Local roundup: Lady Pioneers rally past Eden Christian in playoff rematch
West Greene rallied in the second half to defeat host Eden Christian, 61-50, in a non-section girls basketball battle between two of the WPIAL’s top Class A teams on Saturday.
Anna Durbin scored a career-high 28 points to lead the way for the Lady Pioneers (10-3) who also defeated the Lady Warriors in last year’s district semifinal game, 54-49, at West Greene.
West Greene led 18-14 after the first period but Eden Christian (6-5) used a 20-10 advantage in the second period to go up 38-28 at halftime.
The Lady Pioneers reclaimed the lead, 51-43 by outscoring the Lady Warriors 23-9 in the third quarter and held on from there.
Kasie Meek added 15 points and Brooke Barner tallied 10 points for West Greene.
Emilia Johnson and Violet Johnson led Eden Christian with 15 and 10 points.
Friday, Jan. 14
Mapletown 69, Propel Montour 67 — Landan Stevenson fought through foul trouble in ringing up a game-high 35 points in the host Maples’ Section 2-A boys basketball win over Propel Montour.
Mapletown (3-1, 6-3), which is now alone in second place, also got 13 points from Cohen Stout and 10 points apiece from Max Vanata and Braden McIntire.
Dauj Jones scored 19 points to pace the Legends (0-3, 2-8).
Stevenson failed to score in the opening period and drew a coupe fouls which forced him to the bench as Propel Montour built a 20-15 lead after the first quarter and a 12-point advantage early in the second quarter.
Stevenson returned to the lineup at that point and scored nine points the rest of the half as Mapletown rallied to a 32-32 tie by halftime.
The Maples surged to a 50-47 lead after three quarters and held a five-point advantage when the Legends sank a harmless 3-pointer with three seconds left in the game.
Stevenson scored 26 points in the second half.
Jefferson-Morgan 76, California 50 — The Rockets soared to a 19-4 lead in the first quarter and never looked back in topping the Trojans in a Section 4-AA contest.
The victory keeps Jefferson-Morgan (3-0, 7-1) tied for first place with Monessen.
Tahjere Jacobs scored a game-high 24 points for J-M and was followed by Joshua Wise (16), Colt Fowler (11) and Kijuan Paige (10).
California (1-3, 3-9) got 16 points from Hunter Assad and 10 from Drew Thomas 10.
Waynesburg Central 56, McGuffey 48 — The Raiders outscored the host Highlanders 22-11 in the third quarter and held on from there for a Section 4-AAA victory.
Chase Henkins scored a game-high 19 points for the Raiders (1-3, 4-7), who also got 15 points from Dawson Fowler and 11 points from Jacob Mason.
The game was tied at 13 after one period but Waynesburg was up 22-20 at halftime and then soared to a 44-31 lead after three frames.
All of the Raiders’ points in the fourth quarter came via the foul line as they converted 12 of 20 free throws.
Ethan Janovich paced McGuffey (1-2, 4-5) with 16 points while Jantzen Durbin and Brock Wallace put up 13 points apiece.
Girls basketball
West Greene 61, Jefferson-Morgan 18 — Anna Durbin tossed in 22 points as the first-place Lady Pioneers rolled past the host Lady Rockets in a Section 2-A game.
West Greene (4-0, 9-3) led 19-3, 42-14 and 52-17 at the quarter breaks and put nine different players in the scoring column.
Brooke Barner contributed 11 points for the Lady Pioneers.
Savannah Clark again paced Jefferson-Morgan (1-3, 1-9) with 10 points.
Mapletown 62, Propel Montour 19 — Taylor Dusenberry ripped the nets for 29 points as the Lady Maples blew out the visiting Lady Legends in a non-section game.
Mapletown (6-6) led 29-12 at halftime then outscored Propel Montour 24-0 in the third quarter.
Krista Wilson contributed 17 points and 15 rebounds for the Lady Maples.
Kahrijoh Washington led the Lady Legends with 14 points.
Thursday, Jan. 13
Carmichaels 51, Frazier 46 — The Lady Mikes snapped a seven game losing streak with an important Section 2-AA girls basketball victory over visiting Frazier, 51-46, in girls basketball action.
Sophia Zalar poured in a game-high 26 points for coach Chelsea Ulery’s Lady Mikes (1-3, 3-7) who came out on top in a battle for sole possession of fourth place in the section standings. The top four teams qualify for the WPIAL playoffs.
The game was tied 8-8 after the first quarter but Carmichaels moved out to a 21-17 halftime lead and extended the margin to 40-29 after three periods.
The Lady Commodores (0-3, 2-7) fought back with a 17-11 advantage in the fourth quarter but it wasn’t enough.
Zalar, who scored all but three of her team’s points in the final frame, was followed in the Carmichaels scoring column by Megan Voithofer with 14 points, including two 3-pointers, and Ashley Batis with seven points. Both Voithofer and Batis fouled out.
Eliza Newcomer led Frazier with 16 points, including nine as her team tried to rally in the fourth period. Taylor Hazelbacker, who also fouled out, and Delaney Warnick chipped in with 10 and nine points, respectively.
Girls basketball
Monessen 58, Mapletown 26 — The Lady Greyhounds remained tied with Avella for second place in Section 2-A with a victory over the visiting Lady Maples.
Mercedes Majors led Monessen (3-1, 7-3) with a game-high 22 points.
The Lady Greyhounds led 15-5, 31-11 and 48-19 at the breaks.
Krista Wilson tallied nine points for Mapletown (1-3, 5-6).
Waynesburg Central 53, McGuffey 15 — The Lady Raiders put only one player in double digits with Kaley Rohanna scoring 27 points but it was more than enough to give the visitors a Section 2-AAA win at McGuffey.
Waynesburg (4-1, 8-3) allowed just six points over the final three quarters.
Taylor Schumacher paced the Lady Highlanders (1-4, 5-7) with nine points.
Wrestling
Jefferson-Morgan 41, Washington 18 — The Rockets won the final six bouts for a Section 1-AA (1B) victory over the visiting Prexies.
Kevin Teagarden started the run with a forfeit at 126 pounds. Hudson Guesman (132) and Houston Guesman (138) followed with decisions.
Grant Hathaway won his 145-pound bout by forfeit. Chase Frameli needed 2:33 for a 20-2 technical fall at 152 pounds, and Johnny Gilbert closed out the victory with a fall at 160 pounds.
The Rockets’ Adam McAnany won by fall in 2:34 at 189 pounds, and Ronin Kramer received a forfeit at 106 pounds.
Wednesday, Jan. 12
West Greene 60, Geibel Catholic 13 — The Lady Pioneers extended their Section 2-A winning streak to 58 by cruising past the host Lady Gators in girls basketball action.
West Greene exploded to a 33-2 lead in the first quarter.
Anna Durbin led the Lady Pioneers (3-0, 8-3) with 21 points, Brooke Barner followed with 17 points and Katie Lampe added 10 points.
Alex Caldwell scored four points for Geibel (0-3, 2-10).
Serra Catholic 68, Carmichaels 24 — The undefeated Lady Eagles (3-0, 9-0) rolled to a Section 2-AA win over visiting Carmichaels.
Chloe Pordash tossed in 21 points for Serra Catholic and Sammie Currie had 11 points.
Sophia Zalar led the Lady Mikes (0-3, 2-7) with 15 points.
Wrestling
Jefferson-Morgan 39, West Greene 21 — The Rockets rode four straight pins in the middle weights to a Section 1-AA (1B) win over visiting West Greene .
Jefferson-Morgan (3-1, 7-2) got the key falls from Chase Frameli at 145, Grant Hathaway at 152, Johnny Gilbert at 160 and Adam McAnany at 172. The Rockets started off the bout with a pin by Mason Sisler at heavyweight.
Parker Smith accounted for the lone pin for the Pioneers (1-3, 3-3) at 138.
Tuesday, Jan. 11
Mapletown 51, West Greene 49 — Landan Stevenson’s basket with eight seconds remaining lifted Mapletown to a key 51-49 Section 2-A victory at West Greene in a boys basketball battle.
Stevenson wound up with a game-high 26 points as the Maples improved to 2-1 in section play and 5-3 overall. It’s the most games Mapletown has won since going 7-13 in 2014.
The win pulls the Maples into a second-place tie with Geibel Catholic. West Greene sits alone in fourth place. The top four teams qualify for the playoffs.
The game was close throughout.
Mapletown led 9-8 after the first quarter and 23-22 at halftime. The advantage grew slightly to 35-32 after three quarters.
The Pioneers (1-1, 3-9) outscored the Maples in the final eight minutes, 17-16.
Max Vanata followed Stevenson in the Mapletown scoring column with 11 points.
Corey Wise and Ian Van Dyne shared team-scoring honors for West Greene with 11 points apiece.
Jefferson-Morgan 63, Frazier 47 — The Rockets steadily pulled away from the Commodores for a Section 4-AA road victory.
Jefferson-Morgan (2-0, 6-1) led 15-10 after the first quarter, 32-22 at halftime and 48-29 entering the fourth quarter. Frazier had the better of the play in the fourth quarter, 18-15.
Taj Jacobs led the Rockets with a game-high 22 points. Troy Wright scored 17 and Colt Fowler added 14.
Isaac Thomas (13), Keyshaun Thompson (11), and Brennan Stewart (10) all scored in double figures for the Commodores (0-2, 0-10).
Carmichaels 81, California 57 — Christopher Barrish scored a game-high 31 points to lead the Mikes to a Section 4-AA victory at California.
Carmichaels (1-0, 7-2) pulled away with a 27-10 second quarter for a 42-22 halftime lead. The Trojans (1-2, 3-8) sliced into the deficit with a 20-14 third quarter, but Carmichaels closed out the win with a 25-15 advantage in the fourth quarter.
Drake Long (16), Tyler Richmond (14), and Michael Stewart (10) also scored in double digits for Carmichaels.
Corey Frick led California (1-2, 3-8) with 18 points. Drew Thomas added 10.
Wrestling
Waynesburg Central 54, Trinity 9 — The Raiders breezed to a Section 4-AAA (4A) victory over the Hillers.
Xavier Harmon, Zander Phaturos, Mac Church, Jake Stephenson and Brody Evans all won by fall. Ky Szewczyk (3-1), Daniel Huffman (8-5), Nate Kirby (3-2), and Colton Stoneking (1-0) won by decision. Rocco Welsh and Eli Makel received forfeits.