Derry Area wins its first in postseason

Trojans top Southmoreland, 64-39

There was a first-time event in the gym Monday night at Derry Area High School. The Derry boys basketball team won a WPIAL playoff game.

Derry crushed visiting Southmoreland, 64-39, in a WPIAL Class 4A preliminaryround playoff game.

Since Derry Township and Derry Boro merged to form Derry Area in 1957, Derry had been 0-8 in WPIAL playoff games. The WPIAL’s open tournament format this season gave Derry (6-6) a much easier draw in the preliminary round and the Trojans took advantage against a Southmoreland team that came in with a 2-16 record. Sam Jones had 17 points and 6 rebounds for Derry and Josh Ulery added 14 points and 5 assists.

More Class 4A games

Freeport 65, Blackhawk 64: Freeport (6-8) went on the road and got its first playoff victory since 2010. Cole Charlton made two free throws with 6.2 seconds left to provide the winning points in the preliminary- round game. Vinnie Clark led Freeport with 18 and Ryan McClymonds had 19 for Blackhawk (6-7).

Beaver 62, Unionown 56:

Tyler Ziggas’ 15 points helped Beaver (2-16) win for only the second time this season. A key was free-throw shooting in the fourth quarter. Beaver made 12 of 18 in the final eight minutes while Uniontown (6-10) made only 4 of 11.

Mount Pleasant 61, Hopewell 34: Host Mount Pleasant (9-8) held Hopewell ( 1- 15) to eight first- half points in an easy win.

Knoch 75, Yough 35:

Ryan Lang had 31 points as Knoch (7-9) knocked Yough (3-13) out of playoffs.

Class 3A

McGuffey 64, Mohawk 35: Ethan Janovich poured in 26 points in this preliminaryround game to help host

McGuffey (10-6) win a postseason game for only the second time in school history. Mohawk (3-20) actually led, 12-11, after the first quarter.

New Brighton 70, Waynesburg 50: The visiting Lions (8-9) jumped to a 16-2 first-quarter lead and breezed to their first playoff win in 11 years. Jo Jo Reynolds, the 17th-leading scorer in the WPIAL, scored 23 points for New Brighton. Waynesburg finished 2-16.

Apollo-Ridge 64, BethCenter 46: Apollo-Ridge (105) made 11 3-pointers in turning back the Bulldogs (511). Jake Fello led ApolloRidge with 20 points.

Ligonier Valley 80, Brownsville 41: Ligonier Valley’s first WPIAL postseason contest in 76 years went well as Matt Marinchak had a big game to lead the Rams (510) to an easy win. Marinchak made six 3-pointers and scored 30 points. Brownsville (4-10) actually led, 14-13, after the first, but Ligonier Valley outscored the Falcons, 30-8, in the second. Ligonier Valley returned to the WPIAL this school year after leaving for District 6 in 1969. Before 1969, Ligonier Valley had seven WPIAL playoff wins in 1941, 1942 and 1945.

Laurel 77, East Allegheny 57: The Haswell twin brothers, who each went over 1,000 career points this year, were their usual highscoring selves, but Bobby Dicks (20 points) also had a big game to help Laurel (1110) turn back East Allegheny (1-13). Sam Haswell had 23 and Marcus Haswell 18.

Ellwood City 72, Valley 20: Freshman Joseph Roth scored 33 points as Ellwood City (10-4) won a playoff game for only the second time in the 2000s. Valley finished 1-13.

Charleroi 61, Steel Valley 44: Will Wagner scored 29 points, including three 3pointers, as Charleroi (12-5) stopped Steel Valley, which finished winless in only six games this season.