Pennsylvania district basketball titles are decided

Hilary Sauer scored 11 points and her twin sister Haley Sauer added nine, as Shaler Area (Pittsburgh) overcame a nine-point halftime deficit to stun two-time defending WPIAL and PIAA champion Mt. Lebanon (Pittsburgh) 41-35 in the WPIAL Class AAAA championship game Saturday at Duquesne University.

"No one gave us a chance," Shaler head coach Eric Mozzetti told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "We love being the underdogs. I'll be the underdog the rest of the way."

Shaler (26-2) trailed 18-9 at halftime but outscored Mt. Lebanon (20-6) 21-7 in the third quarter to get back into the game.

Mt. Lebanon, which was held to its lowest point total since scoring 33 in a loss to North Catholic Jan. 6, 2007, shot 15.3 percent from the field and 17 of 39 from the free-throw line. 



Notre Dame recruit Madison Cable led the Blue Devils, who will still get a shot at defending their PIAA title, with 12 points.

BLACKHAWK, SETON LaSALLE, NORTH CATHOLIC WIN WPIAL GIRLS TITLES
The other three WPIAL girls championships went to Blackhawk (Beaver Falls) in Class AAA, Seton LaSalle (Pittsburgh) in Class AA and North Catholic (Pittsburgh) in Class A.

Blackhawk won its first WPIAL title since 2000 while picking up the 600th win in school history with a 63-49 win over Ambridge Saturday thanks to 21 points from Alexa Hayward, who hit five 3-pointers. Alexis Graham (12) and Halle Denman (11) also reached double digits for the Cougars (21-5). Sam Santiago scored 18 to lead Ambridge (20-7)

Seton-LaSalle had no trouble topping defending champion Jeannette 74-29 Friday night. The 74 points are the most ever in a WPIAL Class AA title game and the 45-point margin is the largest ever in a WPIAL girls championship game. The Rebels (24-2) led 37-15 at halftime thanks to a 22-6 second-quarter advantage and then outscored the Jayhawks 25-11 in the third quarter. Freshman Naje Gibson led Seton-LaSalle with 16 points with most coming after the game was decided. Angela Heintz added 14, Jordan Dwyer 13, Emily Marecic 11 and Amy O'Keefe 10. Sophomore Ciara Gregory, the hero of last year's title game for Jeannette (17-9), had a team-high eight points.

North Catholic took home its 16th WPIAL title with a 49-43 win over a Fort Cherry squad that didn't quit despite being down 18 late in the game. The Rangers (22-4) used a 12-0 run late to put a scare in the Trojanettes (19-7), who led 31-14 at halftime. Kendall Hoffman led North Catholic with 15 points, while Rebekah Bellhy had 13 for Fort Cherry.

GATEWAY, MONTOUR, MONESSEN, VINCENTIAN ACADEMY WIN WPIAL BOYS TITLES
First-time champions were the story of the WPIAL boys basketball championships with Gateway (Monroeville) in Class AAAA, Montour (McKees Rocks) in Class AAA and Vincentian Academy (Pittsburgh) winning the first titles in school history, while Monessen won the fourth title under head coach Joe Salvino, who has been at the school 27 years.



Tyler Scott scored 20 points and Barnett Harris added 11 to lead Gateway (22-4) to a 58-43 win over Chartiers Valley (20-6), which won the Class AAA WPIAL title last year and was the PIAA runner-up before moving up to Class AAAA this season. Matt Noszka led the Colts with 16 points. A 17-6 fourth quarter helped Gateway pull away. 

After losing twice in the regular season to South Fayette, Montour beat the Lions, who won the PIAA Class AA championship a year ago before moving up to Class AAA, when it counted the most getting a 45-34 win Friday night. Austin Heter led the Spartans (19-7) with 11 points and Devin Wilson added 10. Mike Lamberti had 13 points to lead South Fayette (22-2).

Monessen (23-2) had four players score in double digits to beat Greensburg Central Catholic 63-43. Jalin Madison had 13 points to lead the Greyhounds, who are actually a Class A team playing up a classification, with Cam Johnson adding 12 and Jeff Francia and Earl Pinkney 11 each. Jesse Reed led all scorers with 20 points for Greensburg Central Catholic (22-3), which was the top seed in the tournament. 

John Bray scored 21 points to lead Vincentian Academy (24-1) to a 67-61 win over Lincoln Park Friday. Lincoln Park (17-7) lost despite getting 22 points and 20 rebounds from Devontae Watson and 19 points from Chaquille Pratt. Adam Dian added 13 points for Vincentian.

ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC, BROOKVILLE, ST. MARYS TAKE HOME DISTRICT 9 BOYS TITLES
In District 9, Elk County Catholic (St. Marys) (Class A), Brookville (Class AA) and St. Marys (Class AAA) took home boys' championships with Brookville winning its second in a row.

ECC (24-4) won its 19th District 9 title (17 in Class A) since 1981 and its ninth in 11 years thanks to a 51-39 win over Union-Rimersburg (20-7), which was looking for its first title since 1981. Mitch Haberberger led ECC with 16 points, while Brody Pollock had a game-high 21 points for Union.



Brookville took home its second straight Class AA title with a 58-49 win over Moniteau, which was looking for its first championship. Six-foot-6 junior Zane Hackett led the Raiders (22-2) with 20 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots. Kyle Armagost paced Moniteau (15-9) with 22 points.

St. Marys won its first District 9 Class AAA title since 2000 with a 49-37 win over defending champion Bradford (7-17). Justin Quiggle had 17 points and Ryan Mancuso 16 for the Dutchmen (17-7), who were 2-18 last year.

Continue reading{PAGEBREAK}COUDERSPORT, CRANBERRY, ST. MARYS WIN DISTRICT 9 GIRLS TITLES
In District 9 girls' basketball title play, Coudersport, Cranberry Area (Seneca) and St. Marys took home crowns with Cranberry and St. Marys defending titles from a year ago.

Hannah Fink hit a 10-foot jumper from the left corner with 1.3 seconds left to lift Coudersport to a 47-45 win over Union in the Class A championship game. Fink and Tori Brown each scored 12 points to lead the Lady Falcons (24-1) with Delanie Cowburn adding 11 points. Mariah Winchester had 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead Union (22-4), which had tied the game at 45 on a Winchester shot with 16 seconds left.

Cranberry (24-1) took home its third straight Class AA title with a 44-31 win over Brookville (17-7) thanks to 13 points from Lauren Hogue, 12 from freshman Emily Merryman and 11 by Sarah Lutz.

A 23-6 fourth-quarter run helped St. Marys (22-1) survive a scoreless third quarter to beat Bradford (12-11) 53-37 to take home its fourth straight Class AAA championship. Canisius recruit Kayla Hoohuli, a 2,000-point career scorer, scored 22 points and had 12 rebounds. All but eight of her points came during the game-deciding run.



ALLDERDICE WINS PITTSBURGH CITY LEAGUE BOYS AND GIRLS TITLES
Taylor Allderdice (Pittsburgh) won both the boys and girls Pittsburgh City League titles Saturday with the Dragon boys (17-7) beating Perry (21-4) 73-63 behind 23 points from Justin Dobbs and 22 from Cameron Bailey to defend their title and the Taylor Allderdice (Pittsburgh) girls (21-4) topping Westinghouse (19-6) 38-34 thanks to 12 tallies from Janay Bottoms. 

ROCKY GROVE, NORTH EAST, FRANKLIN, ERIE CATHEDRAL PREP EARN D-10 BOYS TITLES
Rocky Grove (Franklin), North East, Franklin and Cathedral Prep (Erie) captured District 10 boys basketball titles over the weekend.

Four Rocky Grove players scored in double digits to offset a 32-point performance by West Middlesex's Matt Dogan, as the Orioles won their second straight Class A title with a 67-59 win over the Big Red. Dylan Gravatt led Rocky Grove with 18 points, Shawn Kennemuth added 17, Christian Schiffer 13 and Geoff Sanner 11. Rocky Grove has won two of three District 10 Class A titles since rejoining the district after a short stay in District 9. 

Aaron Wakley hit two free throws with 38.3 seconds left to give North East the lead for good, as the Grapepickers went on to beat Sharpsville 48-45 for the Class AA title. Cory Bailey had 14 points to lead North East (19-6), Spencer Cornelius added 12 and Wakley 10. Jon Wilson led all scorers with 16 for Sharpsville (18-7)

Isaiah Jordan, Noah Jones and Dillon King combined for all but 10 of Franklin's points in a 59-56 win over General McLane in Class AAA. Jordan had 18, King 16 and Jones 15 for the Knights (21-4). Quinn Thompson led all scorers with 21 for General McLane (20-5).

Behind 16 points from Adam Blazek and 12 from Joe Gnacinski, Erie Cathedral Prep (14-9) downed Erie McDowell (16-8) 51-40 to take home the Class AAAA crown.



KENNEDY CATHOLIC, VILLA MARIA, MERCYHURST PREP, ERIE McDOWELL WIN D-10 GIRLS TITLES
Private schools dominated the District 10 girls basketball championships with three of the four classifications going to the tuition-charging institutions.

Kennedy Catholic (Hermitage) (20-3) took home the Class A championship with a 53-35 win over Farrell thanks to 15 points from Marina Wareham, 12 from Rachel Burns and 10 from Kelsey George.

Lisa Mifsud, Abbey Steudler and Adrienne Kloecker combined to score 36 points to lead Villa Maria Academy (Erie) (23-2) to its fifth straight Class AA title with a 61-37 win over Sharon. Mifsud had 13 points, Steudler 12 and Kloecker 11.

Mercyhurst Prep (Erie) (23-2) also used a balanced attack to beat Franklin 51-40 in a matchup of two highly ranked Class AAA squads. Lindsay Stamp led the Lakers with 13 points, Kayla Wilwohl added 12 and Amanda Berctold 11. 

McDowell (Erie) got 14 points from Kaitlyn Fromknecht, 12 from Maddie Hahey and 10 from Maddie Miller to roll past Erie East 58-32 for the Class AAAA championship.