Local roundup: Top-seeded Imani Christian overwhelms Pioneers
West Greene hung with top-seeded Imani Christian for a while in the opening quarter but once the Saints got rolling there was no stopping the defending WPIAL and PIAA champions Wednesday night.
Imani outscored the Pioneers 27-2 in the second quarter on its way to a 60-26 victory in a WPIAL Class A quarterfinal game at Bethel Park High School.
The Saints advance to Saturday’s semifinals against No. 5 Union at Montour. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
The Pioneers fall into the consolation bracket and will play at Monessen in a 7 p.m. game Friday. The two split their two regular-season meetings.
Wednesday’s game began with West Greene (16-8) holding a 2-0 lead after a technical foul was called on the Saints (12-10) leading to a pair of free throws by Lane Allison. The score was 6-6 when a basket with 3:15 left in the first quarter put Imani ahead to stay.
Down 43-9 at halftime, the Pioneers played the Saints to a 17-17 draw in the second half.
Allison led the way with seven points, including one 3-pointer, for West Greene, which defeated Avella, 58-47, in the first round on Friday night for only its second playoff win in program history.
The Pioneers also got six points from Patrick Durbin, five from Darren Knight and four from Parker Burns who battled foul trouble most of the night, drawing four whistles in the first half including three in the first quarter.
Will Shipman accounted for the other two points for West Greene.
Men’s basketball
California 86, Pitt-Johnstown 71 – Bryson Lucas scored 19 points and led five California players in double figures as the Vulcans rolled to victory over Pitt-Johnstown in a PSAC West Division game.
California, which is ranked No. 9 in NCAA Division II, improves to 16-3 in the PSAC and 22-3 overall. Pitt-Johnstown slips to 4-16, 6-20.
Lucas, a redshirt sophomore forward, filled up the statistics sheet. In addition to his 19 points, Lucas had game highs of nine rebounds and six steals to go along with five assists.
Zyan Collins followed with 17 points, K.J. McClurg scored 13 of his 16 points in the first half, Keith Palek scored 12 points in only 10 minutes of playing time and Donald Whitehead had 10.
Cal shot a blistering 60 percent in the first half, which ended with the Vulcans in command, 50-26.
The Vulcans are one game behind first-place Gannon in the PSAC West standings with three regular-season games remaining, including Saturday at home against Mercyhurst.
Women’s basketball
California 55, Pitt-Johnson 41 – Senior forward Dejah Terrell has carried the scoring load for California all season and she came through again Wednesday.
Terrell scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds, sparking California to a PSAC West victory over Pitt-Johnstown.
Cal improves to 13-6 in the PSAC West and 18-7 overall.
Terrell, who made 9 of 19 shots and all six of her free-throw attempts, had some help on the defensive end as teammate Allycia Harris grabbed a game-high 18 rebounds.
There were plenty of rebounds to go around as UPJ (10-10, 15-11) shot only 31 percent and made just one of 15 3-pointers. Cassidy Crawford led UPJ with 15 points.
After the first quarter ended in a 16-16 tie, Cal moved out to a 34-29 halftime advantage. UPJ was held to only four points in the third quarter but Cal increased its lead to only 43-33. The Vulcans held a 12-8 scoring edge in the fourth quarter.