By Chris Rossetti, www.d9sports.com
Special to MaxPreps.com
PITTSBURGH – Chartiers Valley, the No. 4 ranked team in Pennsylvania by MaxPreps.com, went into its WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinal game with Blackhawk unbeaten and untested.
The Colts had won 23 straight games by an average margin of 26 points per game and had won 22 of the 23 by double digits.
Following the quarterfinal game, Chartiers Valley is still unbeaten, but the top-seeded Colts (24-0) have now been tested. Chartiers Valley survived a potential go-ahead shot by Blackhawk (14-9) with five seconds to play to beat the Cougars 54-51 Friday night at North Hills High School.
The Colts (24-0) led 52-51 when Blackhawk’s Zack Hayward took a running jumper in the lane that rolled around before going out to Chartiers Valley’s Matt Noszka. Noszka was fouled and hit two free throws to make it 54-51, and then Noszka picked off a Blackhawk pass to seal the win.
“I saw tape (of Blackhawk),” Chartiers Valley head coach Tim McConnell told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “I knew it was going to be a tough game, and our kids knew it too.”
Eli Maravich and Teagan Lindsey led Chartiers Valley with 13 points apiece, while Noszka and T.J. McConnell each had 12.
Ben Raubing paced Blackhawk with 25 tallies with Mike Pearson adding 19.
Chartiers Valley will face Highlands (18-7) in the semifinals Tuesday at North Allegheny High School. Highlands topped Valley 54-49 Friday behind 18 points from Mike Trenski, who transferred to Highlands from Valley before the season.
The other Class AAA semifinal will pit Moon vs. Hampton Tuesday at North Hill. Moon outscored No. 2 seed New Castle 28-4 in the fourth quarter to erase a 45-37 deficit and pull the upset. Jason Jacobs at 21 points for the Tigers, while Aaron Johnson added 15.
Hampton (20-4), meanwhile, needed overtime to oust Greensburg Salem 52-49 as Tim Donegan scored 22 points and Bill Luther had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
WPIAL Girls Class AAAA Playoffs: No. 18 Bethel Park stunned by Fox Chapel
The potential WPIAL Class AAAA girls’ title game match-up between section rivals Mt. Lebanon and Bethel Park, two teams ranked in the top 20 in Pennsylvania by MaxPreps.com, won’t happen thanks to No. 18 Bethel’s 35-33 loss to Fox Chapel Saturday.
The Foxes (19-4) became the first team other than No. 6 Mt. Lebanon to beat Bethel Park this season using a 12-0 third-quarter run to secure the victory. Jenny Papich led Fox Chapel with 14 points.
Fox Chapel will play upstart Gateway. The 15th seeded Gators (15-10), who have won seven of eight, continued their Cinderella run Saturday knocking off Peters Township 40-33 behind 12 points apiece from Katie Kromka and Destiny Brown.
Top-seeded and unbeaten Mt. Lebanon (24-0), meanwhile, knocked off Baldwin 49-30 behind 14 points from Emily Miller. The Blue Devils will take on Oakland Catholic, a 46-37 winner over Penn Hills. Colleen Kiss led Oakland Catholic with 20 points.
In other WPIAL girls’ playoff action, last year’s Class AA champion South Park moved into the Class AAA semifinals with a 63-52 win over Hampton. South Park will take on top-seeded New Castle, a 68-47 winner over Mt. Pleasant in the semifinals. The other semifinal game will feature second-seeded Indiana vs. West Mifflin. Indiana topped Chartiers Valley 52-42, while West Mifflin beat Mars 55-48.
In Class AA, top-seeded Sto-Rox advanced to the semifinals with a 39-29 win over Washington. Sto-Rox will face Our Lady of Sacred Heart, a 60-46 winner over Jeannette.
In the other semifinal game, South Fayette will take on Seton-LaSalle. South Fayette upset second-seeded Beaver 57-47, while Seton-LaSalle ousted Riverside 60-49.
In Class A, top-seeded North Catholic beat Rochester 57-47 to set up a meeting with Vincentian, a 51-44 winner over Clairton. Meanwhile, No. 2 Quigley beat Ft. Cherry 51-42, and defending champion Mt. Alvernia topped Serra Catholic 62-60.
WPIAL Boys Class AAAA Playoffs: Different strokes in semifinals
The story of the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs is new and different, as in teams that don’t usually get to the semifinals have reached them this year.
Top-seeded Peters Township (21-2) is in the semifinals for just the second time in school history and for the first time since 1997 thanks to a 62-54 win over Pittsburgh Central Catholic Saturday. Nick Wilcox scored 28 points for the Indians.
P-T will face fifth-seeded Seneca Valley (16-7), who advanced to the semifinals for the first time in school history thanks to a 60-42 win over Upper St. Clair, in the title game. The Raiders got 23 points from C.J. Brown and 18 from Christian Durbin.
On the other side of the bracket, seventh-seeded North Hills (17-7) advanced to the semifinals for just the second time in school history thanks to a come-from-behind 57-54 upset of No. 2 Latrobe. The Indians were down by six with 2:07 to play but rallied to force overtime on a Cody Patton 3-pointer with 34 seconds to play. Paton, who scored the final 10 points for North Hills, scored all seven of the Indians overtime tallies and finished with 22 points.
North Hills will take on sixth-seeded Mt. Lebanon in the semifinals. The Blue Devils (20-4) beat McKeesport 45-43 on a Paul Lang layup at the horn. Lang scored 17 points for Mt. Lebanon, which also got 18 from Evan Pierce.
In boys’ Class AA action, top-seeded and defending WPIAL and PIAA champion Jeannette rolled past Quaker Valley 62-36 and will face South Fayette, a 49-42 winner over Washington, in the semifinals. The other semifinal contest will pit Monessen vs. North Catholic. Monessen upset No. 2 Beaver Falls 56-52, while North Catholic beat Aliquippa 53-45.
In Class A, top-seeded Sewickley Academy had no problems downing Union-New Castle 69-49 and will now face Clairton, which squeezed past Lincoln Park 51-50, in the semifinals. The other semifinal features defending WPIAL and PIAA champion Serra Catholic, the No. 2 seed, vs. Neshannock. Serra Catholic beat Our Lady of Sacred Heart 80-59, while Neshannock downed Carmichaels 57-48.
District 9 Boys Playoffs: Class A & Class AA
In the District 9 boys’ Class A playoffs Friday, top-seeded North Clarion built a 16-point first-half lead and then held off a frantic comeback attempt by No. 8 Clarion-Limestone to get a 66-54 win. Sophomore Jeremy Schmader had 20 points, while Kyle Gilbert added 14 points and 21 rebounds. Jaye Dulavitch scored 25 for C-L.
Second-seeded Keystone survived a scare from 10th-seeded Union-Rimersburg pulling out a 43-39 overtime win Friday. Senior Brock Witkowski’s 12-foot runner in the lane with seven seconds left forced overtime, and the Panthers outscored the Golden Knights 5-1 in the extra session. Witkowski led Keystone with 13 points, while Ben Black had 14 rebounds. Neil Scott had 15 boards for Union.
In another overtime affair, fifth-seeded Johnsonburg downed fourth-seeded DuBois Central Catholic for the third straight time 60-55. Seth Streich scored the final 12 points, including all 10 in overtime, for the visiting Rams. Streich hit two free throws with 15 seconds left in regulation to force the overtime and was 8 of 8 from the line in overtime.
He scored 28 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter and overtime. Chris Marshall had 26 points, 19 rebounds for DCC.
Sixth-seeded Elk County Catholic, meanwhile, held off a gallant comeback attempt from third-seeded Cameron County to get a 57-56 win. ECC led by 12 at halftime and by seven in the fourth quarter before the Red Raiders rallied. The turning point in the game was a technical foul situation on ECC that could have awarded Cameron County as many as seven points, but the Red Raiders scored just one. The victory secured a 12th straight PIAA playoff appearance for ECC, which got 17 points from Kyle Detsch. Dan Sullivan had 19 for Cameron County.
The Class AA semifinals were held Thursday night at Clarion University, and a couple of monster performances pushed top-seeded Brockway and third-seeded Cranberry to victories.
Brockway got 14 points, 18 rebounds and 10 blocked shots from Mark Shannon to beat Moniteau 60-39 and advance to the District 9 Class AA title game for the first time since 1997.
Meanwhile, Norm Felmlee scored 32 points to lead defending champion Cranberry to a mild 55-44 upset of second-seeded Kane. Felmlee was 11 of 13 from the floor and 9 of 10 from the line.
District 9 Girls Playoffs: Class A Quarterfinals
In the District 9 Class A quarterfinals Thursday, top-seeded Elk County Catholic built a 35-11 halftime lead on its way to a 61-51 win over eighth-seeded Otto-Eldred. Kirstie Pistner had 17 points and Emily Detsch 15.
Second-seeded West Forest nearly blew a 13-point second-half lead before holding off seventh-seeded North Clarion 47-42. The Lady Indians, who saw the She-Wolves get to within 42-40 with 1:35 left, hit 5 of 6 free throws down the stretch. Geena Sneeringer had 14 points and nine rebounds for West Forest.
Coudersport, the third seed, used runs of 9-0 and 15-2 in the first half to get its 19th straight win 61-36 over 11th-seeded DuBois Central Catholic. Karli Duffee had 16 points and Kayla Bohn 15 for the Lady Falcons.
Fourth-seeded Austin, meanwhile, needed overtime to top fifth-seeded Johnsonburg 53-51. Cassey Stuckey’s bucket with 9.2 seconds left in overtime proved to be the game winner. Stuckey had 18 points and four steals for the Panthers, while Whitney Crosby had 20 points and 10 rebounds.
District 9 anomaly of the week: 44 not a good score to have
In what is perhaps one of the stranger statistical anomalies of recent memory, six straight District 9 boys’ and girls’ playoff games between Tuesday and Thursday ended with the losing team scoring 44 points.
It started Tuesday night in Class A boys’ action when Johnsonburg beat A-C Valley 54-44 in a game that ended around 9:15 p.m. It continued the next day with all four games Wednesday ending with the losing team scoring 44 points. In the girls Class AA first round, Brookville topped Keystone 57-44, while in the three boys’ Class A first-round games Clarion-Limestone beat Oswayo Valley 74-44, Elk County Catholic beat Venango Catholic 73-44 and Union topped Port Allegany 65-44.
Finally, in the earliest game Thursday in the Class AA semifinals, Cranberry beat Kane 55-44 making it six straight games. It almost went to seven, but North Clarion’s girls fell two points shy in a 47-42 loss to West Forest in the Class A girls’ quarterfinals Thursday.
