By Chris Rossetti, D9Sports.com
Special to MaxPreps.com
PITTSBURGH
– Pittsburgh Central Catholic has been known as a football school for quite some time.
It is the alma mater of the great Dan Marino and has won three WPIAL Quad A titles in football since 2003, including this past fall.
But on Friday night, PCC also became a basketball school, winning its first WPIAL Quad A championship with a last-second, 55-54 win over Moon at Duquesne University’s Palumbo Center.
The fourth-seeded Vikings (23-4) won the game on a 3-pointer by Matt McKenna with 1.1 seconds left, capping a rally from a seven-point deficit in the final minute.
Pittsburgh Central Catholic trailed 52-45 with under a minute to play, but got within one, 53-52, on a three by McKenna, who had 14 points, with 20.5 seconds left.
Moon (20-7), the third seed, went back ahead by two on a Ryan Falbo free throw with 17 seconds left, and the Tigers appeared in good shape when Lucas Mikens missed a potential game-tying lay-up in the final 10 seconds.
But the Vikings got the offensive rebound and called time out, setting up McKenna’s winning shot, a shot he didn’t even want to take at first.
“I was trying to pass it, but decided to shoot it,” McKenna told the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. “I didn’t feel good about the shot.”
Mikens added 14 points for PCC, while freshman Aaron Johnson led Moon with 14. Keir Jeter added 13 for the Tigers, who were looking for their first Quad A title after winning three straight Class AAA championships from 2004-2006 before moving into Quad A last season.
“It didn’t have to come down (to the last shot),” Moon coach Jeff Ackermann told the Tribune-Review. “In the end, they deserved this win. In the last minute of the game, they completely outplayed us.”
The WPIAL title has to be considered icing on the cake for PCC’s 28th year coach, Chuck Crummie, whose 512th career win was his first WPIAL title.
Both teams move into the PIAA playoffs, with Pittsburgh Central Catholic facing the winner of Tuesday’s play-in game between Franklin Regional and Brashear, while Moon will take on Cannon-McMillan.
CLASS AAAA GIRLS
Upper St. Clair 69, Peters Township 40
Duquesne University recruit Alex Gensler scored 25 points to help Upper St. Clair gain a piece of WPIAL history with a 69-40 win over Peters Township in the girls’ Class AAAA championship game Saturday at Duquesne University’s Palumbo Center.
The 29-point margin of victory was the largest in WPIAL Class AAAA girls’ basketball history.
“I feel very comfortable here (at the Palumbo Center),” Gensler told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review after leading her team to its sixth WPIAL title. “I’ve practiced here a few times and I had a rec league game here.”
USC (22-5) led the Indians (20-8) by 16-6 at the end of the first quarter and 34-13 at halftime.
“There were some first-quarter jitters,” Peters Township coach Dennis Squeglia told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I think it might have had something to do with the environment. “They are a little more accustomed to playing in a situation like this, where we aren’t as experienced.”
Andrea Pion added 18 points for USC, with Grace Hyland scoring 13.
Emily Correal, Peter Township’s leading scorer at over 20 points per game, was limited to 11 tallies.
Both teams move into the PIAA playoffs, with USC taking on the winner of Tuesday’s play-in game between Butler and Allderdice, and Peters Township facing New Castle.
CLASS AAA BOYS
Blackhawk 68, Hopewell 55
For years under legendary coach John Miller, Blackhawk seemingly owned the WPIAL Class AAA title, winning eight times. But after Miller left, the Cougars had a couple of down years by their own lofty standards.
Not anymore. Blackhawk (23-5) won its ninth WPIAL title on Saturday with a 68-55 win over section-rival Hopewell (21-6) at Duquesne University’s Palumbo Center.
“I can’t compare myself to John Miller,” Blackhawk’s third-year coach, Andy Hedrick, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I could coach forever and not do what he did.”
Antoine Childs was the main reason the Cougars took home title No. 9 as he scored 22 points, including 20 of Blackhawk’s 34 first-half points, helping the Cougars take a 34-24 halftime lead.
“I wasn’t trying to force anything in the first half,” Childs told the Post-Gazette. “Things just came to me.”
Mike Pearson added 20 points and Tim Lipp scored 17 for Blackhawk, which ranks fourth all-time in the WPIAL in titles, just four behind Farrell, which left the WPIAL two years ago for District 10.
Mark Javens paced Hopewell with 22 points while Drew Falletta added 12.
It was the rubber-match game of the season series after Hopewell, the Section 2 champs and a game ahead of Blackhawk, won the first meeting, 60-59, Dec. 1; Blackhawk won the second one, 52-50, on Jan. 11.
Blackhawk has now won 21 straight games after starting the season 2-5.
Both teams advance to the PIAA playoffs, with Blackhawk facing the winner of Tuesday’s play-in game between Clearfield and Meadville, and Hopewell taking on Franklin.
CLASS AAA GIRLS
Hampton 45, West Mifflin 41
Hampton used a stifling defense and balanced scoring to claim its first WPIAL basketball crown with a 45-41 win over West Mifflin in the Class AAA girls’ championship game Saturday at Duquesne University’s Palumbo Center.
The top-seeded Talbots (26-2) limited second-seeded West Mifflin (24-4) to its fifth-lowest point total of the season and its lowest since Jan. 5, while breaking the Titans' 16-game win streak. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, West Mifflin shot 29 percent (18-of-62) from the field.
“What we wanted to do was key on getting them in a half-court (offense),” Hampton coach Mary Bukovac told the Post-Gazette. “I think we were successful at doing that. That was a big key for us.”
Hampton, which was just 12-13 last season, led 19-17 at halftime and opened the lead to 33-26 by the end of the third quarter before West Mifflin closed to within two points midway through the fourth quarter. But the Titans got no closer.
“I've never come this far as a player or as a coach before, so it’s unbelievable for a team that last year was 12-13,” Bukovac told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Hampton had four players score between eight and 10 points, with C.J. Graham, Jodie Luther and Adrianna Ferraro each netting 10 and Laurel Hansen getting eight points and 15 rebounds.
Both teams advance to the PIAA playoffs, with Hampton taking on the winner of Tuesday’s play-in game between Punxsutawney and Mercyhurst Prep, which was ranked No. 25 in the state by MaxPreps and No. 1 in Class AAA by the Associated Press before being upset in the District 10 semifinals last week. West Mifflin will face Meadville, the team that upset Mercyhurst Prep.
CLASS AA BOYS
Jeannette 82, Beaver Falls 68
Like he has done so many times in his storied high school career, Terrelle Pryor put his Jeannette teammates on his back and this time carried them to the school’s first WPIAL title with an 82-68 win over top-seeded Beaver Falls in the Class AA boys’ championship game Saturday at Duquesne University’s Palumbo Center.
Pryor had a triple-double and nearly a quadruple-double, recording 39 points, 24 rebounds, 10 blocked shots and six assists while leading the Jayhawks (20-4) to their 17th win in their last 18 games.
“He’s the greatest high school athlete in the history of the state of Pennsylvania,” Jeannette coach Jim Nesser told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “That’s my opinion. But every big game, he plays big. That’s what great players do. You’re never going to see another athlete in the state like him.”
Pryor, who hit an astonishing 17 shots from the field, didn’t do it all by himself. Jordan Hall added 19 points for Jeannette, helping the Jayhawks avenge a 20-point loss just prior to Christmas to Beaver Falls (22-4).
Beaver Falls, which got 25 points and seven rebounds from Todd Thomas, was right in the game through three quarters, with the contest being tied at 52 heading to the fourth quarter.
But Hall scored 12 points in the final eight minutes, helping Jeannette outscore Beaver Falls, 30-16, in the frame.
NOTE – Pryor’s 39 points were the third most in a WPIAL championship game, according to the Post-Gazette. German Township’s Ralph Still had 40 in 1974 and New Brighton’s Hal Bentley matched that in 1980.
Both teams advance to the PIAA playoffs. Jeannette will take on Kane, while Beaver Falls faces Farrell.
CLASS AA GIRLS
South Park 47, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 37
Eleventh seeds aren't supposed to win championships.
But no one told South Park that, as the 11th seeded Eagles went from a play-in game afterthought to WPIAL Class AA girls’ champions after upsetting top-seeded Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, 47-37, Saturday at Duquesne University’s Palumbo Center.
“We just believed in ourselves the whole time,” South Park star Nicole Doria told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “And it got us a WPIAL championship. It feels like a dream.”
Doria scored all 19 of her points in the second half, helping South Park (21-8) outscore OLSH (25-2), 25-17. Our Lady of the Sacred Heart was playing without leading scorer Devin McGrath (illness) for the fourth straight game.
“We didn’t really make that many adjustments,” South Park coach Reggie Wells Sr., told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “We just went back to what we were doing, but we were just standing a little too much on offense. We had a lot of opportunities. I figured, with the talent we have, we just had to settle down because we were in good shape for as bad as we played (in the first half) to be up by two.”
Brittany Pfaff added 11 points and Laurel Lindsay 10 for South Park.
OLSH, which shot just 12 percent (3-of-25) in the second half, trailed by just two, 37-35, with under three minutes to play but was outscored by 10-2 down the stretch.
“We’ve had days where we’ve shot the ball better, that’s for sure,” OLSH coach Don Eckerle told the Post-Gazette.
Micko Cerchiaro had 13 points for OLSH.
Both teams move into the PIAA Playoffs, with South Park playing Cranberry and OLSH facing Cambridge Springs.
NOTE – Wells was a top high-school and college basketball player in the 1970s, and is the second-leading scorer (2,011 points) and rebounder (1,120 rebounds) in Clarion University history, as well as a Hall of Fame member at the school. He is also the dad of Arizona Cardinals starting guard Reggie Wells, Jr., a South Park and Clarion graduate.
CLASS A BOYS
Serra Catholic 76, Wilkinsburg 61
Wilkinsburg’s WPIAL title drought continued Friday night after top-seeded Serra Catholic rallied from a three-point deficit early in the fourth quarter to get a 76-61 win over the second-seeded Tigers.
Serra Catholic (25-2) trailed 48-45 early in the fourth quarter, but scored 11 of the next 13 points on its way to a game-ending, 31-13 run.
“I don’t think we really played well until the fourth quarter,” Serra Catholic coach Bob Rozanski told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “We couldn’t get a rhythm offensively or defensively.”
Wilkinsburg (15-11), which was looking for its first WPIAL title since 1922, gave heavily favored Serra all it could handle through the first three quarters using, a couple of junk defenses to take a 46-45 lead at the end of the third quarter.
“We put a diamond press out there that we hadn’t run all year and then we ran a 1-3-1,” Wilkinsburg coach O’Dell Miller told the Tribune-Review. “To play Serra, we had to do something they hadn’t seen.”
Junior T.J. Heatherington had a monster game for Serra Catholic with 28 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter. Anthony Epolito added 21 points, including 13 in the fourth period.
Shaliek Garland paced Wilkinsburg with 24 points and Keith Smith had 22.
Both teams move into the PIAA playoffs, with Serra Catholic facing either Elk County Catholic or Rocky Grove, and Wilkinsburg taking on Harmony.
CLASS A GIRLS
Mt. Alvernia 74, Monessen 68
Fifth-seeded Mt. Alvernia spoiled Monessen’s bid for a perfect season by outscoring the Greyhounds by 12-6 in the second overtime to get a 74-68 win in the WPIAL Class A girls’ title game Friday night at Duquesne University’s Palumbo Center.
Mt. Alvernia’s title is the eighth for 40th year coach De Porucznik, who was on the bench despite fighting a recent illness.
Senior Renee Brown was the hero for Lions, scoring 34 points, including two free throws with 6.8 seconds left that tied the game at 58 and sent it to overtime.
“This feels great,” said Brown, who helped Mt. Alvernia to a third-place finish in the WPIAL last season and a berth in the PIAA quarterfinals. “I just wanted to win. It’s such a blessing. At the foul line, I was praying the whole time.”
Each team scored four points in the first overtime before Mt. Alvernia (17-8) started the second overtime with a 7-0 run to secure the victory. Free-throw shooting was the key to the second overtime for the Lions as they hit 10 of 15 from the line in the extra period while only attempting one field goal, a made 2-pointer.
“We got flat,” Monessen coach Major Corley told the Tribune-Review. “We just couldn’t come back. We couldn’t even run the ball up the court. We started walking the ball up the court.”
Monessen led by eight in the third quarter before Lisa Kaczynski, who added 19 points, hit two straight 3-pointers to start the Lions' rally.
Christina Chukwuedo led second-seeded Monessen with 22 points, while Samone Stepoli added 16.
Kat Owunna chipped in 17 for Mt. Alvernia.
“There were two great teams out there that played hard and were well coached,” Mt. Alvernia assistant coach Larry McCabe told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Our girls came together and refused to lose.”
Both teams move into the PIAA playoffs, with Mt. Alvernia taking on either Austin or Clarion and Monessen facing Ferndale.
Chris Rossetti covers Western Pennsylvania for the MaxPreps.com
