Blue Devils miss out on semifinals
For the first time in seven years, the Mt. Lebanon’s girls basketball team won’t be a part of the WPIAL Class AAAA final four.
No. 7 Penn-Trafford (18-6) held No. 2 Mt. Lebanon (16-6) without a field goal in the first half in a 32-24 quarterfinal win at North Hills.
The 24 points were a seasonlow for Mt. Lebanon, its previous low a 37-point effort Feb. 1 against Bethel Park.
The Warriors led, 20-2, at halftime as Maria Palarino scored nine of her game-high 11 points in the first 16 minutes. Meanwhile, the Blue Devils got their only first-half points on a free throw apiece from Margie McCaffrey and Madeleine Collins
The closest Mt. Lebanon got in the second half was six points (30-24) with 1:41 left in the fourth quarter.
Collins scored eight points to lead the Blue Devils, who will not play in the WPIAL semifinals for the first time since it lost in the first round against Pine-Richland in 2007.
Dating to at least the 1985-86 season, Penn-Trafford had never made the semifinals.
Other Class AAAA
Fox Chapel 55, Norwin 51: A 16-0 run that spanned parts of the second and third quarters sparked the No. 3 Foxes (19-4) to a victory against No. 6 Norwin (17-6) at North Allegheny. Kayla Slovenec had 16 points and eight rebounds and Erin Mathias had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Foxes, who will face PennTrafford in the semifinals.
Hempfield 56, Bethel Park 38: After knocking off No. 5 Upper St. Clair Tuesday, the No. 12 Spartans (16-8) took down the No. 4 Black Hawks (17-6) at Charleroi. Monica Burns and Leah Knizner led Hempfield with 19 and 14 points, respectively. Shannon Conely led Bethel Park with 13 points.
North Allegheny 50, Shaler 42: At North Hills, the No. 1 Tigers (22-1) won their 21st consecutive game, beating No. 9 Shaler (16-7) for the third time this season. Taylor Brennan led the way with 14 points, while Taylor Lake and Abby Gonzales each added 11 for North Allegheny, which will face Hempfield in the semifinals. The Tigers beat the Spartans Feb. 8 by 11 points. Carly Harris and Andi Lydon led the Titans with 11 points apiece.
Class AA
Seton-LaSalle 69, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 46: Cassidy Walsh had 18 points and Yacine Diop added 15 points and 14 rebounds to lift the No. 1 Rebels (20-4) to a victory against the No. 8 Chargers (16-8) at Cornell. Bri Van Volkenburg had a gamehigh 21 points for OLSH.
Bishop Canevin 49, Neshannock 41: Johnie Olkosky and Gina Vallecorsa each had 18 points to lead the Crusaders (19-5) past No. 4 Neshannock (22-2) at Ambridge. Bishop Canevin trailed by two at halftime, but Olkosky and Vallecorsa combined for 22 of the Crusaders’ 27 points in the second half. Section rivals Bishop Canevin and Seton-LaSalle will face off in the semifinals in a rematch of the past two WPIAL finals.
Burrell 79, McGuffey 68: Natalie Myers scored 23 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to help the No. 2 Bucs (24-0) remain the only unbeaten WPIAL girls team with a victory against the Highlanders (20-4) at Montour. Sydney Bordonaro added 22 points for Burrell, while Sammie Weiss had 29 points in a losing effort.
Greensburg Central Catholic 63, Carlynton 61: Carolyn Appleby had 22 points to lead the No. 3 Centurions (19-4) past the No. 6 Cougars (19-4) at Baldwin. Leah Bisignani and Nikki Addisey added 19 and 17 points, respectively, for Greensburg Central Catholic, which will play Burrell in the semifinals. Conor Richardson had a game-high 25 points for Carlynton.