WPIAL Basketball Playoff Recaps for Wednesday, February 25th

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, February 26, 2015 | 1:15 AM

The heavyweights flexed their respective muscles and earned a spot in the District 7 title games this weekend. North Allegheny boys, Chartiers Valley boys, Aliquippa boys, Seton-LaSalle boys, Blackhawk girls and Vincentian Academy girls were all impressive en-route to double digit victories. South Fayette girls and Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic girls were close with cigars as they claimed narrow wins that lift them to their respective title games. Here are recaps from all eight games on Semifinals Wednesday.

A special thanks to Paul Paterra, Steve Nagler, Sean Meyers, Bob Barrickman, Mike Azadian, Randy Gore and Don Rebel for their help on these recaps.

BIYS WPIAL CLASS AAAA Semifinals:

North Allegheny Tigers 71 – Fox Chapel Foxes 44 
Fox Chapel was whistled for 31 personal fouls and North Allegheny cashed in at the free-throw line as the top-seeded Tigers took down the Foxes, 71-44, in the WPIAL semifinals on Wednesday night.  The feisty Fox Chapel defense held NA to 30 percent shooting from the field, but the physical play of the Foxes created a bevy of chances at the free throw line to which the Tigers converted on handsomely. North Allegheny connected on 39 of 45 attempts from the line and put the game away in the second half thanks to its stellar shooting.  Along with their defense, the 12th-seeded Foxes managed upsets in their first two playoff games in part to the outstanding play of Billy Urso. The senior guard was held to 3 of 14 shooting and finished with just eight points before fouling out in the fourth quarter.  Urso was one of three Foxes who fouled out of the game.  North Allegheny held a 12-11 lead after one quarter, but started to distance itself from Fox Chapel thanks to a spurt of 3-pointers.  The Tigers buried four treys in the opening half, including a pair of momentum swinging connections from Curtis Aiken. The freshman guard totaled 18 points and was 10 of 14 from the free-throw line.  In the second half, NA continued to cash in at the charity stripe and put the game on ice. Senior Cole Constantino tallied 20 points for the Tigers and was a perfect 15 for 15 at the line. Senior Will Sandherr added 13 points and sophomore Griffin Sestili chipped in with 10 points and five rebounds.  In an otherwise frustrating night for Fox Chapel, junior Michael Zappala scored a team-best 11 points. The Foxes were limited to 33 percent shooting from the field.  North Allegheny, who improves to 23-2 on the season, advances to the WPIAL championship game to face the second-seeded Chartiers Valley Colts.  Fox Chapel drops to 16-9 and will take part in the PIAA playoffs starting Saturday, March 7.

Chartiers Valley Colts 78 – North Hills Indians 53 
The Chartiers Valley Colts boys basketball team will be making their third straight appearance in the WPIAL championship game after cruising to an easy victory over the North Hills Indians 78-53 in a semi final game at a packed Moon high school. A slow pace early and missed shots by both teams saw only a 2-0 Colt lead. However it didn’t take long for Char Valley to state their dominance. They would go on a 16-2 run and lead 20-5 late in the first quarter. The game was never close after that. The Colts three point offense was on fire in every quarter as they hit 4 in the first quarter and 15 for the game. North Hills tried to stop Colt star Matty McConnell and they limited him in the first half. Any time he drove the lane they converged on him, but he found open team mates for open threes, and easy layups. Char Valley led 20-8 after one quarter. Char Valley led 38-18 at the half and 55-29 after three quarters and at one point in the 4th quarter led by 33 until North Hills played a solid 4th to cut the final score to a 25 point deficit. The Colts were tremendous all around as they out rebounded the Indians 31-21, they ran their half court offense to perfection, and took advantage of every North Hills turnover to score easy layups. The Indians were led in scoring by senior Kindhal Taylor,s 20 points. Their season does not end as they qualify for the PIAA state playoffs beginning next week. Chartiers Valley was led by  both McConnell with 23, and Jake Ritson with 23 as well. Ritson had 7 three point goals in the contest. The Colts will play the Number one seed the North Allegheny Tigers in the Boys AAAA final on Saturday night February 28th at Peterson Events Center on the University of Pittsburgh campus at 9:00 PM. “We’ve lost the last 2 years in the championship,  we will work on a few things before Saturday and give it our best shot” said Colt coach Tim McConnell after the game.

BOYS WPIAL CLASS AA Semifinals:

Aliquippa Quips 85 – Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions 61 
LEADING BY ONLY 33-27 AT THE INTERMISSION, ALIQUIPPA USED A 29-POINT THIRD QUARTER TO BLOW PAST GREENSBURG CENTRAL CATHOLIC 85-61 IN A WPIAL AA BOYS SEMIFINAL ON WEDNESDAY AT CANON-MCMILLAN.  THE WIN AVERTED A SEMIFINAL SETBACK TO GCC LAST YEAR AS THE QUIPS REMAIN THE ONLY PERFECT TEAM IN THE WPIAL AT 24-0.  STEPHON MCGINNIS LED FOUR ALIQUIPPA PLAYERS IN DOUBLE FIGURES WITH 30 POINTS.  KAEZON PUGH SCORED 17, JASSIR JORDAN ADDED 15 AND CHUCKY HUMPHRIES HAD 14 TALLIES.  ROMANO SEBASTIANI WAS THE BRIGHT SPOT FOR THE CENTURIONS BY GATHERING 33 POINTS.  WHILE 21-3 GCC WILL NOW WAIT TEN DAYS BEFORE OPENING PIAA TOURNAMENT PLAY, ALIQUIPPA WILL TRY TO DETHRONE DEFENDING WPIAL CHAMP SETON-LASALLE IN THE TITLE GAME SATURDAY AT THE PETERSEN EVENTS CENTER IN A TILT BEGINNING AT 1PM.  THE REBELS ENDED THE QUIPS SEASON A YEAR AGO IN THE STATE QUARTERFINALS.  ALIQUIPPA WILL APPEAR IN ITS FIRST WPIAL FINAL SINCE 2007 AND WILL SEEK ITS 11TH LEAGUE CROWN.

Seton-LaSalle Rebels 80 – Quaker Valley Quakers 63 
Many people dream of taking a trip to Paris. Members of the Seton-LaSalle boys basketball are taking a dream trip to The Pete along with Paris. Sophomore Paris Ford was strong early and late as he dashed and slashed to the basket for 19 points as the Rebels knocked off Quaker Valley Wednesday night at North Allegheny High School. Ford and fellow back court mate and fellow sophomore Cletus Helton helped Seton-LaSalle jump out to a 22-18 lead after one quarter, which was built to a 41-34 lead by halftime. Throughout the second quarter and most of the third, the Rebels would build a 7 to 9 point lead only to have the Quakers go on a run and cut the lead to one or none. However a run late in the third bumped Seton-LaSalle’s lead to 13 after three quarters, a lead they would build on through the final quarter. Helton led the Rebels with 21 points while William O’Malley added 13 and Andrew Rodgers 11 points for the defending champions who return to the WPIAL finals where they will battle top-seed and unbeaten Aliquippa on Saturday afternoon at the Petersen Events Center. Quaker Valley was led by Chris Conlans game high 23 points while Amos Luptak added 11 and Tre’won Marshall 10 points for a Quakers team that with either be a 3rd seed or 4th seed in the upcoming PIAA Class AA boys basketball playoffs next week.

GIRLS WPIAL CLASS AAA Semifinals:

Blackhawk Cougars 64 – Chartiers Valley Colts 52 
AFTER ONCE TRAILING 16-0, CHARTIERS VALLEY MOUNTED A FURIOUS COMEBACK BUT BLACKHAWK RECOVERED TO WIN, 64-52 IN A WPIAL AAA GIRLS SEMIFINAL WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT MOON HIGH SCHOOL.  THE LADY COLTS TRAILED 29-23 AT THE HALF BEFORE CUTTING THE BLACKHAWK LEAD TO TWO, 40-38 EARLY IN THE FOURTH QUARTER.  THE LADY COUGARS RESPONDED BY OUTSCORING CHARTIERS VALLEY 24-14 THE REST OF THE WAY.  BLACKHAWK’S CHASSIDY OMOGROSSO, THE LEADING SCORER IN THE WPIAL, HAD 33 POINTS TO LEAD THE DEFENDING WPIAL AND PIAA CHAMPIONS.  BRIDGETTE SHAFFER ADDED 12 WHILE COURTNEY VANNOY CHIPPED IN WITH 11 FOR THE WINNERS.  MELISSA RICKENS COLLECTED 21 POINTS AND ALEXA GOLDEN ADDED 15 FOR THE LADY COLTS, AS CHARTIERS VALLEY SAW ITS NINE-GAME WINNING STREAK SNAPPED AND SLIPPED TO 20-5.  THE LADY COUGARS HAVE WON THEIR LAST 15 GAMES AND IMPROVED TO 22-3.  NUMBER ONE SEED BLACKHAWK WILL TRY TO DEFEND ITS TITLE AGAINST 10TH SEED SOUTH FAYETTE IN THE AAA FINAL ON SATURDAY AT 3PM AT THE PETERSEN EVENTS CENTER.  CHARTIERS VALLEY WILL RETURN TO ACTION FOR THE STATE PLAYOFFS ON MARCH 7.

South Fayette Lions 66 – Elizabeth Forward Warriors 63 
The magical postseason run for #10 seed South Fayette continues. The Lions ended the game on a 15 – 4 run to defeat the # 6 seed Warriors. Lauren Crites made a basket with 13.4 seconds to play to give South Fayette a 64-63 lead. Crites then stole the basketball with two seconds left and hit two foul shots for the final score. Crites came off the bench to score 15 points subbing for Emily Anderson, a 6 foot 3 inch Junior who left the game with an injured knee in the first quarter. South Fayette used a 25 – 6 run to take a 31 – 16 lead in the second quarter, but Elizabeth Forward stormed back and led 59 – 51 in the fourth before South Fayette’s game-clinching run. Autumn Mozick led South Fayette with 17 points. Carlee Kilgus added 14, and Sam Kosmacki chipped in with 11. Olivia Barkley paced Elizabeth Forward with 20 points, Abbigail Sporio added 18 points and Jessica Palady score 12 on four three pointers, three in the third quarter. Elizabeth Forwerd outscored South Fayette 28 – 16 in the third quarter. South Fayette advances to the WPIAL Class AAA championship game to play Blackhawk.

GIRLS WPIAL CLASS A Semifinals:

Vincentian Academy Royals 68 – Quigley Catholic Spartans 46
The quest for a four-peat for the Vincentian Academy girls remains intact, as the Lady Royals bested Quigley Catholic 68-46 in the Class A semifinals at Chartiers Valley High School. With the triumph, Vincentian once again advances to the championship game at the Petersen Event Center at 11 a.m. Saturday, as the Royals will face a familiar opponent in section foe Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic. On Wednesday, top-seeded Vincentian Academy took control early against the Spartans, as the Royals scored the first 10 points of the contest. Quigley Catholic responded with a 9-2 run to conclude the quarter, though, as the No. 4 Spartans managed to find success from the charity stripe. Both offenses struggled through cold shooting in the second frame, but Brenna Wise asserted her dominance on the boards, as she corralled 10 first-half rebounds, despite spending the last several minutes of the half on the bench with foul trouble. Meanwhile, Gabrielle Smith provided the offense for the Spartans, as she was the only player on Quigley Catholic to make a field goal in the first half. Facing an eight-point deficit to begin the third quarter, the Spartans began to receive scoring contributions from other players, including Kaitlyn Smith and Liz Duer, to pull within four points. Vincentian Academy (24-1) responded, though, and used a 7-0 run to restore its double-digit lead, 33-22. From that point on, the Royals dominated, as their suffocating defense combined with improved offense allowed them to outscore the Spartans 26-17 in the final stanza. Vincentian Academy head coach Ron Moncrief detailed how his team improved its performance on offense as the game progressed. “I thought we had too much one-on-one in the first half, so (we needed to) move the ball around and get everyone involved,” he noted. “I thought we did a good job of that in the second half.” Wise finished with a team-high 20 points, including 13 in the second half, along with 14 rebounds. She was joined in double figures by Torrieonna Cash, who netted 19 points and a slew of steals, and Maia Joiner, who added 10 points. Gabrielle Smith paced the Spartans, as she notched a game-high 24 points and 12 rebounds. Her sister, Kaitlyn, also reached double figures with 10 points, while Duer recorded a double-double, with 10 points and 11 boards in the setback. While Quigley Catholic (19-5) will wait until the PIAA postseason to return to action, Vincentian Academy will look to become just the fourth girls’ team to capture four consecutive titles.

Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic Trojans 41 – Riverview Raiders 40 
The 2nd seeded CW North Catholic Trojanettes needed last second heroics by freshman Mary Cassamassa to subdue upset-minded Riverview and win a berth in the Girls A Basketball championship game on Saturday at the Petersen Events Center on Saturday.  After a feverish comeback by Riverview which saw the Raiders erase a 12-point halftime lead and actually take a 3-point lead late, Mary Cassamassa took a pass on the right flank and calmly drained the game-winning 3-point shot with five seconds left on the 4th quarter clock and send the CW North Catholic crowd into a frenzy.  The Raiders still had some time but threw the ball away on the subsequent inbounds which ended their hopes of a upset.  Raiders’ junior Sadie Buchser led all scorers with 23 points, fourteen of which came in the 2nd half.  Sophomore Sam Breen (18) led the way for CW North Catholic who now advance into the Class A Championship Finals to play familiar foe, the Vincentian Academy Royals.  By virtue of their semifinals loss, the Riverview Raiders have made the PIAA Class A State Championship bracket.