Lady Leopards hold on for 55-50 win over EF
The Belle Vernon girls held off visiting Elizabeth Forward Monday night for a 55-50 home victory in Section 3-AAAA action.
The Lady Leopards (1-1, 2-2) led 15-8 after the first quarter and 30-23 at halftime. The Lady Warriors (0-2, 0-2) shaved five points off their deficit, trailing 38-36, but Belle Vernon secured the win with a 17-14 advantage in the final eight minutes.
Grace Henderson paced Belle Vernon with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Taylor Rodriguez and Viva Kreis both finished with 10 points.
Bailie Brinson led Elizabeth Forward (0-2, 0-2) with 12 points. Anna Resnik and Haven Briggs scored nine points apiece.
Southmoreland 31, Yough 10 — The Lady Scotties breezed to a Section 3-AAAA victory over the visiting Lady Cougars.
Southmoreland improves to 3-0 in the section and 4-1 overall, while Yough slips to 0-2 in the section and 0-3 overall.
Gracie Spadaro led the Lady Scotties with 12 points.
Charleroi 53, Bentworth 20 — Maddie DeUnger finished with a game-high 15 points to lead the visiting Lady Cougars to a Section 2-AAA road victory over the Lady Bearcats.
Charleroi improves to 1-1 in the section and 2-2 overall. Bentworth goes to 0-3 in the section and 0-5 overall.
Amber Sallee scored five points for the Lady Bearcats.
Carmichaels 52, Beth-Center 44 — The Lady Mikes built a nine-point lead in the first quarter and added distance in the third quarter for a Section 2-AA victory over the visiting Lady Bulldogs.
Carmichaels (1-0, 1-1) led 18-9 after the first quarter and 27-20 at halftime. The home team extended its lead to 41-25 after three quarters.
Beth-Center (0-1, 2-1) made a late run with a 19-11 advantage in the fourth quarter.
Sophia Zalar led the way for the Lady Mikes with 22 points. Mia Ranieri added 18.
Beth-Center’s Anna Sloan scored a game-high 24 points. Julia Ogrodowski finished with 12.
West Greene 59, Avella 20 — The Lady Pioneers scored 20 points in the middle two quarters to pull away for a Section 2-A road victory.
West Greene (2-0, 2-2) led 15-1 after the first quarter and 35-10 at halftime. The lead grew to 55-12 after three quarters.
The Lady Pioneers had nine players score for the second game in a row, led by Jersey Wise’s 19 points. Anna Durbin added 17.
Hannah Brownlee led the Lady Eagles (1-2, 2-2) with 10 points.
Hockey
Connellsville 7, Avonworth 2 — The Falcons scored the final seven goals of the game, including six in the third period, to rally for a PIHL Class B Division road victory over the Antelopes.
Connellsville evens its record to 3-3-0-0, and trails third-place Elizabeth Forward by two points with three games in hand and second-place Carrick by four points.
Mark Rauenswinter opened the scoring and Josh Perry added a power play goal to give Avonworth (0-4-0-1) a 2-0 lead 9:28 into the game.
Connellsville’s Zak Koslosky cut the deficit in half two minutes later, converting a pass from Milan Deffibaugh pass into a goal.
After a scoreless second period, Deffibaugh tied the game 4:22 into the third period with Clay Sipple and Koslosky assisting. Sipple then scored the game-winner five minutes later off assists from Lukas Joseph and Deffibaugh.
Koslosky scored a power play goal with 4:51 left in the game with Deffibaugh and Dylan Brooks setting up the play.
Seth Hunker (Kolby Lint, Garrett Mears), Ian Zerecheck (Gavin O’Brien), and Deffibaugh (Sipple) closed out the Falcons’ scoring run.
Connellsville’s Alex Mitchell made 25 saves in the win, including 19 in the final two periods. The Antelopes’ John Seifarth turned aside 36 shots.
Wrestling
Thomas Jefferson 60, Belle Vernon 12 — The Leopards won only two bouts in a Section 2-AAA (2A) road loss to the Jaguars.
Logan Hoffman secured a 5-1 decision over Trystan Alava at 189 pounds, and Cole Weightman followed with a fall in just 27 seconds at 215 pounds.