Plum qualifies for WPIAL playoffs

It was a tall task for Plum — literally.

In order to make the WPIAL girls basketball playoffs, Plum had to defeat an Indiana team that was undefeated in section play and also featured 6-foot-5 Eve Fiala.

But Plum proved up to the challenge. Plum used a strong fourth quarter Thursday night to upset visiting Indiana, 58-52, in a WPIAL Class 5A Section 1 game. The win lifted Plum’s record to 12-9 overall and tied the Mustangs with Kiski Area and Penn Hills for third place in the section with a 6-6 record. Plum, Kiski Area and Penn Hills all qualified for the playoffs.

Indiana (15-7, 11-1), the Post-Gazette’s No. 4 Class 5A team, led by 35-33 after three quarters. But Plum outscored Indiana, 25-17, in the final quarter. Megan Marston led Plum with 17 points and Cam Rodgers added 14. Fiala led Indiana with 23 points.

Other top games

• Pine-Richland (10-11, 46) earned a Class 6A playoff spot when it defeated visiting Butler, 54-50, in Section 1. Pine-Richland finished in a tie for third place in the section with Butler. Madison Zavasky had 24 points and 12 rebounds to lead PineRichland. The Rams led by 47-33 after three quarters and held off a late Butler rally.

• Trinity ( 14- 6, 8- 2) clinched second place outright in Class 5A Section 1 with a 57-47 victory against visiting Lincoln Park (17-4, 64). Lincoln Park had a threepoint halftime lead, but was outscored by 35-22 in the second half. Macie Justice had 12 points for Trinity.

• North Hills (8-13, 3-9) started the week with only one section win, but the Indians got their second consecutive upset when it defeated visiting Hampton, 52-46, in Class 5A Section 2. Jayden Arnett led North Hills with 13 points. Hampton (13-8, 7-5) was in third place in the section. Three days earlier, North Hills upset Mars, which tied for the section championship.

• Sophomore Anna Bradley made a layup with 17 seconds left in OT to give Avonworth ( 15-5, 9-1) a 54 -52 overtime victory against host Seton LaSalle (12-9, 46). The win gave Avonworth the WPIAL Class 3A Section 3 title outright. Avonworth’s Greta O’Brien had 25 points.

• McGuffey ( 15-7, 5-5) came back from a threepoint halftime deficit in a Class 3A Section 4 game, defeated host Charleroi, 5346, and earned a playoff spot. McGuffey’s Madison Gaso had 17 points. Despite the loss, Charleroi (11-9, 55) still made the playoffs and junior McKenna DeUnger moved within four points of 1,000 for her career.

• Julie Spinelli had 20 points and 12 rebounds to help St. Joseph (18-3, 8-0) to a 38-31 victory against Riverview (11-9, 6-2). The win clinched the Class 3A Section 3 title outright for St. Joseph.

Milestone

• Upper St. Clair’s Kate Robbins scored 19 points and went over 1,000 for her career as the Panthers, ranked No. 1 in Class 6A, rolled to a 65-31 victory against Bethel Park (7-13, 48) in Section 2.