Butler slides past Pine-Richland, grabs first section title since 1992
The previous time Butler won its section title was back in 1992, Matt Clement played point guard. The Golden Tornado, now coached by Clement, finally won another section championship Tuesday night by defeating Pine-Richland, 68-63, in Class 6A Section 1.
Ethan Morton and Devin Carney netted 18 points apiece to lead the No. 2 Golden Tornado (14-4, 8-0).
The fourth-ranked Rams (12-6, 5-3) were led by Kyle Polce with 22 points, seven steals and six rebounds.
Other top boys games
• Quaker Valley shut out New Castle, 5-0, in the overtime period to secure a 79-74 victory in Class 4A Section 2. The fifth-ranked Quakers (125, 6-3) had five players in double figures, led by Adou Thiero’s game-high 29.
• Fox Chapel (18-0, 8-0) clinched Class 6A Section 3 with a 47-38 win against Norwin (11-6, 3-5). The topranked Foxes were led by Arnold Vento, who had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
• Kade Musgrove knocked down a 3-pointer at the buzzer, as Connellsville (7-11, 3-5) escaped Latrobe (5-14, 2-6) with a 75-74 victory in Class 6A Section 3.
• A pair of free throws by Brandon Barber in the second overtime finally separated South Side Beaver (9-9, 5-5) from Sewickley Academy (6-9, 5-4) for a 53-51 victory in
Class 2A Section 3.
• Brayden Reynolds put in five 3-pointers and led all scorers with 24 points as No. 4 Chartiers Valley (14-4, 10-1) rolled past West Mifflin (1-15, 0-10), 58-41, in Class 5A Section 2.
• Plum (5-11, 6-5) clinched the fourth and final playoff spot in Class 5A Section 3 by downing Franklin Regional (811, 5-6), 55-51. Connor Moss put the game away by scoring 8 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter.
Top girls game
• Class 6A No. 3 North Allegheny avenged its earlier loss against second-ranked Norwin with a 60-42 victory in Section 2. The win not only evened the score of their matchups this season, but also tied the Tigers and Knights atop the section standings. Lizzy Groetsch scored a game-high 21 points for the Tigers, who led, 3116, at halftime and never looked back. Jayla Wehner of Norwin knocked down four 3pointers en route to 14 points.
Star of the night
• Aquinas Academy freshman Vinnie Cugini, the leading scorer in the WPIAL, scored 48 points, but his Crusaders (5-13, 2-9) stumbled to a 76-72 loss against Class 1A Section 3 opponent Propel Andrew Street (3-13, 3-8).