Panthers’ den on Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. They also host Baldwin at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 6.
In Class 5A, defending champion South Fayette continues to dominate. The Lady Lions improved to 10-0 in Section 4 after wins over Lincoln Park, 76-40, and Montour, 65-24.
Maddie Webber (16), Ava Leroux (15), Lainey Yater (13) and Juliette Leroux (10) finished in double digits against LP. Against the Spartans, Webber led with 18 while Yater and Leroux followed with 16 and 11 points.
With the wins, SF stretched its winning streak to 11. The Lions are 17-2 overall.