Mt. Lebanon roars back in win
Seneca Valley had Mt. Lebanon on the ropes midway through the third quarter of their WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinal.
Sophomore guard Ashleigh Connor had been held to 17 points below her season average and the Blue Devils were teetering on the brink of elimination.
Then it all came apart for the Raiders.
Connor scored 10 of her 13 points in the fourth quarter as No. 4 Mt. Lebanon (18-5) came back from a nine-point, third-quarter deficit and steamrolled Seneca Valley (15-8) in the fourth period — including a 16of-19 performance from the charity stripe — en route to a 54-40 victory at North Allegheny.
Maddie Karchut scored a gamehigh 26 in the loss for Seneca Valley.
More 6A Bethel Park 33, Fox Chapel 29:
The top-seeded Black Hawks (20-2) trailed the Foxes (13-10) at halftime, but Olivia Westphal, who had been held in check for most of the night, rallied for seven of her game-high 11 points in the fourth quarter to lead Bethel Park into the semifinals for the fourth year in a row. Domenica Delaney led Fox Chapel with 10.
Upper St. Clair 52, Norwin 39:
The sixth-seeded Panthers (14-7) took control of a close game in the second half thanks to an outstanding performance from freshman Katelyn Robbins, who scored 20 of her game-high 30 points after the intermission. Fellow freshman Mia Brown chipped in 10 in the upset of the No. 3 Knights (18-5) at Charleroi. Every point scored by Upper St. Clair was by a freshman. Olivia Gribble led Norwin with nine.
Class 1A West Greene 55, Avella 45:
The No. 2 Pioneers got off to good starts in the first and fourth while holding off a huge Eagles push in the third quarter to stave off an upset. West Greene (23-0) opened the game on 13-0 run and, after Avella (17-7) took its only lead on Jordan Rush’s layup with 1:11 remaining in the third quarter, Kaytlynn Walls scored for the
Pioneers with six seconds left to give them a 39-38 lead and start another 13-0 run that put the game out of reach.
Sewickley Academy 43, Vincentian Academy 31:
The Panthers (1410) have really turned things around late in the season as Kamryn Lightcap scoreed 12 points and Bre Warner added nine in Sewickley Academy’s revenge game for two regular-season losses to the Royals (17-6). The Panthers have now won six in a row, their past five against teams in the postseason.
Clairton 43, California 41 (OT):
Taylar Jackson scored 14 of her 18 points in the second half and overtime to help the Bears (20-3) to their 11th consecutive victory. Trojans (13-11) senior Sydney Smichnick sent it to overtime with a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left. Clairton is in the WPIAL semifinals for the first time since 2005.
Rochester 64, Aquinas Academy 24:
Alexis Robison scored 16 points to lead four Rams (22-1) in double figures and key an easy runningclock victory for the top seed over Aquinas Academy (10-12).