Local roundup
Hairston pours in 34 points as Connellsville slams Rams James Hairston inched closer to the 1,000-point mark with 34 points as Connellsville cruised to an easy 66-38 win over Ringgold in Section 2-AAAA boys basketball action on Monday night.
Hairston needs just 103 points to reach 1,000 points in his high school career. So far this season, he has scored 139 points.
Kevin Bell was the only other Falcon to score in double digits with 15 points.
The Falcons led by only four points at the end of the first quarter, but held Ringgold to just four and eight points in the second and fourth quarter to seal the win.
Ryan Bowker led Ringgold with 14 points.
Connellsville (1-0, 6-0) will host Canon McMillan on Friday.
Jefferson-Morgan 79, Avella 50 – Jason Kuharic led the Jefferson-Morgan boys basketball team with 22 points as the Rockets rolled to the easy Section 2-A win over Avella.
Vince Kraft also scored in double figures for J-M (1-0, 2-3) with 19 points.
“We had 10 guys that scored,” said J-M coach Jim Romanus. “To win, everyone has to make positive contributions.”
Drew Klenn was high scorer for Avella (0-1, 2-4) with 15 points and Pat Birdsall added 12.
The Rockets will play California Friday on the road while the Avella Eagles will host Geibel Catholic Friday.
Peters Township 53, Albert Gallatin 40 – The Albert Gallatin Colonials remain winless at 0-1 in the section and 0-5 overall with a Section 2-AAAA loss to Peters Township.
Mark Smith and Mike Fritz were the only players that scored in double digits for Peters Township with 12 points apiece.
Eddie Robinson led the Colonials with a game-high 18 points, including one three point goal.
Friday is an open date for AG and they will return to action on Tuesday at home against Canon McMillan.
California 71, Mapletown 60 – Ryan Robinson led the way with 18 points, while Rick Cope and Shane Tonkavitch added 17 and 14 points as California edged past Mapletown in Section 2-A action.
A tight game through three quarters, California exploded with 25 fourth quarter points to seal the victory.
Joe Clites was the only player for Mapletown in double figures with 24 points.
Mapletown will play today against Beth-Center.
Carmichaels 82, West Greene 51 – Bobby Hathaway and Colby Giles equaled West Greene’s total points with 29 and 22 points as Carmichaels won handily over West Greene in section 2-A.
Jono Menhart and Jamie Kowalczyk also fired in 10 points apiece. Menhart also had three 3-pointers and Kowalczyk added two from the three point stripe.
Conemaugh Valley 95, Turkeyfoot Valley 60 – Brandon Studar led with a game-high 27 points, including five 3-pointers as the Conemaugh Valley Bluejays defeated host Turkeyfoot Valley in a non-section contest.
Also scoring in double figures for Conemaugh were Tyler Ribblett (17), Josh Lupak (13), Brad Roberts (12) and Jay Preuss (10).
Seth Livengood was high scorer for Turkeyfoot with 12 points, while Bob Lager, Brett Clevenger, Bill Hinzy and Eric Wass each added 11.
The Rams will travel to Ferndale on Friday.
Girls basketball
Carmichaels 54, Beth-Center 27 – Autumn Willis led with 15 points, including two 3-pointers as Carmichaels rolled to an easy win over Beth-Center in non-section play.
Meghan Wood added 12 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocked shots, and Christina Antonelli added 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Samantha Slagle was the high scorer for Beth-Center with 11 points and teammate Courtney Kurowski added 10.
Carmichaels (3-1) will play Thursday at home against Mapletown and Beth-Center (1-5) will travel to South Side Beaver on Thursday.
Men’s basketball
California 73, Geneva 50 – The California University of Pa. Vulcans improved to 5-3 on the season with a 73-50 victory over the Geneva College Golden Tornados (5-4) at Hamer Hall. The Vulcans led 29-21 at the half and never looked back.
California’s Ishmieal Kamara scored his 1,000th point in the first minute of the game and became the 29th player in the school’s history to record 1,000 points.
Kamara led with 26 points, including 9-of-9 from the foul line. Ryan Stefanski scored 17 points off the bench and Michael Johnson added seven points and nine rebounds.
The Vulcans continue play on Thursday when they host Allegheny College at 7 p.m.