OLSH falters in the fourth quarter vs. River Valley

The Our Lady of Sacred Heart girls basketball team had a PIAA title berth within its grasp, but let it slip away in Monday’s Class 3A semifinal game against River Valley at Kiski Area High School.

The Chargers (22-8) held a 33-29 lead late in the third quarter, but scored only five points the rest of the game as the Panthers posted a 4438 victory.

OLSH scored 14 points in the third quarter to take a 33-32 lead into the final quarter. Turnovers and poor shooting were OLSH’s downfall in the final quarter. The

Panthers’ Ava Persichetti led all scorers with 23 points, including 17 in the second half, while Ryee Kitner added 10.

Kyleigh Nagy scored 11 points in the first half for OLSH, but had only four in the second half. Mia Grisafi had 11 points for the Chargers, all in the second half.

The loss ended OLSH’s impressive run in the state playoffs. After finishing fifth in the WPIAL, the Chargers posted upsets of District 10 runner-up Wilmington, WPIAL champion Avonworth, and District 6 runner-up Westmont Hilltop.

River Valley (29-2), the District 6 champion, will now play District 2 champion Dunmore (26-3) in the title game Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey.

Class 2A

Kennedy Catholic 56, Greensburg Central Catholic 44: Layke Fields scored 22 points, including 14 in the second half, as Kennedy Catholic earned a return trip to the PIAA finals with a win against the Centurions, in a semifinal at North Allegheny High School.

The two teams finished the first quarter tied 14-14 with Avery Davis connecting on a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the Centurions. Kennedy Catholic led 24-21 at halftime and increased its lead to 40-30 by the end of the third quarter.

Monique Vincent iced the victory by connecting on 8 of 8 foul shots in the fourth quarter and finished the game with 13 points for the Golden Eagles.

Mya Morgan led Greensburg Central Catholic (24-6) with 20 points, while Erica Gribble tallied 14.

Kennedy Catholic (25-4), last year’s PIAA Class 1A champion, will now face District 6 champion Homer Center (24-7) in the Thursday’s title game.

JJ LaBella/For the Post-Gazette Greensburg Central Catholic’s Mya Morgan goes up to shoot against Kennedy Catholic’s Bella Magestro during a PIAA Class 2A state semifinal on Monday at North Allegheny High School.