South Hills high school notebook: Thomas Jefferson pair make all-state in football

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, December 22, 2017 | 4:51 PM

Notebook items from around the South Hills:

• Two senior members of the Thomas Jefferson football squad — lineman Devin Danielson and running back Justin Vigna — were named to the Class 4A all-state team.

Danielson (6-3, 295) was selected as a defensive lineman, Vigna (5-8, 170) as an athlete.

Danielson and teammate Noah Palmer, a senior tight end/defensive end, will continue their football careers at Pitt. It became official Dec. 20, when they officially signed national letters of intent.

• Baldwin graduate Luke Smorey ended his college football career at Cal (Pa.) with 145 receptions for 2,071 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Smorey, a senior wideout, led the Vulcans in receiving with 78 catches for 982 yards and six touchdowns in 2017.

He averaged 14.3 yards per catch for his career.

• Junior point guard Jenna Clark scored a game-high 23 points to spark the Thomas Jefferson girls basketball team to a recent 67-29 nonsection win at Steel Valley.

Clark connected for three treys en route to 15 first-half points as the Jaguars raced to a 33-11 halftime lead en route to a fourth consecutive victory.

Clark, seniors Marina Petruzzi (G) and Becca Mascaro (G/F), junior Shaylor Williams (G) and sophomore Alyssa D'Angelo (G/F) did all the scoring for TJ in the first two quarters. Petruzzi scored 13 points.

• The Thomas Jefferson girls basketball team passed an important nonsection test at home, defeating Upper St. Clair, 58-50. Four players accounted for all but two of the Jaguars points, led by Petruzzi and Clark with 17 apiece. D'Angelo finished with 12 points, and Mascaro chipped in with 10.

• Senior guard Brittany Stewart poured in a game-high 18 points to lead the Brentwood girls basketball team to a 65-23 section win at home against Sto-Rox. Both teams were undefeated at 4-0 entering the game.

• Seton LaSalle senior RB/DB Lionel Deanes (5-8, 175) was named to the Class 3A all-state team in a vote of Pennsylvania sports writers. Deanes was selected as an “athlete.”

• Mike Voelker and Josh Valentic are assistant coaches in the Baldwin boys basketball program. Dennis Squeglia and Alex Gensler are assistants in the Baldwin girls hoops program.

Ray Fisher is a freelance writer.

Tags: Baldwin, Seton-LaSalle, Thomas Jefferson