Local roundup
Southmoreland girls cruise past Mount Pleasant, 60-29 Vanessa Abel poured in a game-high 24 points on 12 field goals as Southmoreland cruised to an easy 60-29 Section 3-AAA victory over Mount Pleasant in girls basketball action Wednesday.
Southmoreland jumped out to an early 18-7 first quarter lead and never looked back as it held the Lady Vikings to single digits in each of the four quarters.
Chrissy Halerz and MacKenzie Gray each had seven points for Mount Pleasant (2-6, 0-4).
The Lady Scotties (6-3, 2-2) participate in the Highlands Tournament next Wednesday and Thursday.
Schenley 66, Uniontown 32 – Dominique Duck tossed in 30 points to lead Schenley past Uniontown in girls’ non-league play Wednesday night.
Brittany Kenny rounded out the twin-figure scoring for the winners.
Courtney Sanner was high scorer for the Lady Raiders with seven points.
Uniontown (3-5, 2-1 Section 3-AAA) hosts Indiana tonight in a section contest.
Laurel Highlands 56, Derry 49 – A trio of Laurel Highlands players landed double digits as they defeated Derry in Section 3-AAA action.
Kayla Ashton led the way with 25 points, including a 6-of-7 performance from the foul line.
Taylor Johns racked up 11 points and teammate Amber Sanner added 10 points, including two 3-pointers.
Cassie Hoosen led Derry Area with 16 points, including 9-of-10 from the charity stripe and two 3-pointers, while Amber Babcock added 11 points.
The Fillies face off against Cambria in the first round of the Indiana Tournament beginning Dec. 27.
West Mifflin 64, Waynesburg Central 29 – After a slow first-quarter start, West Mifflin erupted and outscored the Lady Raiders 22-6 in the second quarter and 23-11 in the third for the easy Section 4-AAA victory.
Jeannette Wonsettler scored a team-high 15 points for Waynesburg.
The Lady Raiders host the Waynesburg Invitational Dec. 27-28.
Avella 59, West Greene 47 – Rachel Phillips fired in a game-high 35 points and pulled down 18 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough as Avella outlasted West Greene in Section 2-A action.
Ashley Midler led Avella with 21 points and Renee Brandenburg added 20.
Next up on the West Greene schedule is the Saint Joseph tournament on Dec. 27-28.
Frazier 47, Burgettstown 39 – Emily Null and Larissa Kulkoski led Frazier with 18 and 13 points as the Lady Commodores defeated Burgettstown in Section 5-AA action.
The Lady Commodores (6-3, 3-1) travel to the Bentworth Tournament on Dec. 27-28.
Boys’ basketball
West Mifflin 74, Waynesburg Central 72 – West Mifflin held on to a two-point lead with one minute left in regulation as they edged past visiting Waynesburg Central in a Section 4-AAA match-up.
J.R. Johnson led West Mifflin with 19 points and teammate Kevin Garner added 17 points.
Nate Stoner poured in a game-high 29 points on 12 field goals and Anthony Bocchini added 20 points, 10 assists and five steals.
The Raiders host the Waynesburg Invitational Dec. 28-29.
Northstar 68, Turkeyfoot Valley 66 – Turkeyfoot’s Nathan Glass scored a game-high 31 points, including 11-of-12 from the foul line he grabbed 10 rebounds, but Northstar was too much for the Rams as they won in non-section play.
“We could have made a couple more foul shots,” said Turkeyfoot coach Sam Collins. “We got into foul trouble and two guys fouled out.”
Bill Hinzy also landed double figures for the Rams as he scored 21 points.
Nick Mignonia led Northstar with 14 points, while teammates Jon Shank and Dave Kavar each added 13.
Turkeyfoot visits McConnellsburg on Monday.
Wrestling
Laurel Highlands 42, Ringgold 32 – Ringgold claimed the four matches, but Laurel Highlands rallied back with wins by Dave Mari, Cameron Muma and Josh Klink as they went on to defeat the Rams in a Section 2-AAA match.
Mari kicked things off for the Mustangs as he pinned Jon Menzer in :32 in the 171-pound match.
Klink took down his opponent in the 119-pound match as he defeated Ian Mathews in 1:14, while Muma pinned Tyler Smithman (3:27) in the 112-pound bout.
Mike Sible (189), Ryan Knox (215), Chris Belch (125) and Greg Hogan (130) each won their matches by forfeit.
The Mustangs (5-5) will take part in the Southmoreland tournament Monday and Tuesday.
Boys swimming
Laurel Highlands 84, Morgantown 10 – Laurel Highlands extends it’s unbeaten streak to 8-0 as they made quick work of Morgantown high school on Wednesday.
The team of Adam Collins, Steve Hunchuck, brother Chris Hunchuck and Jimmy Tesauro got things started for the Mustangs as they claimed first place in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:48.10.
Individually, Chris Hunchuck finished first in the 200 IM (2:18.26) and the 100 butterfly (58.76).
Brother Steve claimed the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:03.85 and also the 100 breaststroke (1:08.20).
Tesauro won the 500 freestyle (5:50.80) and Collins won the 100 freestyle with a time of 51.73.
Alex Mundel took first place in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:02.93 and Dave Johnson finished first in diving with a score of 115.65.
The Mustangs are back in action Dec. 29 at Belle Vernon.
Girls swimming
Laurel Highlands 101, Morgantown 85 – Theresa Reilly led the way with individual victories in the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle as Laurel Highlands (4-4) picked up a home non-section win over Morgantown.
Kelly Huston claimed the 500 freestyle with a time of 6:08.74 and was also part of the winning team of Reilly, Casey Martin and Erin Perry that finished first in the 400 freestyle (4:16.14).
Kady Brewer finished first in the diving competition with a score of 149.10.
The Fillies will visit Belle Vernon on Dec. 29.
Women’s basketball
California (Pa.) 81, East Strousburg 40 – Sara McKinney recorded a double-double as she scored a game-high 24 points and pulled down 14 rebounds en route to easy victory over East Strousburg.
Kim Nowakowski scored 15 points, including a perfect 5-of-5 record from the foul line and Megan Storck added 12 points, four steals and two assists.
The Vulcans held East Strousburg to just 32.5 percent from the field, while Cal recorded an impressive 19-of-20 foul line effort.