Quips respond to earn another semifinal trip
Redbank Valley made a run at Aliquippa in the third quarter of Saturday’s PIAA Class 2A quarterfinal, but Aliquippa pushed back the Bulldogs and ended up with another trip to the PIAA semifinals.
Aliquippa defeated Redbank Valley 68- 44 at Slippery Rock University. Sophomore guard Josh Pratt led the Quips with a game- high 25 points.
The win puts the Quips ( 245) into the semifinals for the third consecutive season and 11th time since 2000. They will play Tuesday against Fort Cherry, which defeated Jeannette by 70- 60 in another quarterfinal Saturday.
Aliquippa jumped to an 18- 7 lead in the first quarter and was ahead, 22- 10, after the first eight minutes. The Quips led by 34- 24 at halftime, but Redbank Valley ( 24- 4), the District 9 champion, made a comeback and cut the deficit to 40- 35 in the third. Then the Quips stepped on the gas and pulled away.
Besides Pratt’s 25 points, Tikey Hayes and Cam Lindsey had 11 apiece.
Class 6A
Central York 71, Upper St. Clair 60: Upper St. Clair had a sluggish first half, falling behind by 16 points after the second quarter. Although the Panthers made a comeback in the second half, they eventually fell to Central York at Altoona. Upper St. Clair, the WPIAL champ, finished the season 22- 6. Central York ( 23- 4), the No. 5 team from District 3, led by 34- 18 at halftime.
“We couldn’t make shots in the first half and they were a really talented team. They have three guys getting Division I or II college looks,” Upper St. Clair coach Danny Holzer said. “In the second half, we started making shots and really defended well. We forced them to take tough shots. We cut it to five with a little more than a minute left, but couldn’t get a key stop down the stretch.
“But I’m really proud of our team. We were WPIAL champs and have everyone back next season, except for two seniors.”
Ben Natal scored 19 to lead Central York. Tyler Robbins had 16 for Upper St. Clair and Peja
Strobl 14.
Class 3A
Franklin 83, Deer Lakes 66: Two- time WPIAL champ Deer Lakes ( 23- 5) saw its season end with a loss to Franklin ( 226) at Slippery Rock University. Franklin led by 20- 10 at halftime and by 39- 24 at halftime and Deer Lakes could never recover.
Girard 70, Mohawk 50: Girard ( 26- 2) limited Mohawk’s top two scorers to 13 total points and breezed to the win at Slippery Rock. Mohawk’s Bobby Fadden, who averages more than 20 a game, was held to eight and Jay Wrona had only five. Drew Wrona led Mohawk ( 20- 9) with 15 points. Gerenia Dell’Omo paced Girard with 21.