Dec 19, 2013 By The 4 min read

The Laurel Highlands swim team swept a non-section meet Thursday at Mount Pleasant, and returned home with several WPIAL qualifying efforts.

The Mustangs defeated the Vikings, 92-57, while the girls defeated the Lady Vikings, 98-70.

Brandon Thomas (200 IM, 2:13.25; 100 freestyle, 53.26), Logan Knoyer (100 butterfly, 56.29), Lucas Thomas (500 freestyle, 5:07.70), Jacob Hughes (100 backstroke, 1:01.29), the 200 medley relay (1:51.92), and the 200 freestyle relay (1:39.71) all met the WPIAL qualifying times and first-place finishes for the Mustangs (3-0).

The Laurel Highlands girls (2-1) had qualifying swims from the 200 medley relay (1:59.18), Lexi Kostelnik (200 freestyle, 1:58.38; 500 freestyle, 5:09.18), Kristen Bane (200 IM, 2:22.09; 100 breaststroke, 1:12.10), Mackenzie Rabatin (100 butterfly, 1:03.37; 100 backstroke, 1:03.99), and Emily Yarish (100 butterfly, 2nd place, 1:03.83).

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The Connellsville swim team kept rolling along Thursday night as the boys defeated Trinity, 118-65, and the girls held off the Lady Hillers, 94-86.

The Falcons’ Luke Kisiel scored 211 points to win the diving competition. Collin Mastowski finished first in the 50 freestyle (23:72) and came right back to win the 100 butterfly (57.25). Ian McCombie also had two individual first-place finishes, taking the 200 freestyle (1:57.41) and 100 freestyle (56.46).

Mastwoski, Dan Starr, Travis Patterson and McCombie joined forces to win the 200 freestyle relay in 1:42.47. The same foursome won the 400 freestyle relay in 3:51.55. Patterson also had an individual first-place finish in the 200 IM (2:26.98) for Connellsville (4-1).

Kristina Tomechko won the diving competition for Connellsville with 151.45 points.

Alyson Urie (200 IM, 2:23.16; 500 freestyle, 5:40.81), Brooke Robbins (50 freestyle, 29.53) and Lauren Urie (100 freestyle, 1:04.44) finished first for the Lady Falcons (3-2).

Nicole Wood, Lauren Urie, Alyson Urie and Bayle Shreve won the 200 medley relay in 2:08.61, and the same quartet took first in 200 freestyle relay in 1:55.03.

Girls basketball

The Belle Vernon girls pulled away with a 20-2 advantage in the second quarter Thursday night, cruising to a 66-39 Section 4-AAA victory over visiting Waynesburg Central.

The Lady Leopards (2-0, 5-1) led 18-10 after the first quarter before the big output in the second quarter. Belle Vernon also won the second half, 28-27.

Kaitlyn Slagus had another double-double for the Lady Leopards with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Bria Rathway added 17.

Lyndsey Huhn led the Lady Raiders (0-3, 1-4) with 13 points. Kerilyn Wilkins was also in double digits with 11 points.

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The Hempfield girls built a 19-4 lead after the first quarter Thursday night, and then cruised to a 62-41 Section 1-AAAA road victory at Laurel Highlands.

The Lady Spartans (2-1) led 35-18 at the half, and 50-37 after three quarters.

Kaitlyn Thurby led Laurel Highlands (1-2, 2-5) with 10 points.

Monica Burns scored a game-high 20 points for Hempfield. Audrey Halusic finished with 13 and Lexi Irwin added 10.

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The Uniontown girls fell one field goal short Thursday night, as the Lady Raiders fell on the road to Greensburg Salem, 50-48, in Section 3-AAA action.

The Lady Lions (2-0, 3-2) led 30-22 at the half, but Uniontown cut into its deficit, trailing 37-33 after three quarters. The Lady Raiders (2-1, 3-3) outscored the home squad in the fourth quarter, 15-13.

Halley Farrell led Uniontown with 13 points, while Arielle Winfrey added 12.

Karly Mellinger had game-scoring honors for the Lady Lions with 15 points. Claire Oberdorf was also in double figures with 13.

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Jenna Miller scored 14 and Kylie Huffman added 10 as California beat Burgettstown, 33-26, in non-section girls basketball Thursday.

Cal (4-2) outscored Burgettstown 20-10 in the second half to secure the win. The Blue Devils fell to 0-5.

High school wrestling

The Colonials’ Chris Hlatky won the final bout Thursday night by forfeit, pulling Albert Gallatin into a 36-36 tie with University (W.Va.) High. But, the visitors lost on criteria with University taking seven bouts to six by Albert Gallatin.

With no bout at 220, the non-section match was decided before Hlatky was given the nod at heavyweight.

DJ Wallace started things off for the Colonials (0-3) with a pin in 1:26 at 106 pounds.

Randy Milligan (113) won by forfeit, and Cody Lavery kept the momentum alive with a fall at 120 in 36 seconds.

The Colonials wouldn’t score again until Brandon Dice won by fall in 1:08 at 182 pounds. Zack Friend also won by fall at 195 pounds.