Wolverines defeat Indians
A couple of the best scorers in the WPIAL were on the same court when Woodland Hills and West Allegheny clashed in a WPIAL Class 5A first-round playoff game played at Mt. Lebanon.
The Wolverines’ Keandre Bowles led the WPIAL in scoring in the regular season with an average of 29.4 points per game. The Indians’ Jackson Faulk scored at a clip of 20.8 points per game.
Just like the regular season, Bowles scored a little more. So did his team.
Woodland Hills downed West Allegheny, 69-60, to advance to the next round.
Bowles poured in a gamehigh 34 points and Markiefe added 22 more to go with nine rebounds. Woodland Hills (18-5) made more than half of its field goal attempts, going 26 of 48 from the floor. Bowles was 13 of 21 from the field and made 7 of 10 free-throw attempts. He had a big second quarter with 13 points.
Faulk had 26 for the Indians (9-14). West Allegheny also shot well, connecting on 24 of 58 shots.
More Class 5A
First-year head coach Brandon Sensor led Chartiers Valley back to the playoffs and his Colts (17-5) defeated Albert Gallatin, 6851, at Peters Township to advance. Joe Pipilo led the scoring with 19 points. Jared Goldstrom drilled five 3pointers and finished with 18.
Nate English and Tyrese Jackson had 14 apiece for Albert Gallatin (5-15).
Sensor got the coaching job after Tim McConnell took over the CV girls team. In his 25 years as the boys coach, McConnell won 552 games and six WPIAL titles. However, last season was the first time during McConnell’s reign that the Colts did not make the playoffs.
Montour took over in the second half and picked up a 60-44 win against Hampton (12-10) at North Allegheny. The Spartans (15-8) raced to a 31-18 advantage in the second half. James Eubanks led all scorers with 21 points for Montour.
A 23-point burst in the second quarter helped Franklin Regional (17-6) pull away from Thomas Jefferson (11-11), 66-41, at Norwin. Nick Leopold had 15 points and made a trio of 3-pointers. Leopold was one of four Franklin Regional players in double figures.