Maria Depner exploded for 25 points and the Moon Area girls basketball team overcame an early deficit to defeat West Allegheny, 53-49, Monday night in a WPIAL Class 5A Section 3 game at Moon.
The Tigers found themselves on the short end of a 16-9 score after the opening eight minutes of play, but they outscored the Indians 16-12 in the second quarter to trim the deficit to 28-25 at halftime.
Depner accounted for 10 of the Tigers’ 16 second-quarter points.
Depner stayed hot after the halftime break, as she poured in 11 third-quarter points to help Moon outscore West Allegheny 15-11 and take a 40-39 lead heading into the final eight minutes. The Tigers used a 13-10 edge in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
Jaedin Griggs, Anya Schwartz and Adriana D’Alesio each scored seven points for Moon, which improved to 11-7 overall and 6-5 in the section. The Tigers already locked up a spot in the WPIAL tournament.
Moon coach Mark Pompeo found plenty to like about his team’s effort.
“The players became more connected as the game went on,” he said. “We ended up having seven players scoring. And Maria Depner’s effort was tremendous tonight.”
Moon closes out its section schedule Thursday at Montour and will play its final regular-season game Monday, Feb. 10, at home against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 64, New Brighton 4
Claudia Ierullo scored a game-high 22 points and the Chargers emptied their bench on the way to an easy win over the Lions in a Class 3A Section 1 game at New Brighton.
With the one-sided victory, OLSH improved to 18-2 overall and 13-0 in section play. The Chargers already locked up the section title, their first outright championship since 2020.
OLSH put Monday night’s game away in a hurry, racing to a 25-4 lead after one quarter and then holding the Lions scoreless the rest of the way.
Cayleona Anderson scored all four of New Brighton’s points.
Avella 45, Bishop Canevin 39
Syd Strope scored 17 points and the Eagles held the Crusaders to 12 second-half points in a Class 1A Section 2 meeting at Bishop Canevin.
Ava Frank added 14 points for Avella, which trailed 27-23 at halftime but outscored the Crusaders 22-12 in the second half.
Kya Cooley scored 20 points to lead Bishop Canevin, which fell to 10-8 overall and 5-7 in the section. Isabella Sysak contributed 11 points for Crusaders, which already clinched a spot in the WPIAL tournament.
South Side 42, Carlynton 8
The Rams ruined Senior Night for the Cougars, jumping to a 13-0 lead after one quarter and cruising to the win in a Class 2A Section 2 game.
South Side increased its lead to 32-2 at halftime and held Carlynton to six second-half points to improve to 8-1 in section play and 15-5 overall.
Carlynton fell to 2-7 in the section and 8-11 overall with only one game remaining – Thursday at Burgettstown.
Riverside 54, Sto-Rox 34
Emma Stockman and Emma Meyers each scored 13 points to power the Panthers past the Vikings in a Class 3A Section 1 game.
Meyers scored five first-quarter points to help Riverside build an 18-5 lead, and the Panthers extended that advantage to 30-11 at halftime.
Sto-Rox came to life in the third quarter, outscoring Riverside 19-12. The Vikings connected on five 3-pointers in the quarter, with Rae Johnston and Kamiyah Thompson each accounting for two and Kelsie Arlotta one.
Johnston led the Vikings with 16 points while Thompson and Arlotta finished with eight points apiece.
Sto-Rox dropped to 7-13 overall and 2-11 in section play with one game remaining – at Beaver Falls Thursday.
Photos by Mike Longo Jr.
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