The Moon Area Tigers hit their offensive stride in the second half and pulled away for a 75-59 victory over visiting Penn-Trafford Wednesday night in the battle for seventh place in the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball tournament.
The fifth-seeded Tigers, coming off back-to-back tournament losses to Chartiers Valley and Greater Latrobe, couldn’t shake the Warriors for the first 16 minutes and led just 34-33 at halftime.
Penn-Trafford was aided by a pair of buzzer-beating 3-pointers at the ends of both the first and second quarters, with the first one coming from well beyond midcourt.
But Moon kept its composure in the third quarter and used a 17-7 run to establish a 51-40 lead midway through the quarter.
The Warriors would never get closer, as the Tigers finished the quarter with a 58-46 lead.
Moon ended all suspense during the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, going on a 12-2 run to widen its lead to 71-48 with 4 minutes to play in the game.
Carter Tumulty scored 20 points to lead the Tigers while Michael Santicola contributed 18. Also playing key roles were Amir Turner and Braeden Stuart, each of whom finished with 12 points.
“We had four guys in double figures,” Moon coach Gino Palmosina said after the game. “That will be important for us going forward.”
By virtue of their seventh-place finish, the Tigers – now 19-7 — will advance to the PIAA Tournament, which gets underway next week. Moon will play the winner of Friday night’s Meadville-Greater Johnstown sub-regional game in the opening round of PIAA action.
Greensburg Central Catholic 57, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 40
Liam Gallagher scored a game-high 20 points and the Centurions built a 12-point halftime lead on the way to a win over the visiting Chargers in the Class 2A fifth-place game.
Greensburg Central Catholic, entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed but was upended by Union in the quarterfinals, improved to 23-3 with the win.
The Centurions used Gallagher’s 10 points to build an 18-11 lead after one quarter, and they limited OLSH to just seven second-quarter points in taking a 30-18 lead at halftime.
Sixth-seeded OLSH, which lost its third straight tournament game, got untracked offensively in the third quarter and scored 17 points, with Austin Avsec accounting for seven. But Greensburg Central Catholic more than kept pace, scoring 19 in the quarter to take a 49-35 lead into the final eight minutes, and the Centurions remained in control the rest of the way.
Tiernan McCullough led OLSH with 12 points and Avsec finished with 10. Jake Johnson, who averaged nearly 16 points a game to lead OLSH in scoring during the regular season, finished with just two.
A.J. Tarpley added 15 points for the winners and Samir Crosby added 11.
OLSH, now 19-7, will advance to the first round of the PIAA Tournament, which starts next week.
GIRLS: St. Joseph 56, Bishop Canevin 45
Gia Richter led a balanced attack with 18 points as the sixth-seeded Spartans downed the Crusaders in the Class 1A fifth-place game.
The loss dropped Bishop Canevin’s record to 13-11, but the ninth-seeded Crusaders’ season will continue in the PIAA Tournament, which gets underway next week.
St. Joseph led by just one point, 12-11, after one quarter but a 15-10 second-quarter advantage gave the Spartans a 27-21 halftime lead.
St. Joseph finished the third quarter leading 40-31 and maintained its lead through the final eight minutes.
Bishop Canevin coach Rob Travis said his team settled for too many 3-point attempts.
“When we attacked the basket, good things happened for us,” he said. “We also struggled from the foul line.
“St. Joe’s was the better team tonight.”
Jocelyn Spinelli contributed 13 points in the win for St. Joseph while Bella Bartolovic added 12 and Kasey Cienik 10.
Kya Cooley led Bishop Canevin with 17 points and Isabella Sysak finished with 12.
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