Woodland Hills escapes big hole
From local dispatches
Woodland Hills trailed Hempfield at halftime, 3719, but, if you need to dig out of a hole, it helps to have the leading scorer in the WPIAL.
The Wolverines’ Keandre Bowles, who averages 29 points per game, racked up 32 points and 12 rebounds, helping Class 5A No. 4 Woodland Hills (16-4, 9-2) storm back for a 64-55 nonsection victory against the Spartans (9-11, 2-7).
Other top boys game
Thanks to a game-high 27 points from Bryce Butler, Class 6A No. 4 Latrobe (162, 9-0) escaped Norwin (810, 1-8) with a 59-57 Section 3 victory.
Top girls games
For the second game in a row, Norwin sharpshooter Olivia Gribble made six 3pointers. Gribble finished with a game-high 22 points to lead the third-ranked Knights (18-1, 11-1) past Shaler (6-14, 4-9), 55-28, in Class 6A Section 1.
Ariana Goitz made seven 3-pointers on her way to 31 points for Class 3A No. 2 Shady Side Academy as the Indians (16-1, 12-0) ran away from East Allegheny (12-7, 7-6) to a 64-41 Section 3 victory. Amaia Johnson, the third-leading scorer in the WPIAL, netted 21 to lead the Wildcats.
Vincentian (9-10, 7-4) knocked off Class 1A No. 5 Quigley Catholic, 54-25, in Section 1. Hannah Katz led the charge with 14 points for the Royals.
Mars (14-5, 7-4) lost to Armstrong (9-11, 5-7) by a point in their first meeting and needed overtime to get a win against the River Hawks, 49-41, in their second Class 5A Section 2 matchup. Tai Johnson had 20 points for the Planets.
Neshannock’s Neleh Nogay netted 19 points as the Class 3A No. 1 Lancers (18-2, 12-1) rolled to a 7314 win against Beaver Falls (7-13, 5-8).
Milestones
It’s not every day a girls player reaches 1,000 points for their career. What’s more rare is two players hitting the milestone the same night. That’s what happened in North Catholic’s 93-40 romp against Burrell in Class 4A Section 1. The top-ranked Trojanettes (18-2, 13-0) saw both Dani Short and Tess Myers eclipse 1,000 points. Short, a Brown recruit, scored 20 points to put her career tally at 1,012. Junior guard Myers netted 14 and now has 1,005 points.
Monday’s stars
Laurel’s Caroline Gibson averages 18 points per game. She did about 2½ games worth in one night, pouring in 42 for the Class 2A No. 3 Spartans (16-4, 12-1) in a 76-18 rout of New Brighton (1-16, 0-12) in Section 1.