Going for the gold

Laurel upsets Washington in 3A to highlight a busy night of WPIAL playoff action.

The WPIAL’s version of March Madness produced one of those popular 12-5 upsets Thursday.

Laurel, the No. 12 seed, raced to a big first-quarter lead and held on to defeat No. 5 Washington, 61-54, in a Class 3A first-round game.

Laurel (12-10) advances to the quarterfinals for just the second time in school history. The Spartans previously did it in 1981.

The Haswell twins, Sam (22 points) and Marcus (11), were among four players scoring in double figures for the visiting Spartans.

Brandon Patterson scored 18 points for Washington (125), which was outscored, 215, in the opening quarter.

Other Class 3A South Allegheny 75, Ligonier Valley 36:

Antonio Epps scored 20 points and his brother Bryce added 12 to push No. 1 South Allegheny (15-4) to a victory. The Gladiators led, 38-15, at the half.

Neshannock 63, McGuffey 26:

Johnpaul Mozzocio knocked down six 3-pointers among his 20 points to lead No. 2 Neshannock (16-1) to the convincing win against McGuffey (10-7). Neshannock led, 15-2, after one quarter.

Shady Side Academy 55, Apollo-Ridge 46:

It was a balancing act for the No. 3seeded Bulldogs (14-2), who had five players score between 12 and eight points in a win against Apollo-Ridge (10-6). Alex Kramer led the

Bulldogs with 12 points.

Aliquippa 72, New Brighton 42:

Aliquippa ( 11- 5) trailed by a point after one quarter, but went on to throttle section rival New Brighton (8-10). De’Aundre Moye was one of three players with 13 points for the Quips.

Elwood City 58, Avonworth 53:

Ellwood City (11-4), the No. 11 seed, earned its first quarterfinal berth since 1998 by upsetting No. 6 Avonworth (12-5). Alex Roth led the Wolverines with 16 points and brother Joe had 13.

Beaver Falls 61, Charleroi 47:

Mike Conley scored 15 points and Jye McKenzie 12 to push Beaver Falls (10-4) past Charleroi (12-6). Will Wagner led the Cougars with 21 points and Zach Usher added 19.

Seton LaSalle 53, Brentwood 44:

Emmett Harris’ 17 points vaulted No. 9 Seton LaSalle (9-8) to a win at No. 8 Brentwood (9-6). The Rebels outscored Brentwood, 19-11, in the fourth quarter.

Class 4A Belle Vernon 80, Freeport 49:

Freshman Quinton Martin (25 points) and Daniel Gordon (22) both tallied career highs as No. 1 Belle Vernon (12-1) routed Freeport (6-9). The Leopards also got 23 from Devin Whitlock.

Lincoln Park 63, Knoch 46:

No. 2 Lincoln Park (15-5) jumped to a 43-17 halftime lead and coasted to the win against Knoch (7-10). L.A. Pratt scored 10 of his 15 points in the first quarter for the Leopards. Knoch’s Ryan Lang had 19.

Montour 55, Beaver 36:

Vason Stevenson’s gamehigh 17 points helped No. 3 Montour (13-7) topple section foe Beaver (2-17). The Spartans held Beaver to 10 points in the first half.

Quaker Valley 64, Derry 35:

Markus Frank (18 points) and Jack Gardiner (16) led a group of four players in double figures for Quaker Valley (13-4), which had little difficulty eliminating Derry (6-7).

North Catholic 73, Mount Pleasant 47:

Andrew Ammerman poured in 30 points and Connor Maddalon chipped in 16 to help North Catholic (164) cruise past Mount Pleasant (9-9).

Central Valley 51, Burrell 37:

After holding a two-point halftime lead, Central Valley (11-5) outscored Burrell (9-10), 15-6, in the third quarter on its way to the win. Brandon Graham paced the Warriors with 22 points.

Deer Lakes 53, Elizabeth Forward 21:

No. 10 Deer Lakes (10-3) rolled to the surprising lopsided win against No. 7 Elizabeth Forward (8-5). Bryce Robson scored 22 points for the Lancers, who led, 28-10, at the half.

South Park 90, Ambridge 72:

Aidan Rongaus led an offensive outburst by scoring 30 points, as South Park (95) advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2004 after outlasting Ambridge (4-10). Ambridge’s Damon Astorino scored 24 and Enire Bowens had 21.