Jan 28, 2005 By The 6 min read

Connellsville keeps playoff hopes alive Connellsville kept its slim playoff hopes alive Thursday night after a strong third quarter carried the Lady Falcons past host Latrobe, 56-51, in Section 1-AAAA action.

The victory lifts Connellsville to 14-8 overall and more importantly, 5-7 in Section 1-AAAA, one game behind Latrobe and Greensburg Salem, which are tied for third place at 6-6.

Connellsville closes out its section schedule next week, hosting 11-1 Norwin and traveling to 8-4 Hempfield. Latrobe travels to Greensburg Salem in a pivotal game Monday, then closes out section play at home against Kiski Area, while Greensburg Salem hosts Latrobe and travels to Albert Gallatin.

The Lady Falcons must win both of their remaining section games, and hope both Latrobe and Greensburg Salem each split their final two.

Against Latrobe, Connellsville jumped out to an 11-7 lead after one quarter, but the home team rallied for a 25-22 halftime lead. The Lady Falcons stormed back in front in the third quarter with a 16-8 edge, and maintained that lead after matching Latrobe’s 18 fourth-quarter points.

Megan Saylor led a balanced Connellsville attack with 12 points, including a pair of three-pointers, while Brooke Bryner added 11. Rachel Means and Ashley Benzio added eight points each, with Means also knocking down two treys.

Jessica Mueseler and Courtney Sherwin scored 12 points apiece to pace Latrobe, with Mueseler nailing a pair of treys.

Southmoreland 46, Belle Vernon 43 – Vanessa Abel poured in a game-high 18 points, four steals and a 5-of-7 outing from the foul line as Southmoreland slid past Belle Vernon in a Section 3-AAA contest.

The Lady Scots’ Kelly Rollinson added nine points.

Belle Vernon’s Eva Nickens put together a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, while Brooke Panepinto added 10.

The Scotties (15-5, 8-4) are back in action Monday at home against Yough, while Belle Vernon (8-11, 4-8) visits Derry Monday. Tip-off time for both games is 7:30 p.m.

Laurel Highlands 49, Mount Pleasant 41 – Kayla Ashton scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Fillies to a Section 3-AAA win over the Lady Vikings.

Amber Sanner added 12 points, seven of which came from the foul line, and seven other Laurel Highlands’ players contributed at least two points each.

The Fillies (8-14, 6-6) raced out to an 18-2 first-quarter lead and led 26-13 at halftime.

Abbey Way led Mt. Pleasant with 18 points, while McKenzie Ray chipped in 10.

Beth-Center 41, Burgettstown 23 – The Lady Bulldogs’ Tonya Carroll led with a game-high 15 points en route to an easy Section 5-AA victory over Burgettstown.

Beth-Center jumped out to an early 15-4 lead and never looked back as it picked up its sixth win overall and second in section play.

Ashley Amos added nine points.

Annie Dugas led Burgettstown with six points.

Beth-Center (6-13, 2-10) visits Charleroi Monday at 7:30 p.m., then returns home to face California Tuesday.

Norwin 44, Albert Gallatin 37 – After a sluggish three quarters, Norwin erupted for 25 fourth-quarter points en route to a Section 1-AAAA victory over visiting Albert Gallatin.

The Colonials held a narrow lead through the first three periods, before Norwin’s rally.

Jessica Lint’s paced AG with 10 points, while Heather Patterson added eight, including one three-pointer.

Norwin’s Alyssa Schake led all scorers with 15 points, including an 8-of-13 performance from the charity stripe, and teammate Ashley Attenberger added 10.

The Lady Colonials (4-14, 0-12) continue their road trip Monday at Penn-Trafford and then return home Thursday to take on Greensburg Salem.

Washington 67, Brownsville 24 – Vanessa Davison scored a game-high 17 points, including one trey, as Washington cruised to an easy Section 5-AA victory over host Brownsville.

Washington led from the start and never looked back as it held the Lady Falcons (7-5) to just single digits in every quarter.

Gina Rouse and Ashley Kaminsky led Brownsville with seven points each.

Brownsville finishes out the year on the road as it visits Burgettstown Monday, Mapletown Wednesday and Frazier Thursday.

Geibel Catholic 71, West Greene 59 – Danielle Cochrane and Natalie Hozak each posted double-doubles as Geibel Catholic downed West Greene in a Section 2-A contest and clinched a playoff berth.

Cochrane had a team-high 24 points, including a 6-of-7 outing from the foul line and she also pulled down 14 rebounds. Hozak scored 14 points and grabbed a team-high 16 rebounds.

Abbie Renze also contributed 11 points.

West Greene’s Rachel Phillips led all scorers with 28 points and a 9-of-11 showing from the foul line. The Lady Pioneers’ Allison Hildreth and Natasha Woods added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The Lady Gators slowly built their lead, outscoring West Greene in all but the second quarter.

Geibel (10-10, 7-3) travels to Jefferson-Morgan Tuesday.

Boys’ basketball

Berlin 68, Turkeyfoot Valley 59 – Jake Zorn tossed in 18 points and Bob Czekaj added 17 as visiting Berlin handed Turkeyfoot Valley it’s 12th loss in West-Pac South action.

Mike Bowman and Donnie Ziegler also scored in double digits with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Bill Hinzy had the hot hand for the Rams (7-12) with a game-high 19 points. He also had three assists and six steals.

The Rams’ Tim Wass scored 15 points and pulled down seven rebounds and Nathan Glass added 11 points and seven rebounds.

Turkeyfoot started off slow with only nine first-quarter points. In the second quarter, the Rams peeled off 21 points and pulled themselves back into the game and actually took a one-point halftime lead.

Next up on Turkeyfoot’s schedule is a trip to Hyndman today at 7:30 p.m.

Boys’ swimming

Laurel Highlands 96, Trinity 57 – Jimmy Tesauro picked up individual victories in the 50-freestyle (24.81) and the 100-freestyle (54.83) as Laurel Highlands ran its unbeaten streak to 15-0 overall and 3-0 in Section 5-AA in the win over the Hillers.

Tesauro was also part of the winning team of Tony Marghella, Greg Guseman and Dave Johnson that claimed victory in the 200-freestyle relay with a time of 1:43.89.

Marghella also teamed with Ben Bonchosky, Chris Hunchuck and Johnson for a first-place finish in the 200-medley relay with a time of 1:52.92.

Individually, Bonchosky won the 100-breaststroke (1:10.00), Steve Hunchuck won the 200 freestyle (2:00.61) and Ben Mundel finished first in the 200 IM with a time of 2:30.17.

The Mustangs host Charleroi Monday at 6 p.m.

Girls’ swimming

Laurel Highlands 94, Trinity 65 – Theresa Reilly, Kelly Huston and Erin Perry each came away with multiple victories as Laurel Highlands defeated host Trinity in a Section 5-AAA meet.

Reilly won the 50-freestyle (26.80) and the 100-freestyle (58.19). Huston finished first in the 200-freestyle (2:15.79) and the 500-freestyle (6:03.26), and Perry won the 200 IM with a time of 2:28.10.

The Fillies also swept the team events as Casey Martin, Perry, Denise Martin and Reilly finished first in the 200-medley relay with a time of 2:07.14.

The team of Perry, Huston, Casey Martin and Reilly won the 200-freestyle relay with a time of 1:50.50, and Jeannette Mayfield, Katie Semans, Elizabeth Ulmer and Huston won the 400-freestyle relay in 4:30.34.

Individually, Mayfield won the 100 butterfly in 2:15.79.

The Fillies (9-7, 3-0) return to action Monday, hosting Charleroi.