Makenna Stewart scored 17 points and visiting Mohawk withstood a late Sto-Rox rally to edge the Vikings, 39-37, Thursday night in a WPIAL Class 3A Section 1 girls basketball game.
Gianna Pezzuolo added 12 points for Mohawk, which led 23-19 at halftime and 32-27 going into the final quarter.
Sto-Rox cut the lead to three points with a little over 3 minutes remaining, but the Vikings missed a pair of shots from close range and Mohawk converted at the other end to widen the lead to five points at 38-33 with 3:23 left.
Sto-Rox clawed back on layups by Allie Dotson and Brooklyn Sykes, the latter of which cut the Mohawk lead to 38-37 with 1:48 remaining.
Mohawk ended up with the ball with 14.7 seconds to play and after inbounding, Sto-Rox’s Rae Johnston came up with a steal but as she was sailing out of bounds, her save ended up in the hands of Pezzuolo, who made one of two free throws with 6.4 seconds left to make it 39-37.
Sto-Rox inbounded the ball for one last shot, but a pass downcourt resulted in a turnover as time expired.
Sykes led Sto-Rox with 13 points, six of which came in the final quarter, while Dotson finished with 12 and Johnston 10 for the Vikings, who fell to 5-4 and 1-2 in section play.
Sto-Rox coach Jeff Stuart said he had no complaints with the effort of the players who saw action Thursday night.
“The ones who were out on the court played their butts off,” he said. “It was a good battle.”
He praised the play of point guard Johnston, whom he called the team leader. “She’ll give you 150%,” he said. “She leaves it out on the court. I’m proud of her – if it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t have the wins we do have.”
Sto-Rox will be among three West Hills schools playing in the Ambridge Hall of Fame Classic Saturday at Ambridge High School. The Vikings will take on the host Bridgers at 10 a.m. in the main gym while Our Lady of the Sacred Heart meets Hopewell at 1 p.m. on the same floor and Montour battles Allderdice at 10 a.m. at the fieldhouse.
Geibel Catholic 61, Bishop Canevin 51
Emma Larkin poured in 34 points and the Gators withstood a second-half rally by the visiting Crusaders to secure a win in a Class 1A Section 2 matchup.
Larkin scored 22 of her points in the first half to help the Gators build a 43-29 lead at intermission. Bishop Canevin stayed with Geibel in the first quarter and trailed by just four going into the second quarter. But the Gators outscored the Crusaders 20-10 in the second period.
Bishop Canevin coach Rob Travis said his team switched up its defense in the second half and limited Larkin to 12 points in the final two quarters.
“We cut the lead to seven,” Travis said, “but we couldn’t close it out.”
Kya Cooley scored 15 points to lead Bishop Canevin, which fell to 5-3 overall and 1-2 in section play. Isabella Sysak added 12 points for the Crusaders and Natalie Kirsch contributed nine.
Mallory Clemmer backed up Larkin with 14 points.
South Fayette 55, Montour 23
Ryan Oldaker scored 16 points and Haylie Lamonde contributed 14 as the Lions built a big first-half lead on the way to beating the host Spartans in a Class 5A Section 3 matchup.
South Fayette led 12-6 after one quarter but outscored Montour by 15 points – 19-4 – in the second quarter to take a commanding 31-10 lead at halftime. The game never got closer as the Lions extended their lead to 46-14 heading into the final quarter.
Abby Cleary scored eight points to lead Montour, which dropped to 4-3 overall and 1-2 in section play.
Montour coach Jordan Giles said South Fayette is a strong, solid team. “I think we let them dictate too much for us, but it was definitely a learning experience,” she said. “We look to take certain aspects from tonight and grow from it.”
Fort Cherry 66, Carlynton 18
The Rangers used a balanced scoring attack, with four players totaling at least 10 points, to overwhelm the visiting Cougars in a Class 2A Section 2 opener for both teams.
Gianna Bianchini scored 14 points to lead the winners while Brooke Cornali added 11. Isabella Bianchini and Allison Litman each scored 10 for the Rangers.
Carlynton fell to 3-4 overall and 0-1 in section play.
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