Eden surges in the second half past Geibel Catholic

Larkin finishes with 27 points in the loss

The Eden Christian girls basketball team scored 34 points in the second half after a low-scoring first half and recorded a 51-40 road upset of Geibel Catholic in the first round of the WPIAL Class 1A playoffs on Monday at Yough High School.

Eden Christian (9-13) is seeded No. 10 in the 12-team bracket, while Geibel (16-7) is seeded No. 7. The Warriors were led by Emmie Smith (15) and Ella D’Ippolito (12).

Geibel’s Emma Larkin, who ranked second in the WPIAL in scoring during the regular season, led all scorers with 27 points.

Eden Christian will make its fourth consecutive appearance in the quarterfinals on Thursday against No. 2 seed Aquinas Academy (15-6).

Also in WPIAL Class 1A

Monessen 63, Leechburg 15: The No. 5 seeded Greyhounds (18-5) outscored the Blue Devils (8-11), 21-0 in the first quarter, and 22-6 in the second quarter, then put it in cruise control in the second half.

Monessen advances to the quarterfinals for the third straight year. The Greyhounds were led by Hailey Johnson (15), Madison Johnson (13) and Na’Jaziah Carter (11).

West Greene 55, Jeannette 33: The No. 8 seeded Pioneers (10-13) outscored the Jayhawks (8-10), 173, in the first quarter and rolled to an easy home victory.

Kendra Tharp topped West Greene with 13 points, while Kasie Meek contributed 11. Jeannette’s Adriana Allison topped all scorers with 25 points.

Bishop Canevin 53, Mapletown 17: Amari Elliott scored 17 points and Isabella Sysak chipped in 13 as the No. 6 seeded Crusaders (7-13) dominated the visiting Maples (6-15) to advance to the quarterfinals for the fourth consecutive year. Isabella Garnek led the Maples with 10 points.