Mickens scores 31 as Lady Falcons earn first section win
Saige Mickens’ 31-point effort helped lead Connellsville to a Section 2-6A victory over Mount Lebanon on Thursday night at Mount Lebanon High School in girls basketball play.
Mickens, who is a ninth grader, continued to show her abilities as a scorer. She is 11th in the WPIAL in scoring among all classifications.
The Lady Falcons (1-3, 5-9) had a 16-11 lead after the first quarter and a 23-17 halftime advantage after holding a 7-6 edge in the second period.
Connellsville outscored the home team, 12-11, in the third frame, and 14-9 in the fourth.
Cali Green led the Lady Blue Devils (2-2, 4-7) in scoring with 11 points. Teammate Chloe Shea added 10 points.
Geibel Catholic 55, Monessen 22 – Mallory Clemmer recorded an impressive double-double with 23 points and 24 rebounds as the Lady Gators remained unbeaten by rolling past the visiting Lady Greyhounds in a Section 2-A game.
Clemmer’s rebound total included the 500th of her career.
Emma Larkin added 21 points for Geibel (6-0, 13-0) which remains tied for first place with Serra Catholic. The Lady Gators visit the Lady Eagles on Monday.
Geibel led 13-6, 26-10 and 40-15 at the quarter breaks.
Na’Jaziah Carter had 16 points for Monessen (2-4, 2-8).
Serra Catholic 55, West Greene 38 – Bella Dumbroski scored 21 points and the Lady Eagles took control early to defeat the host Lady Pioneers in a Section 2-A victory.
Serra (6-0, 7-3) jumped out to a 21-8 lead in the first quarter and was up 34-20 at halftime and 42-32 after three.
West Greene whittled the gap to 44-38 midway through the fourth quarter but the Lady Eagles closed the game on a 11-point run.
Lexi Pearce contributed 16 points for Serra and Niki Sfanos chipped in with 11 points.
Kendra Tharp recorded a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Lady Pioneers (4-2, 8-3), who also got 10 points from Madelyn Roberts and 10 rebounds from Katie Brudnock.
Laurel Highlands 54, Ringgold 42 – Madison Brooks scored a game-high 15 points to held the Lady Mustangs defeat the visiting Lady Rams in a Section 3-4A clash.
Laurel Highlands led 12-11, 24-19 and 38-29 at the quarter breaks.
Chloe Price tallied 14 points for LH (2-4, 4-9), which also got 11 points from Taylor Schwertfeger.
Addison Jenkins, Jada Gernot and Natalie Walsh each tossed in nine points for Ringgold (2-3, 4-6).
Keystone Oaks 48, Waynesburg Central 40 – Hannah York and Natalee Tortorella both scored 18 points and the Golden Eagles took control in the second quarter on their way to a Section 3-3A victory over the visiting Lady Raiders.
The loss dropped Waynesburg (3-2, 10-2) into a third-place tie with the Golden Eagles (3-2, 7-4) behind first-place Seton LaSalle (5-0) and second-place McGuffey (4-1).
Keystone Oaks held a slim 15-14 lead after the first quarter then used a 10-3 advantage in the second to go up 25-17 at halftime. The Lady Raiders sliced the margin to 35-31 after three but the Golden Eagles used a 13-9 edge in the fourth to secure the win.
Tess Pauley led Waynesburg with 16 points.
Beth-Center 49, Bentworth 29 – Violet Trump scored a game-high 18 points and yanked down 30 rebounds in the Lady Bulldogs’ Section 3-2A win at Bentworth.
Beth-Center led 15-6, 25-12 and 36-15 at the quarter breaks.
Bailey Bernot followed with 10 points and 14 boards for the Lady Bulldogs (3-1, 6-6) and Lexi Fischer pitched in with nine points and nine rebounds.
Nora Lindley and Belle Moyer tallied 10 and nine points, respectively, for the Lady Bearcats (2-2, 6-6).
Charleroi 40, Brownsville 30 – Eden Smith scored 16 points to held the Lady Cougars fend off the host Lady Falcons in a Section 3-3A game.
Charleroi (1-4, 4-8) led 15-5, 22-15 and 30-25 at the quarter breaks.
Ava Clark led Brownsville (0-6, 3-10) with 15 points.
California 49, Jefferson-Morgan 23 – Hayley Gibson and Lila Mitchell rang up 12 points apiece in the Lady Trojans’ Section 3-2A win over the host Lady Rockets (0-3, 5-6).
California led 19-6, 30-12 and 36-17 at the quarter breaks.
Olivia Gibson added 10 points for the Lady Trojans (2-1, 5-7).
Belle Vernon 52, Mount Pleasant 16 – Lyla McConnell totaled 11 points and six assists in the Lady Leopards’ Section 3-4A win at Mount Pleasant.
Aubrey Brown added 10 points and eight rebounds for Belle Vernon (5-1, 9-3).
Morgan Gesinski led the Lady Vikings (3-3, 6-7) with six points.
Chartiers-Houston 47, Carmichaels 13 – Ali Wingard and McKenzie Walsh each had 10 points as the Lady Buccaneers (4-0, 11-1) triumphed over the host Lady Mikes in a Section 3-2A game.
Ke’lani Chun topped Carmichaels (0-3, 1-11) in scoring with seven points.
Apollo-Ridge 53, Frazier 27 – Mikaila Ditty scored 13 points as the Lady Vikings knocked off the visiting Lady Commodores in a Section 4-2A game.
Madison Hughley followed with 11 points for Apollo-Ridge (2-2, 6-8).
Allie Yauch rang up a game-high 14 points for Frazier (1-2, 4-6).
Trinity 47, Albert Gallatin 14 – Sutton Williamson scored 12 points in the Lady Hillers’ Section 4-5A win over the visiting Lady Colonials.
Trinity (3-3, 9-3) led 13-2, 26-4 and 45-9 at the quarter breaks.
Mikayla Shea scored paced AG (0-6, 0-11) with nine points.
South Park 56, Southmoreland 21 – Nika Contakos racked up 33 points in the Lady Eagles’ Section 3-4A victory at Southmoreland.
Belle Stromberg dropped in 10 points for South Park (6-0, 8-5).
Leah Moore led Southmoreland (0-6, 1-13) with seven points.
Clairton 53, Mapletown 18 – The Lady Bears (2-4, 4-5) beat the host Lady Maples (0-6, 1-13) in a Section 2-A game.
Boys basketball
Beth-Center 78, Burgettstown 39 — Jason Zellie, fresh off scorng his 1,000th career point in a close loss to Chartiers-Houston on Tuesday, rang up 23 points in the visiting Bulldogs’ Section 3-2A victory over the Blue Devils.
Parker Amos and Brayden Ozohonish chipped in with 11 points apiece for Beth-Center (3-3, 7-5).
Burgettstown (0-6, 2-11) was led by Colton County with 10 points.
Swimming
Boys: Uniontown 97, South Park 68; Girls: Uniontown 92, South Park 44 — The Red Raiders broke 10 personal records and had one of their relay teams swim a WPIAL qualifying time in a non-section victory over the Eagles at Uniontown Area High School’s Natatorium.
Following the diving competition, which was won by Uniontown’s Eleanor Carei (6.00) for the girls, and Kavon Novak (6.00) for the boys, the Lady Red Raiders’ Joss Rutter, Hannah Foster, Addison Caruso and Shelbie Covert swam a time of 2:02.35 for a WPIAL cut in the 200-yard medley relay. The Class 2A time for girls is 2:03.
Foster and Rutter won two individual races, and were on the winning 200 freestyle relay team with Carei and Caruso, who touched the wall in 1:53.10.
Foster won the 50 and 100 freestyle in times of 27.44 and 1:01.79, and Rutter topped the field in the 100 backstroke (1:11.24) and 200 individual medley (2:32.97). Caruso won the 100 butterfly in 1:09.10.
Uniontown’s Shelbie Covert edged the Lady Eagles’ Ava Bauer by a second to win the 100 breaststroke in 1:28.35.
The Red Raiders’ Donte Rugola and Ivan Rutter won two individual and relay races. Rugola won the 50 and 100 freestyle in 24.61 and 53.98. He swam the anchor leg of the 200 medley relay and was the third competitor for Uniontown in the 200 freestyle relay.
Rutter topped the field in the 100 butterfly in 1:05.94 and touched first in the 500 freestyle with a time of 2:00.25.
Logan Davis and Patrick Foster joined Rutter and Rugola in winning the 200 medley in 1:54.71. Davis, Rutter and Rugola had Chase King swim the opening leg of the 200 freestyle that the quartet won in 1:40.35.
Foster won the 200 individual medley in a time of 2:25.74.
Hockey
Connellsville 6, Deer Lakes 3 — The Falcons rallied twice and pulled off a victory over the Lancers in PIHL Gold Division 2 play at CFS Bank Arena in Rostraver Township.
Connellsville improved to 10-4-0-0 this season, and with 30 points, is one point ahead of Knoch for first place in the division, but the Knights have a game in hand. The Falcons avenged a 3-2 loss to Deer Lakes (6-7-1-0, 20 points) that occurred on Oct. 13 in the third game of the season.
The Lancers went up 1-0 with 13:51 left in the first period when Mason Cervone scored his first of two goals on an even-strength tally. Uriah Barr assisted on the goal, and Deer Lakes maintained its one-goal lead heading into the second stanza.
Cervone struck on the power play with 4:18 left in the second period for a 2-0 advantage. Barr and Charlie Stefanik had the helpers.
The Falcons, who put 50 shots on Keaton Minnick, were able to get one past the Lancers’ goalie with 3:10 remaining in the second frame to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Liam King and Logan Jenkins set-up Larry Barrofio for the even-strength tally. Connellsville tied the game 100 seconds later when Barrofio assisted on Riley Denny’s five-on-five goal.
Deer Lakes broke the tie 4:12 into the final period when it converted on the power play for the second time when Barr and Cervone set-up Max Redinger and a 3-2 lead.
The Falcons would tie the game on their lone opportunity with the man advantage when Matty Smith scored on an unassisted tally with 7:32 remaining.
Connellsville scored the game winner with 1:58 remaining when Sam Denny found the back of the net for a 4-3 advantage. Santo Crucio had the assist. TJ Snyder and Barrofio added empty-net tallies in the final minute.
Nick Daniels-Nimick stopped 20 shots to earn the victory in goal for the home team.