Mustangs rally falls just short in loss to Tigers
Laurel Highlands rallied from a 12-point deficit but fell just short in a loss to visiting McKeesport, 54-52, in a Section 1-5A boys basketball battle Friday night.
Lamont Perkins scored a game-high 21 points for the Tigers (1-0, 3-1) and Darryl McCullough added 12.
Luke Martin led the Mustangs with 20 points, including a 3-pointer with less than a second left. LH then forced a turnover near midcourt but a missed long heave came after the clock expired.
Jude Packrone followed Martin with 12 points and Tyrone Burton had 11.
The Tigers led 20-11 after the first quarter and 33-23 at halftime. The Mustangs whittled the gap to 41-37 after three quarters and out-scored the visitors 15-13 in the fourth in falling one basket shy.
Uniontown 75, Albert Gallatin 58 — The Red Raiders pulled away in the second half in claiming a Section 1-5A victory over the host Colonials.
Isaac Ellsworth hit four 3-pointers and led a group of four Uniontown players in double figures with 18 points. Cam Dugan followed 16 and Anthony Sheffey and Nolan Baker tallied 11 apiece.
The Red Raiders (1-0, 3-1) led 19-15 after the opening quarter and 35-32 at halftime. Uniontown surged to a 56-45 advantage after three quarters and held a 19-13 edge in the fourth.
Darrin Ford tied Ellsworth for game-high honors with 22 points for Albert Gallatin (0-1, 2-3) and Adam Pegg added 14 points.
Jefferson-Morgan 73, Burgettstown 27 — The Rockets grabbed an early 22-13 lead then took complete control in the second quarter on their way to a Section 3-2A win at Burgettstown.
Jefferson-Morgan (1-0, 3-0) out-scored the Blue Devils 26-4 in the second in taking a 48-17 halftime advantage.
Jeremiah Robertson scored 17 points and Dayten Marion had 16 for J-M, which also got 13 points from Triton Farabee.
Lance Duran paced Burgettstown (0-1, 1-3) with 11 points.
Beth-Center 64, Mapletown 29 — Parker Amos scored 18 points and the Bulldogs also put three other players in double figures on their way to a Section 3-2A win over the visiting Maples.
Hunter Bobbs followed Amos with 12 points, Brayden Hull added 11 and Brayden Ozonish chipped in with 10 for Beth-Center (1-0, 3-1).
Ashton Walker paced Mapletown (0-1, 0-5) with 10 points.
McGuffey 40, Brownsville 27 — The Highlanders overcame a five-point deficit after the first quarter and went on to defeat the visiting Falcons in a non-section game.
Kolt McGowan scored 19 points for McGuffey (4-2).
Brownsville took a 13-8 lead into the second quarter and was up 21-19 at halftime before the Highlanders took control in the second half.
Jaiden Praster led the Falcons (0-4) with nine points.
Belle Vernon 70, West Mifflin 51 — The Leopards used a balanced scoring attack to defeat the visiting Titans in a Section 3-4A game.
Can Jenko topped Belle Vernon with 14 points and was followed by Elijah Majors (13), Vincenzo Francia (12) and Curty Wade (11).
West Mifflin led 12-10 after the first quarter before the Leopards (1-0, 3-3) raced ahead with a 25-16 advantage in the second for a 35-28 halftime lead. Belle Vernon out-scored the Titans (0-1, 0-7) 35-23 in the second half.
Julian Dewberry had 13 points for West Mifflin which also got 12 points from Eli Kurta and 11 from Noah Williams.
Jeannette 80, California 34 — Markus McGowan dropped in 30 points in the Jayhawks’ Section 1-2A win over the host Trojans.
Kymon’e Brown added 15 points for Jeannette (1-0, 4-1).
Ben Ziolecki paced California (0-1, 0-2) with 12 points.
Ligonier Valley 85, Geibel Catholic 72 — The Rams out-scored the host Gators 13-0 in overtime to pull out the victory in a non-section clash.
Geibel (3-2) led 15-14 after the first quarter, Ligonier Valley out to a 39-35 advantage and the Rams were up 55-52 after three. The Gators used a 20-17 edge in the fourth quarter to pull even at 72-72 and force the extra session.
Michael Vargulish-Graver and Michael Wisniewski scored 28 and 25 points to lead the way for Ligonier Valley (3-1), which also got 14 points from Simeon Pope and 10 from Noah Knupp.
Tony Nickischer paced the Gators with 23 points and Seth Dolan was right behind with 22. Evan Strimel added 11 points.
Norwin 56, Connellsville 48 — The host Knights came back from a 32-22 halftime deficit to knock off the Falcons in a Section 2-6A game.
Norwin (1-0, 4-2) out-scored Connellsville (0-1, 2-3) 34-16 in the second half.
Frazier 45, Greensburg Central Catholic 33 — The Commodores opened Section 1-2A play with a win over the visiting Centurions.
Kolby Stewart poured in a game-high 27 points for Frazier (1-0, 4-3) which led 8-7, 22-16 and 34-22 at the quarter breaks.
Luke Semelka had 15 points for GCC (0-1, 0-4).
Girls basketball
Jefferson-Morgan 52, Turkeyfoot Valley 21 — Ava Wood tallied 19 points as the Lady Rockets improved to 4-1 with a non-section win over the visiting Lady Rams (0-3).
Jefferson-Morgan raced out to a 20-3 lead in the opening quarter and never looked back.
Beautiful Medlen added eight points for the Lady Rockets and Bailey Cervone chipped in with seven.
Burrell 51, Connellsville 45 — The Lady Bucs fought back from an eight-point halftime deficit to triumph over the host Lady Falcons in a non-section game.
Casey Brancato led Burrell (6-1) with 17 points and Chase Coury had 16.
Connellsville led 16-10 after the first quarter and 28-20 at halftime before the Lady Bucs used a 15-6 advantage in the third quarter to go up 35-34 then pulled away in the fourth.
Saige Mickens rang up a game-high 29 points for the Lady Falcons (3-4).
McGuffey 50, Southmoreland 20 — Maura Janovich scored 14 points as the host Lady Highlanders (3-3) beat the Lady Scotties (1-5) in a non-section game.
High school wrestling
Jefferson-Morgan 51, Albert Gallatin 20 — The Rockets defeated the Colonials at the Doug Conroy Duals on Saturday.
Jefferson-Morgan got pins from Caleb Dulaney at 114, Brayden Hanning at 121, James Dulaney at 133, Geno Orlandi at 160 and Landon Heath at 285.
Austin Grandel won a 3-1 decision over Gavin Morris at 107 and EJ Lingenfield won by default at 139 for the Rockets who also claimed a pair of forfeit wins.
Roman Smith won by fall for Albert Gallatin at 189, Bryce Kelley rolled to a victory by technical fall at 127 and Clayton Bolinger took a 7-2 decision over Colton Humphreys at 145. AG also was awarded one forfeit win.