By Chris Rossetti, www.d9sports.com
Special to MaxPreps.com
PITTSBURGH – One title down, one left to go for the Mt. Lebanon girls basketball team.
Mt. Lebanon continued its unbeaten season with a 50-24 win over Fox Chapel in the WPIAL Class AAAA championship game Saturday night at Duquesne University’s Palumbo Center. The Blue Devils are now 26-0.
“We feel like our chemistry right now is incredible,” Mt. Lebanon head coach Dori Oldaker told the Valley News Dispatch. “We like to get out and get after it. We have everyone buying into our program.”
Mt. Lebanon used a balanced effort to get the win with three players scoring in double figures led by 14 points from Lauren Arbogast, 13 from Emily Miller and 11 from Madison Cable.
Fox Chapel found itself down 25-10 at halftime but did start the third quarter with a 7-0 run to close within eight. Mt. Lebanon answered back ending the game on a 25-7 run to take home its first championship.
“We hung in there the best we could,” Fox Chapel head coach Rich Mull told the Valley News Dispatch. “Mt. Lebanon is a very good team. I thought we had some unforced errors in the first half. We got careless with the basketball, and that is uncharacteristic of us.”
Heidi Goeller had eight points to lead Fox Chapel.
WPIAL Girls Basketball: North Catholic, Sto-Rox, New Castle take home titles
The WPIAL also crowned champions in its other three classifications over the weekend with North Catholic, Sto-Rox and New Castle claiming titles.
North Catholic won the Class A title with a 48-44 win over defending champion Mt. Alvernia Friday at the Palumbo Center thanks to 16 points and 14 rebounds from Lauren Savukchak.
It’s North Catholic’s second title in the past three seasons and the fourth under head coach Molly Rottmann. Kat Owunna had 14 points to lead the Lions.
Sto-Rox took home its first title with a 51-34 win over Seton-LaSalle Saturday at the Palumbo Center. An 18-7 second quarter opened up what was a two-point lead for the Vikings after eight minutes of play. Darryl Ford led the way with 15 points, while Tanesha Lee and Kerry Connolly each had 11 for the Sto-Rox. Jordan Dwyer paced Seton-LaSalle with 11 tallies.
Also on Saturday at the Palumbo Center, New Castle rallied from a 13-point deficit to beat West Mifflin 54-47. The Red Hurricanes were down 26-13 early in the second quarter but rallied to tie the game at 32 at halftime and then outscored West Mifflin, which lost in the title game for the second straight year, in the second half to win the title.
LaShauna Brothers led New Castle with 19 points while shooting 8 of 10, while JaNia McPhatter chipped in 10 points. Jessica Pitts had 16 points for West Mifflin.
WPIAL Boys Basketball: Peters Township wins first title
The WPIAL also crowned its boys’ champions over the weekend with Peters Township, Hampton, North Catholic and Sewickley Academy taking home crowns with North
Peters Township won its first-ever title beating Mt. Lebanon 60-54 in Class AAAA thanks to 20 points from Craig Wolcott and a 20 of 30 performance from the free-throw line, including 10 of 10 from Wolcott in the fourth quarter. Paul Lang and Deion Turman had 16 points each for Mt. Lebanon.
Hampton also won its first WPIAL title rolling past Highlands 84-59, the Talbots third win over the Golden Rams this season. Hampton was actually down by two at halftime but outscored Highlands 22-5 in the third quarter and 48-22 in the second half thanks in large part to a 13-0 run at the start of the half.
Matt Madia had 32 points to lead Hampton, while Tim Donegan added 24. Jeff Sinclair led Highlands with 16 points, and Mike Trenski added 13. But Trenski was ejected in the fourth quarter and will have to sit out the Golden Rams first-round PIAA playoff game.
North Catholic knocked off defending WPIAL and PIAA champion Jeannette 51-44 to take home the Class AA title. The Trojans got 17 points from Jesse Long and 16 from Henry Pwono to end the Jayhawks 15-game win streak. Jordan Hall topped Jeanette with 15 points.
Sewickley Academy rode the play of Tom Droney to a 71-57 win over defending WPIAL and PIAA champion Serra Catholic to win the Class A title. Droney had 40 points on the night outdueling Serra Catholic’s T.J. Heatherington, who scored 37. Heatherington had a monster effort in Serra’s 88-74 semifinal win over Nesshannock scoring a WPIAL playoff-record 50 points in that game. But he couldn’t help the Eagles overcome Droney, who had 21 of his points in the fourth quarter.
Serra Catholic was without two starters – Rob Herrington, who was ejected from the Neshannock game and had to serve a one-game suspension, and Eric Jurofcik with an injury.
District 9 Boys Basketball: ECC wins another title; Brockway, Clearfield also win
In District 9 boys basketball action over the weekend, Elk County Catholic won its 20th district title while Brockway and Clearfield also took home first-place hardware.
ECC won its fifth title in six seasons with a 47-36 victory over Elk County rival Johnsonburg Saturday. The Crusaders used a 10-0 second-half run to outscore the Rams 22-12 in the half. Robby Wortman led ECC with 11 points and nine rebounds, while Nate Higgins and Joe Jacob each had 10 points. Seth Streich led Johnsonburg with 11 points and 14 rebounds.
Brockway claimed its first District 9 title since 1995 when sophomore Cody Anderson buried a game-winning 3-pointer just before the horn sounded to give the Rovers an ugly 32-29 win over defending champion Cranberry.
Brockway won the game despite going 11:20 without scoring a point. Cranberry went on a 13-0 run during that stretch to take a 29-26 lead, but a 3-pointer from Nick Anderson, who assisted on the game winner, tied the game. It’s the lowest scoring District 9 boys’ title game since final scores started being tracked in 1983. Norm Felmlee, who had 32 points in Cranberry’s semifinal win, led the Berries with 14 points. Nick Anderson led Brockway with 13.
Clearfield claimed its first District 9 title since 1999 with a 49-37 win over St. Marys. A 23-7 run at the start of the second half helped the Bisons erase a four-point halftime deficit and get the win. Parker Herrington scored 16 points to lead Clearfield, while Cruise Kerr had 10 rebounds. Levi Welder led St. Marys with 15 points and eight boards.
District 9 Girls Basketball: ECC, Cranberry, St. Marys go home with gold
In District 9 girls basketball, Elk County Catholic claimed its first district title in 20 years, while Cranberry got its second in the last five years and St. Marys its second straight.
ECC shot 65.9 percent from the field and won its first district title since 1989 with a 65-53 victory over defending champion Coudersport Saturday. The Lady Crusaders got 19 points from Bre Grimone on 9 of 11 shootings and 16 points and nine rebounds from Emily Detsch, who shot 8 of 9 from the field. Karli Duffee led Coudersport with 19 points.
Cranberry, which joined District 9 in 2005 after being a District 10 powerhouse including three PIAA Class AA titles in the 1990s, got 17 points from sophomore Sarah Lutz in a 43-30 win over Kane Friday to win the D9 Class AA crown. Lutz had seven of her points during a 10-3 fourth-quarter run that put the game away for the Berries, who also won the District 9 title in 2005.
Hannah Heeter added 11 rebounds, six blocked shot, four assists and nine points for Cranberry. Natalie Kossack paced Kane with 12 points and eight rebounds.
St. Marys overcame deep foul trouble to District 9’s leading scorer Kayla Hoohuli to roll to a 56-28 win over Clearfield in the Class AAA title game Saturday.
Hoohuli, a sophomore who already has over 1,000 career points, picked up three fouls in the first quarter but still led the Dutch with 16 points, nine rebounds, five assists, five steals and three blocked shots. Clearfield was paced by Gwenn Porter’s eight points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.
District 10 Boys Basketball: Cathedral Prep beats rival for Class AAAA title
In District 10, Erie Cathedral Prep, Farrell, Fairview and Kennedy Catholic won boys’ titles.
Cathedral Prep got a 55-51 win over Erie rival McDowell in the Class AAAA title game Friday at Gannon University thanks to 23 points, six rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots from RaSean Thrower. It was the Ramblers fourth D10 title in five years.
Erie McDowell, which saw a 3-pointer with 1.4 seconds left that would have tied the game fall short, got 11 points apiece from Jason Keim and Zach Stano.
Farrell, meanwhile, beat three-time defending champion General McLane 63-55 to win the Class AAA championship Friday at Slippery Rock behind 21 points and nine rebounds from Traphael Stubbs, including 17 second-half tallies, and 20 points from Marsell Holden, including 10 in the fourth quarter, giving him 1,829 in his career.
The Steelers won despite making only nine of 30 shots in the first half. But General McLane couldn’t take advantage of the poor shooting and led by just two, 27-25, at halftime. Dom DiVito led General McLane with 28 points including 15 in the first half.
Fairview’s Brooks Linkoski hit two free throws with 1.7 seconds left to lift the Tigers to a 45-44 win over Mercyhurst Prep in the Class AA title game Friday at Edinboro University.
Mercyhurst Prep had taken a 44-43 lead when Tim Shaloiko hit one of two free throws with 7.8 seconds to play, but Linkoski got the ball off a pass and drove to the hoop before being fouled and then calmly sank both free throws to give his team the title. Chris Glecos led Fairview with 18 points while Linkoski added 16. Ricky Majewski paced Mercyhurst Prep with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
In the Class A title game Friday at Slippery Rock it was more of the same, as Kennedy Catholic won its 12th straight title with a 67-53 victory over VisionQuest. Kyle Randall, who told the Sharon Herald after the game that his team’s goal is a state title, led the Golden Eagles with 34 points giving him 1,888 in his career. Kareem Shaw led VisionQuest with 23 points and seven rebounds.
District 10 Girls Basketball: McDowell takes third Class AAAA title in four years
Claiming District 10 girls’ titles over the weekend were Erie McDowell, General McLane, Villa Maria and Kennedy Catholic.
McDowell beat Erie Strong Vincent 58-47 Thursday to win its second straight Class AAAA title and its third in four years thanks to 18 points from Leah Krause and 16 from Allison Braun, who now has 995 career points. Chamela Jones had a game-high 23 points for Erie Strong Vincent.
In the Class AAA title game Saturday, General McLane hit three free throws in the final 1:10, including two game clinchers from freshman Leah Hansen with 6.4 seconds left, to break at 46-all tie and win its second straight title with a 49-46 win over Mercyhurst Prep.
Sarah Hansen, Leah’s older sister, led General McLane with 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Valerie Majewski added 11 points and 10 rebounds Kirsten Olowinski led Mercyhurst Prep with a game-high 22 points, but the Lakers lost the game at the free-throw line making 3 of 13 charity shots.
Villa Maria rolled to its third straight Class AA title beating Girard 53-28 Saturday at Gannon. Kayla McBride led Villa with 18 points. Reagan Moore paced Girard with nine points, but the Yellow Jackets scored 11 of their 28 points during a first-half ending 11-0 run that got them within four points at halftime. But Villa Maria held the YellowJackets to 12 second-half points while holding an opponent under 30 points for the eighth time this year.
In a game that was a lot longer than it was pretty, Kennedy Catholic outscored Eisenhower 4-2 in the third overtime to get a 36-34 win in the Class A title game.
The Golden Eagles almost didn’t go to overtime, as they trailed 29-26 with under 20 seconds to play when Cassie Fill hit her first 3-pointer of the season on her first 3-point attempt of the year with 16.7 seconds left to tie the game at 29.
Eisenhower had a chance to win the game at the end of the first overtime when Stefanie Santo was fouled trying to put back an offensive rebound with the Lady Knights trailing 32-31. But Santo missed the first free throw before connecting on the second one to send the game to double overtime.
In the second overtime, neither team was able to score before Kennedy Catholic scored the first four points of the third overtime to go up 36-32. Eisenhower got back within one in the final minute, but a potential game-winning 3-pointer in the final seconds didn’t find its mark.
Fill led Kennedy Catholic with 13 points. Emma West paced Eisenhower with 11 points.