High school roundup for Feb. 29, 2024: Mt. Lebanon drops Central Catholic for 3rd place in 6A

By: Triblive
Thursday, February 29, 2024 | 11:15 PM

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Mt. Lebanon jumped out to an early lead and held on to defeat 2023 district champion Central Catholic, 62-57, in the WPIAL boys basketball Class 6A consolation game Thursday night.

The Blue Devils led 17-9 after one quarter and enjoyed a 10-point lead after both the second and third quarters thanks in part to the outside shooting of sophomore Liam Sheely, who led Mt. Lebanon with 18 points, and the inside work of senior Riley Farabaugh, who added 16 points.

Every time the Vikings crept close, they could not deliver the big shot.

Trailing by three points with less than a minute left, Central Catholic forced a turnover but missed a 3-point shot and the Blue Devils iced the game from the free-throw line.

Senior Payton Wehner had a monster game. The St. Francis (Pa.) recruit scored 25 of his team’s 57 points.

Central Catholic’s season ends with a record of 15-10 while Mt. Lebanon improves to 20-5 and will travel to face the winner of the McDowell at State College game in a PIAA first-round game Saturday, March 9.

Fort Cherry 71, Northgate 62 – Shane Cornali scored 26 points and Derek Errett added 20 as No. 4 Fort Cherry (20-6) won the Class 2A third-place game. Ty Daniels and Kaden Kemp scored 16 points each, Josh Williams added 15 and Landon Lockett had 10 for No. 3 Northgate (18-7).

Girls basketball

Elizabeth Forward 58, Laurel Highlands 45 – Chloe Zombek scored 20 points, Mia Sostaric added 11 and Kaelynn Settles finished with 10 as No. 3 Elizabeth Forward (22-3) won the Class 4A third-place game. Miya Harris scored 20 points and Ariyanna Sumpter added 14 for No. 5 Laurel Highlands (20-4).

Highlands 38, Knoch 35 – Tyarah Woody scored the go-ahead basket with 18 seconds left and Kate Myers added two free throws to seal the victory as No. 4 Highlands defeated No. 6 Knoch in the Class 4A fifth-place game. Myers led the Golden Rams (18-7) with 11 points and Jocelyn Bielak added 10. Adah Fuller scored 14 points and Naturelle Ewing added 13 for the Knights (15-11), who rallied from 32-23 down after three quarters to take a 35-34 lead into the final minute.

Indiana 35, North Hills 28 – Bella Antonacci scored 15 points as No. 7 Indiana (19-7) clinched a state playoff berth with a victory in the Class 5A seventh-place game. Gia Minton scored 13 for No. 8 North Hills (14-11).

McKeesport 43, Oakland Catholic 41 – Rachael Manfredo scored 16 points and Brooke Evans added 13 to lead No. 2 McKeesport (21-4) in the Class 5A third-place game. Mia LeDonne scored 13 and Josie Fontana added 10 for No. 1 Oakland Catholic (24-2).

Hockey

Playoffs

North Catholic 5, Blackhawk 3 – Colin Gnarra had two goals and an assist and Anthony Neely also scored twice to lead North Catholic in a PIHL Penguins Cup playoffs Class A play-in game. Emilio Laracuente also scored and Beckett Dunn had two assists for the Trojans. Tyler Syka had a goal and an assist and Finn Conlon and Beck Harry also scored for Blackhawk. North Catholic will meet Indiana in the quarterfinals Tuesday.

Shaler 4, Beaver 0 – Jacob Kunc had a goal and an assist and Shane Ciganik recorded a 14-save shutout as Shaler won a PIHL Penguins Cup playoffs Class A play-in game. Darius Malecki, Luca Wallander and Matthew Stelitano also scored and Chase Irwin and Brendan Fitzgerald each had two assists. Caleb Berardelli made 42 saves for Beaver. Shaler will meet Avonworth in the quarterfinals Monday.

Regular season

Burrell 7, Elizabeth Forward 4 – Aidan Petroff had two goals and two assists and Tyler Danko also scored twice to lead Burrell (16-3) to a Varsity D2 win. Mike Morazczyk added a goal and two assists for the Bucs. Doug Hoffman scored twice and Owen Sabatini and Joey Wach each had a goal and an assist for Elizabeth Forward (9-10).

Carrick 3, Ringgold 1 – Tanner Heidekamp, Max Hagan and Harrison Fiscus scored, Ivan Maculich had two assists and Logan Keady made 27 saves to lead Carrick (13-4-2) to a Varsity D2 win. Nolan Mosco scored and Colin Moffett made 31 saves for Ringgold (11-6-2).

Mt. Lebanon 2, Bethel Park 0 – Sawyer Klasnick and Micah Gil scored and Quinn Lynam made 28 saves to lead Mt. Lebanon (12-7-1) to a Class 3A win. Kevin Teamann made 21 saves for Bethel Park (9-10-1).

Neshannock 5, Morgantown 4 – Giovanni Valentine scored the game-winning goal on a penalty shot with 2:36 to play as Neshannock (15-3-1) won in Varsity D2. Valentine had a hat trick and added an assist and Kent Jones and Zander Telesz also scored for the Lancers. Weston Macey had two goals and an assist and Cooper Cox also scored for Morgantown (11-8).

North Allegheny 4, Baldwin 1 – Evan Kerber scored twice and Luke Walkauskas and Ravi Desai each had a goal and an assist to lead North Allegheny (14-4-2) to a Class 3A win. Trevor Brain scored for Baldwin (1-17-2).

Pine-Richland 4, Central Catholic 3 – AJ Verszyla scored twice and Cullen Campbell and Logan Kozak each had a goal and an assist to lead Pine-Richland (15-4-1) to a Class 3A win. Griffin Lewis had two goals and an assist and Evan Benscoter added a goal and an assist for Central Catholic (10-9-1).

South Fayette 2, Latrobe 0 – Robert Chiappetta and Trevor Dalessandro scored and Zachary Bender and Graydon Sarnowski combined on the shutout as South Fayette closed out the PIHL Class 2A hockey regular season with a 2-0 win over Latrobe Thursday night. Brock Pflugh made 25 saves for Latrobe (13-7). Tyler Brandebura had two assists for South Fayette (17-1-2).

Thomas Jefferson 10, Hempfield 1 – Ryder McGuirk had a hat trick and Jake Stock collected a goal and four assists to lead Thomas Jefferson (18-2) to a Class 2A victory. Andrew Oliver had two goals and an assist and Lucas Blose also scored twice. Nick Crupie scored for Hempfield (9-10-1).

Upper St. Clair 5, Canon-McMillan 4 – Eli Rankin scored the game-winning goal in the third period as Upper St. Clair (11-6-3) rallied from a 4-1 deficit to win in Class 3A. Rankin and Dylan Yealy each had a goal and two assists and Chase McDougall, Ryan Buonomo and Drew Lisak also scored for USC. Ben Votodian and Alex Galardini each had a goal and an assist for Canon-McMillan (1-19).