High school roundup for Feb. 19, 2024: Derry stops OLSH run of consecutive WPIAL finals at 7

By: Triblive
Monday, February 19, 2024 | 10:45 PM

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Nate Papuga led all scorers with 25 points, and Stanley Rajkovich added 16 points and 12 rebounds as No. 12 Derry upset No. 5 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, 54-53, in a WPIAL Class 3A first-round boys basketball game Monday night.

The Trojans (14-6) allowed just two field goals in the fourth quarter, stopping the Chargers’ run of consecutive trips to the WPIAL finals at seven. Tiernan McCullough scored 19 points and Jake Johnson followed with 14 for OLSH.

Derry will face No. 4 Neshannock in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Ellwood City 53, Washington 36 – Joe Roth led all scorers with 18 points and Nathan Williams finished with 13 as No. 9 Ellwood City (16-7) defeated No. 8 Washington (15-8) in the Class 3A first round. The Prexies were led by De’Ondre Daugherty’s 12 points. Ellwood City will play top-seeded Deer Lakes in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Fox Chapel 94, North Hills 84 (2OT) – Jefferson Moorefield-Brown scored 27 points, including a game-tying buzzer-beater at the end of the first overtime, to lead No. 8 Fox Chapel (13-10) to a Class 5A first-round win. Asher White added 23 points, Will Siegel had 20 and Caden Kaiser finished with 15 for the Foxes, who will meet No. 1 Moon in Thursday’s quarterfinals. White’s 3-pointer in the second overtime let Fox Chapel pull ahead by five at 88-83. Eric James led No. 9 North Hills (13-10) with 34 points. Zach Pollaro added 23 and Nathan Schanbacher had 14.

Gateway 70, Penn Hills 59 – Mykel McCrommon led all scorers with 23 points as No. 7 Gateway (17-6) prevailed in the Class 5A first round. Alex Lowry scored 13 points and Bryson Pavlik added 11 for the Gators. Amon Hawthorne sank six 3-pointers and finished with 21 points, Robert Thomas had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Darien Roberson chipped in with 10 points for No. 10 Penn Hills (14-8). Gateway will play No. 2 Franklin Regional in the quarterfinals Thursday.

Mohawk 74, McGuffey 39 – Bobby Fadden drained seven 3-pointers and finished with 25 points to pace No. 2 Mohawk (16-7) in a Class 3A first-round win over No. 15 McGuffey (14-9). Jay Wrona made four 3s and had 12 points, JJ Nail also added 12 points and Justin Boston tallied 10 for the Warriors. The Highlanders were led by Ayden Cunningham’s 10 points. Mohawk will play No. 7 Yough in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Moon 73, Woodland Hills 39 – Elijah Guillory put up 19 points, Aiden Reesman dropped 18 and Michael Santicola finished with 12 as top-seeded Moon (20-3) dispatched No. 17 Woodland Hills (9-14) in the opening round in Class 5A. Lamar Williams led the Wolverines with 12 points. The Tigers will play No. 8 Fox Chapel in the quarterfinals Thursday night.

Neshannock 66, Mt. Pleasant 40 – David Kwiat scored 22 points, including four 3-pointers, and Jaxon Mozzocio added 11 points off the bench to lead No. 4 Neshannock (19-3) in the Class 3A first round. The Lancers, who will meet No. 12 Derry in Thursday’s quarterfinals, used a 10-1 run at the end of the second quarter to take control of the game. Luke Rivardo scored 10 points and Connor Pavlocak added nine for No. 13 Mt. Pleasant (8-14).

Shady Side Academy 79, Beaver Falls 62 – Eli Teslovich hit for 40 points to lead Shady Side Academy (16-7) to a Class 3A first-round win. Cam Mallory added 15 points and Ryan Frohlich had 14 for the Bulldogs, who will meet No. 11 Burrell in Thursday’s quarterfinals. Di’Nari Harris scored 33 points, including seven 3-pointers, for No. 14 Beaver Falls (7-15), which led 21-17 after one quarter before Shady Side Academy went on a 20-3 run in the second.

Shaler 73, Chartiers Valley 71 – Sam Himrod posted 20 points, Kaden Orga tallied 12, and Joe DeSabato and Keegan Smetanka scored 11 apiece for No. 3 Shaler (21-2) in a tight Class 5A first-round win. Jayden Davis led all scorers with 21 points, Julian Smeplice hit for 19 and Rudy Morris had 12 for No. 14 Chartiers Valley (11-12). The Titans advance to play No. 11 Bethel Park in the quarterfinals Thursday.

Thomas Jefferson 72, Penn-Trafford 53 – Evan Berger scored 18 points, Noah Prosser added 16, Brody Evans dropped 12, and Kane Eggerton and Nicholas Trklja scored 10 points apiece for No. 4 Thomas Jefferson (20-3) in a Class 5A first-round win. Evan Gross led No. 13 Penn-Trafford (11-12) with 12 points. The Jaguars will play No. 12 Kiski Area in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Yough 53, South Park 30 – Terek Crosby scored 25 points and Austin Matthews added 14 as No. 7 Yough (19-4) took care of business in the Class 3A first round. The Cougars, who took control with a 17-8 advantage in the second quarter, will meet No. 2 Mohawk in the quarterfinals Thursday. Luke Scarff led No. 10 South Park (13-9) with 14 points.

Girls basketball

Bishop Canevin 53, Mapletown 17 – Amari Elliott dropped 17 points and Isabella Sysak followed with 13 as No. 6 Bishop Canevin (7-13) used a 22-1 advantage in the third quarter to pull away from Mapletown (6-15) for a Class A first-round win. Isabella Garnek had 10 points to pace the No. 11 Maples. Bishop Canevin will visit No. 3 St. Joseph in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Cheswick Christian Academy 50, Jefferson County Christian 25 – Allie Szramowski dropped 15 points while Mei Clay and Grace Kostick each added 10 for Cheswick Christian (8-8) in a quarterfinal win in the SWCAC playoffs. Aryanna Millett paced Jefferson County with 10 points. Cheswick will play the winner of Harvest Baptist and Plants and Pillars in the semifinals Wednesday night at Cornerstone Prep.

Eden Christian 51, Geibel 40 – Emmie Smith scored 15 points and Ella D’Ippoliato followed with 12 to lead No. 10 Eden Christian (9-13) to an upset of No. 7 Geibel (16-7) in the first round of the Class A playoffs. Emma Larkin led the Gators with 27 points. Eden Christian will face second-seeded Aquinas Academy in the quarterfinals Thursday.

Monessen 63, Leechburg 15 – Hailey Johnson led all scorers with 15 points, Madison Johnson produced 13 and Na’Jaziah Carter netted 11 as No. 5 Monessen (18-5) rolled to a Class A first-round win. Grace Richards had five points to lead No. 12 Leechburg (8-11). The Greyhounds will play No. 4 Riverview in Thursday night’s quarterfinals at Fox Chapel.

West Greene 55, Jeannette 33 – Led by 13 points from Kendra Tharp, 12 from Madelyn Roberts and 11 from Kasie Meek, No. 8 West Greene (10-13) won a Class A first-round matchup. The Pioneers will meet top-seeded Union in the quarterfinals Thursday. Adriana Allison scored a game-high 25 points for No. 9 Jeannette (8-10), which played with five players.

Hockey

Armstrong 4, Penn-Trafford 3 – Jason Rullo buried the game-winner with 18 seconds left and finished with two goals as Armstrong (7-11) defeated Penn-Trafford (7-8-4) in Class 2A. Aiden Morando and Logan Hooks each added a goal for the River Hawks. Bryce Kropczynski had two goals and TJ Ferguson also scored for the Warriors.

Butler 3, Kiski 2 – Brayden Hardsock had two goals and Jack Johnson also scored to lead Butler (10-10) to a Class A victory. Dakota Wilson and Jake Kraus scored and Jake Walker made 45 saves for Kiski (0-20).

Deer Lakes 6, Wilmington 1 – Ryan Grunden scored twice, Zachary Nacey added a goal and an assist, and David MCombs, Hank Szenyeri and Trevor Keenan also scored for Deer Lakes (11-6-1) in a Varsity D2 win. Sean Carmichael scored for Wilmington (3-14-1).

Greensburg Salem 5, Quaker Valley 2 – Chase Kushner had a hat trick, Carter Cherok added a goal and an assist, and Kason Tai also scored for Greensburg Salem (12-5-2) in a Class A win. Max Modrovich had a goal and an assist and Colin York also scored for Quaker Valley (16-3-1).

Hampton 9, Westmont Hilltop 1 – Eli Schwarzbach recorded a hat trick and Joey Stephenson, Daniel Leyes, Joey Vinciguerra, Sean Sullivan, Eli Gynn and Eli Bukovac scored a goal each for Hampton (5-15) in a Class A win. Ethan Downey scored for Westmont Hilltop (0-20).

Hempfield 10, North Hills 3 – Nino DiPietro scored four goals and Alex Smillie added a pair as Hempfield (8-9-1) routed North Hills (0-18) in Class 2A. Colby Herron, JJ Williams, Mats Martz and Nick Crupie added a goal each for the Spartans. Andrew Nazak, Dillon Cobaugh and Jonathan Trosky scored for North Hills.

Meadville 5, Mars 3 – Graham Shellhaas and Rocco Tartaglione each had a goal and an assist for Meadville (11-5-3) in Class A. Grant Weaver had a goal and an assist for Mars (15-5).

Neshannock 6, Bishop Canevin 5 – Giovanni Valentine had four goals while Marcello Cerasi and Brian McConahy also scored as Neshannock (14-3-1) handed Bishop Canevin (17-1) its first loss of the year in a Varsity D2 matchup. Ryan Saginaw and Cole Evan both scored a pair of goals and Eion Tiernan netted another for the Crusaders.

North Allegheny 4, Seneca Valley 3 – Luke Walkauskas scored a pair of goals while Evan Kerber and Ed Scherer added a goal apiece as North Allegheny (12-4-2) beat Seneca Valley (15-4) in Class 3A. Marshall Hewitt, John Sroka and CJ Gworek scored for the Raiders.

North Catholic 14, Montour 4 – Nar-Ulan Baiken had three goals and three assists, Beckett Dunn collected two goals and five assists, and Ryan Berry dished out six assists to lead North Hills (13-5-2) in Class A. Anthony Neely, Jacob Gordon and Colin Gnarra each had two goals. Jonah Camardese Woodruff and Aiden Moskovitz each scored twice for Montour (5-15).

Norwin 6, Latrobe 3 – Dom Cerilli scored a pair of goals and Alex Thomas added a goal and had four assists as Norwin (10-7-2) beat Latrobe (13-6) in Class 2A. Colin Czekaj, Zayn Zeravica and Dom Costantino scored for the Knights. Louie Amatucci, Jacob Hannah and Joey Crimboli scored for the IceCats.

Plum 6, Wheeling Catholic 1 – Maksim Popienko netted a pair of goals while Mason Wilkes, Nick Majors, AJ Leah and Colby Bartos each tallied a goal to lead Plum (11-6-1) to a Class A win. Zach Vitlip scored for Wheeling Catholic (7-10-2).