Seniors fuel Quakers’ big rally
Top team in 4A stays perfect with win vs. Class 5A No. 4 Highlands
Quaker Valley will be one of only four WPIAL boys basketball teams to take an undefeated record into the final two weeks of the season. But it took a big comeback by the Quakers on Saturday to remain perfect.
Quaker Valley overcame a 19-point first-half deficit to defeat Highlands, 83-75, in the Pittsburgh Basketball Club Classic at Montour. Quaker Valley, the Post-Gazette’s No. 1 WPIAL Class 4A team, is now 14-0.
Highlands (12-5), the No. 4 team in Class 5A, held a 28-14 advantage after the first quarter and opened up a 19-point lead in the second quarter. The Rams led at halftime, 43-31.
Quaker Valley came back in the second half behind the play of seniors Adou Thiero and Markus Frank. Thiero and Frank, who both stand 6 feet 6, were a potent one-two punch as Thiero scored 40 and Frank 26. Thiero’s basket with 2:13 left gave Quaker Valley the lead for good at 7473.
“It was just a fantastic game,” Quaker Valley coach Mike Mastroianni said. “To Highlands’ credit, they punched us really hard and we didn’t really react. … Markus and Adou, we expect those things, and they stepped up and made senior plays. We definitely lost the first-half fight, but we won the second-half fight.”
Other games
• Jake DiMichele had the best scoring game in the WPIAL this season and the Our Lady of the Sacred boys (14-0) ran their WPIAL record winning streak to 54 games with an 81-54 victory against Shady Side Academy (11-5) at the Pittsburgh Basketball Club Classic. DiMichele, a senior who averages better than 30 points, poured in 51. Shady Side Academy trailed by only eight, 37-29, at halftime.
• Allderdice (11-6), the No. 1 team in the City League, squeaked by visiting Mt. Lebanon (10-7), 39-38, in a nonleague game. Sam Kelly had 14 points for Allderdice. The teams combined for only 28 points in the second half.
• The Mt. Lebanon girls ran their record to 17-0 with a 59-28 victory against visiting Cumberland Valley in a nonleague game. Ashleigh Connor had 25 for Mt. Lebanon. Cumberland Valley (13-3) was a PIAA semifinalist a year ago.