Lady Gators remain undefeated at 9-0
Geibel Catholic had a trio of double-digit scorers in a 67-17 victory over Avella in Section 2-1A girls basketball play on Monday at “The Swamp” on the campus of Geibel Junior/Senior High School in Connellsville Township.
Emma Larkin led the game in scoring with 26 points. Mallory Clemmer had 18 and Alexa Morgan put in 16 for the home team.
Dakota McCullough led the Lady Eagles (1-3, 3-6) in scoring with 12 points.
The Lady Gators improved to 4-0 in section play and 9-0 overall.
Geibel had a 23-1 lead after the first quarter and a 48-8 halftime advantage.
The Lady Gators return to the court on Dec. 29 when they host Trinity Christian (3-1) at 8 p.m.
Mount Pleasant 43, Laurel Highlands 37 — The Lady Mustangs’ attempt to rally back in the fourth quarter fell short to the Lady Vikings in a Section 3-4A contest at Harold “Horse” Taylor Memorial Gymnasium.
Mount Pleasant (2-2, 4-4) had a 33-22 lead following three quarters, but Laurel Highlands (1-3, 2-6) used a 15-10 advantage in the fourth period to cut into the deficit.
The Lady Vikings had leads of 13-12 after the first quarter and 26-17 at the half.
Taylor Schwertfeger led the Lady Mustangs in scoring with 18 points.
Mount Pleasant’s Ryleigh Drzal shared game-high scoring honors with Schwertfeger. Teammate Danica Trainer added 12.
McGuffey 69, Brownsville 37 — Ava Clark scored 27 points for the Lady Falcons but the Lady Highlanders were too much in a Section 3-3A win at McGuffey High School.
Clark needs 13 points to reach 1,000 for her career. Brownsville (0-4. 2-6) returns to the court on Dec. 28 at 4 p.m. against Allderdice in the Cal U Holiday Tournament at PennWest California.
McGuffey’s Hailey Rogers had a team-high 18 points. Maura Janovich had 17 and Lucy Weiss added 15.
The Lady Highlands improved to 3-0 in the section and 6-0 overall.
Hempfield 63, Connellsville 43 — The Lady Spartans had four players in double figures en route to a Section 2-6A victory over the Lady Falcons at Connellsville Area High School.
Lilly Houghtalen had a game-high 19 points for Hempfield (1-1, 7-2). Teammates Gabby Coccia (17), Reagan Fisher (14) and Ava Shipman (10) were also in double digits.
Maggie Orndorff led Connellsville (0-2, 3-7) in scoring with 16 points. The Lady Falcons’ Saige Mickens put in 12 points.
West Greene 59, Monessen 21 — Jillissa Yeater scored a game-high 14 points and West Greene raced out to a 27-5 lead in the first quarter on its way to a Section 2-A win at Monessen.
The Lady Pioneers held a 43-13 advantage at halftime and took a 51-21 lead into the fourth quarter.
Kendra Tharp posted a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds for West Greene (3-1, 7-2), which also got 11 points from Katie Brudnock, all in the opening frame.
The Lady Pioneers have surrendered a total of 14 points in the second half of their last three games.
Madison Johnson paced the Lady Greyhounds (2-2, 2-4).
Seton LaSalle 64, Waynesburg Central 49 — Casey Davis dropped in a game-high 26 points to help the Lady Rebels hand the visiting Lady Raiders their first loss of the season in a Section 3-3A game.
Waynesburg held a 17-14 edge after the first quarter but Seton LaSalle surged to a 29-27 halftime lead and bumped the margin up to 48-38 at the end of three.
Ava Marone followed Davis with 21 points for the Lady Rebels (4-0, 6-2).
Tess Pauley paced the Lady Raiders (2-1, 6-1) with 24 points and was followed by Emma Blair (13) and Peyton Cowell (10).
Bentworth 43, Carmichaels 20 — Bella Moyer scored 16 points in the Lady Bearcats’ Section 3-2A win over the host Lady Mikes.
Brielle added 12 points for Bentworth (2-0, 5-3).
Joselyn Carter led Carmichaels with six points and Ke’Lani Chun chipped in with four points.
Beth-Center 53, Jefferson-Morgan 20 — Freshman Mary Bower made five 3-pointers in scoring a game-high 17 points as the Lady Bulldogs (1-1, 2-5) beat the host Lady Rockets in a Section 3-2A game.
Ava Wood paced J-M (0-2, 4-3) with 10 points.
Beth-Center’s Violet Trump had nine points and 11 rebounds. Teammates Alexia Fischer and Kyleigh McDaniel had eight points apiece.
Boys basketball
Waynesburg Central 68, Charleroi 65 — Dane Woods came within one point of turning in a 20-20 performance and led a group of five Waynesburg Central players in double figures as the Raiders rallied to defeat visiting Charleroi in a Section 4-3A battle.
Woods rang up 19 points and yanked down 20 rebounds as the Raiders improved to 4-4 overall and 2-2 in the section. The Cougars fell to 4-5 and 0-2.
Jackson Dean also had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds and Cole Headlee totaled 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists for Waynesburg, which also got 10 points, six boards and four assists from Austin Surber and 10 points from Ace Litwinovich.
Charleroi raced out to a 28-14 lead in the first quarter but the Raiders came storming back in the second to tie it at 31-31 by halftime. Waynesburg took a 48-46 advantage after three quarters and out-scored the Cougars 20-19 in the fourth.
Xavion Thomas tallied a game-high 27 points for Charleroi which also got 11 points from Mikey Lee.