Jan 5, 2024 By the Herald-Standard 7 min read

Monessen used a balanced offense to defeat visiting Jefferson-Morgan, 59-33, and give coach Janine Vertacnik her 350th victory in a Section 2-A girls basketball game Thursday night.

The Lady Greyhounds (2-0, 5-1) were led by Madison Johnson with 13 points. Also hitting double figures in scoring for Monessen were Na’Jaziah Carter (11), MyAsia Majors (11) and Sidney Campbell (10).

The Lady Greyhounds led 20-10, 34-21 and 50-28 at the quarter breaks.

Kayla Larkin led the Lady Rockets (0-2, 2-10) and tied for game-high honors with 13 points.

Geibel Catholic 37, West Greene 35 – Emma Larkin scored all but four of the Lady Gators’ points including all 18 in the fourth quarter to rally Geibel past the host Lady Pioneers in a Section 2-A clash.

In a back-and-forth battle, West Greene led 9-4 after the first quarter, the Lady Gators surged to a 16-12 halftime lead and then the Lady Pioneers used a 14-3 edge in the third quarter to go up 26-19.

Geibel (1-1, 8-3) outscored West Greene 18-9 in the final frame to pull out the win.

Larkin made four of her six 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and was 6 of 8 from the foul line.

Kasie Meek paced the Lady Pioneers (1-1, 2-7) with 15 points.

Carmichaels 31, Bentworth 28 – The Lady Mikes outscored the visiting Lady Bearcats 4-1 in overtime to pull out a Section 4-A win.

Alayna Simon scored 11 points to lead the way for Carmichaels (1-2, 2-9).

Both teams struggled offensively in the first half with the Lady Mikes leading 2-0 after one quarter and 6-5 at halftime.

The Lady Bearcats (0-4, 3-9) rode a 16-9 edge in the third quarter to a 21-15 lead but Carmichaels used a 12-4 run to go up by two late in the fourth quarter.

Bentworth’s Amber Sallee, who made three 3-pointers while scoring a game-high 15 points, sank a pair of free throws late in the fourth to knot the score at 27-27 and force OT.

Aubrie Logan had 15 rebounds for Bentworth and Kayla O’Dell added 10 boards.

Latrobe 55, Connellsville 24 – Elle Snyder scored 23 points as the Lady Wildcats rolled past the visiting Lady Falcons in a Section 3-AAAAA game.

Latrobe (1-2, 5-6) led 29-16 at halftime then outscored Connellsville 19-3 in the third quarter for a 48-19 advantage to take complete control of the game.

Whitney Bobish paced the Lady Falcons (0-4, 3-8) with 10 points.

Belle Vernon 42, Southmoreland 9 – The Lady Leopards pounced early, building a 20-4 lead in the first quarter on their way to a Section 3-AAAA win.

Emerson LaCarte topped Belle Vernon (3-1, 6-5) in scoring with 10 points. The Lady Leopards also got eight rebounds apiece from Caroline Lee and Chessa Mertz, six steals and six assists from Kenzie Seliega and five steals and four assists from Nina Francia.

Lynzee Moore led the Lady Scotties (0-3, 0-10) with four points.

West Mifflin 48, Uniontown 16 – Savaughn Wimbs had 25 points and the Lady Titans gradually pulled away for a Section 3-AAAA triumph over the host Lady Raiders.

West Mifflin (3-0, 5-4) led 11-5, 24-10 and 38-16 at the breaks.

Lyric McLee tallied seven points for Uniontown (0-3, 2-7).

Mount Pleasant 46, Deer Lakes 41 – Riley Gesinski poured in a game-high 25 points and the host Lady Vikings came back in the fourth quarter to defeat the Lady Lancers in Section 3-AAA play.

Deer Lakes led 12-8 after one quarter, Mount Pleasant went up 23-21 at halftime and the Lancers took back the lead, 34-31, by the end of the third quarter.

The Lady Vikings (1-1, 8-3) outscored the visitors 15-7 in the final frame to claim the victory.

Sophia Laurenza had 17 points and Layne Loper tallied 12 for Deer Lakes (0-2, 4-7).

Waynesburg Central 62, McGuffey 32 – Kaley Rohanna rang up a game-high 26 points and Avery Davis added 17 as the Lady Raiders beat the visiting Lady Highlanders in a Section 4-AAA game.

Peyton Cowell pulled down 12 rebounds for Waynesburg (2-0, 11-1).

Libby Mallah had eight points for McGuffey (0-2, 9-2).

Yough 47, Charleroi 39 – Autumn Matthews tossed in a game-high 16 points to help Yough top visiting Charleroi in a Section 4-AAA battle of Lady Cougars.

Yough led 17-9, 26-19 and 39-32 at the quarter breaks.

Hailey Bock chipped in with 12 points for the host Lady Cougars (1-0, 6-4) who also got 11 points and three 3-pointers from Brooke Wieland.

Riley Jones and Ella Sypolt each scored 15 points for Charleroi (0-2, 4-5) which played without key starter Bella Carotto who missed the game due to illness.

South Park 56, Brownsville 45 – The Lady Eagles rode a big third quarter to a Section 4-AAA victory over the visiting Lady Falcons.

Andrew Kuczma and Haley Bennett paced South Park (2-0, 6-3) with 14 and 11 points.

The Lady Eagles built a 29-22 halftime lead then soared to a 47-29 advantage in the third quarter and stayed in control the rest of the way.

Skyler Gaters scored a game-high 22 points for Brownsville (0-1, 7-5).

California 53, Beth-Center 31 – Rakiyah Porter racked up a game-high 20 points as the Lady Trojans steadily built their lead throughout a Section 4-AA win over the visiting Lady Bulldogs.

California was up 9-6 after the first quarter, 21-13 at halftime and 36-24 after three frames.

Hayley Gibson also reached double digits with 15 points for the Lady Trojans (2-1, 5-4).

Kayleigh McDaniel topped B-C (2-2, 5-6) in scoring with 10 points.

Mapletown 49, Avella 21 – Emma Zalar totaled 10 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals as the Lady Maples knocked off visiting Avella in a Section 2-A game.

McKenna Lotspeich and Treslee Westonn led Mapletown (2-0, 5-6) in scoring with 12 points apiece.

Ava Frank and Syd Strope both tallied eight points for the Lady Eagles (0-2, 2-9).

Wrestling

Belle Vernon 42, Albert Gallatin 27 – The Leopards rang up six pins on their way to a Section 2-AA win over the host Colonials.

Recording falls for Belle Vernon were Nischal Dahal (127), Colby Hibner (133), Gio Weightman (139), Kole Doppelheuer (145), Elijah Brown (172) and Perry Riggle (285).

Also earning points for the Leopards were Dom Skibicki with an 8-5 decision over Colton Kelley at 152 and Austin Hoffman with an 11-5 decision over Jason Myers at 189.

Albert Gallatin, which picked up 18 points on three forfeits, got a pin by Nicholas Hillyard at 160 and a 2-1 decision by James Standish over Luke Bryer at 215.

Girls swimming

Mount Pleasant 91, Greensburg Salem 63 — The Lady Vikings’ Lily King had two first-place finishes for a Section 4-AA home victory over the Lady Lions.

King won the 200 IM and 100 freestyle, and has WPIAL qualifying times in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 200 IM so far this season.

Lainey Brown (200 freestyle), Kiersten O’Connor (50 freestyle), and Riley Shinsky (500 freestyle). O’Connor (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 100 butterfly), Maddie Barrick (100 butterfly), Kaylie Korpiel (100 breaststroke), Brown (100 breaststroke), and Rayna Wisneski (diving) all have met the WPIAL qualifying standards.

Mount Pleasant also won the 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay.

Belle Vernon 81, Uniontown 59 — The Lady Leopards were victorious in a Section 5-AA meet against the Lady Raiders.

Belle Vernon’s Grace Newbould (200 freestyle), Megan Shisteric (200 freestyle, 100 butterfly), Ava Bosetti (100 freestyle), and Melina Stratigos (500 freestyle) all had first-place finishes. The Lady Leopards (1-0, 4-4) also swept all three relays.

Boys swimming

Mount Pleasant 89, Greensburg Salem 43 — Five different Vikings had first-place finishes for a Section 4-AA home win over the visiting Golden Lions.

David Mutter (100 freestyle, 200 freestyle), Seth Painter (200 IM), Gunnar Probst (50 freestyle), Logan Snively (100 butterfly), and Joseph Gardner (500 freestyle).

Mount Pleasant swept all three relays.

Mutter (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle,500 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke), Gardner (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke), Snively (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke), and Painter (100 butterfly) have met the WPIAL qualifying standard.

Uniontown 87, Belle Vernon 69 — The Leopards’ Tim Reda (200 IM, 500 freestyle) and Gaige Watson (100 breaststroke) had individual first-place finishes in a Section 5-AA loss to the Red Raiders.