Mar 6, 2011 By The Herald Standard 3 min read

Montour handed South Fayette its second loss of the season en route to claiming the boys WPIAL Class AAA basketball title with a 45-34 win Friday at the A.J. Palumbo Center.

For Montour, the third time was charm. South Fayette had defeated Montour twice this season heading into the championship tilt. It was the third game in a row Montour had won by scoring in the forties.

Montour (19-7) held South Fayette (22-2) to less than half its scoring average.

Austin Heter led the Spartans with 11 points and nine boards. Devin Wilson added 10 points.

Mike Laberti paced the Lions with 13 points as Pat Zedreck added nine.

Since South Fayette finished second, Uniontown will enter the PIAA playoffs at the No. 6 seed out of District 7 (WPIAL).

Vincentian Academy 67, Lincoln Park 61 – Senior John Bray scored 21 points to lead Vincentian to its first WPIAL Class A title.

Vincentian survived a monster game from Lincoln Park center Devontae Watson. Watson was one block shy of a triple double. He scored 22 points, pulled in 20 rebounds and had nine blocks.

It was the second title-game loss in as many seasons for the Leopards (17-7).

Adam Dian added 13 points for Vincentian (24-1).

Monessen 63, Greensburg C.C. 43 – Monessen claimed its fifth WPIAL crown and first in Class AA as Jalen Madison scored 13 points as part of a balanced attack.

Cam Johnston scored 12 points for the Greyhounds (23-2) as Jeff Francia and Earl Pinkney added 11 each.

Jesse Reed led the Centurions (23-3) with 20 points. Greensburg C.C. faces the third seed from District 6 on Saturday in the PIAA playoffs.

Monessen will face Mercyhurst Prep, the third seed from District 10, on Saturday.

Girls basketball

North Catholic 49, Fort Cherry 43 – Kendall Hoffman scored 15 points to lead North Catholic to a record 16th WPIAL championship in the Class A championship at the A.J. Palumbo Center.

Angela Nowacki and Erin DiSanti each scored 10 points for the Trojanettes (19-7), who won the title for the third time in six seasons since moving to Class A.

Bekah Bellhy led the Rangers (22-4) with 13 points. Fort Cherry made its first title game appearance and had won 15-of-16 going heading into the championship.

Shaler 41, Mt. Lebanon 35 – Mt. Lebanon had lost only one game against WPIAL teams in the last three years until Shaler pulled off the upset to claim the Class AAAA title.

Mt. Lebanon had gone 64-1 against WPIAL teams over that span, but Shaler ended the two-time defending champions reign. Shaler won its first title since 1980.

Hillary Sauer led Shaler (24-2) with 13 points. Madison Cable paced Mt. Lebanon (20-6) with 12 points.

Seton-LaSalle 74, Jeannette 29 – Seton-LaSalle avenged a title game loss from a year ago to claim the Class AA title Friday.

It was the most one-sided game in the 135 WPIAL championship games played, and the 74 points are most ever in a girls Class AA title game.

Naje Gibson led Seton LaSalle (24-2) with 16 points and Angela Heintz bucketed 14 points. Jordan Dwyer poured in 13 points as Emily Marecic chipped in 11 and Amy O’Keefe added 10 points.

Jeanette (17-9) led briefly, 7-4, until the Rebels went on a 33-7 run to seal the win before halftime.

Blackhawk 63, Ambridge 49 – Section rivals met in the title game as Blackhawk prevailed for its fifth WPIAL title.

Alexa Hayward led the way with 21 points as the Cougars (21-5) won its 12th consecutive game.

The Cougars took advantage of foul trouble, shooting 23-of-30 from the line. Blackhawk also led on the glass, holding a 36-26 edge.

Sam Santiago led Ambridge (20-7) with 18 points.