Tiernan McCullough came out on fire Monday night, scoring 12 first-quarter points on the way to a game-high 32 to help Our Lady of the Sacred Heart open play in the WPIAL Class 2A boys basketball tournament with a 64-37 victory over Clairton at Cornell High School.
The victory boosted the sixth-seeded Chargers’ record to 18-5 going into their quarterfinal-round matchup Thursday against No. 3 seed Jeannette.
The Jayhawks crushed Brentwood, 91-42, Monday night to improve to 20-2.
The time and location of Thursday’s game will be determined later.
OLSH jumped to a 25-11 first-quarter lead, as McCullough and Jake Johnson combined for 18 points in the opening eight minutes.
“We just hit some baskets early and got up on them,” OLSH coach Mike Rodriguez said after the game. “We played well defensively to open up the game.”
The Chargers remained hot in the second quarter, with McCullough scoring nine more points and Johnson adding five to help increase the OLSH lead to 43-18 at halftime.
Johnson finished with 16 points for OLSH, which connected on seven 3-pointers. Clairton, the tournament’s No. 11 seed, was led by Michael Ruffin’s seven points.
The Chargers figure to have their hands full with Jeannette. The Jayhawks, who led by just six points after one quarter Monday night, outscored Brentwood 21-7 in the second quarter and 26-11 in the third to put the game completely out of reach.
“Jeannette is really good,” Rodriguez said of his team’s next opponent. “They’re very athletic and tough defensively.”
Five players scored at least 11 points for Jeannette, led by Kymone Brown’s 20 and Markus McGowan’s 18.
GIRLS: Bishop Canevin 45, Springdale 12
Isabella Sysak poured in 19 points and Kya Cooley contributed 12 as the Crusaders easily won their opening-round game in the Class 1A girls tournament.
Bishop Canevin, seeded one notch below Sprindgale at No. 9, jumped out to a 14-2 lead after one quarter and the outcome was never in doubt thereafter.
The Crusaders, who improved to 12-9 overall, now face the tall task of taking on No. 1 seeded Union Thursday night at Union at a time to be determined.
The Scotties enter the tournament with a perfect 22-0 overall record after blitzing their way through Section 1 with a spotless 14-0 mark.
In Monday night’s win over Springdale, Bishop Canevin took a 14-2 first-quarter lead, then extended that to 29-7 at halftime. The Crusaders then outscored the Dynamos 17-5 in the final two quarters.
Sysak scored 13 of her points in the first half and Cooley netted eight of her 12 in the first two quarters for Bishop Canevin.
Crusaders coach Rob Travis liked what he saw of his squad.
“We played very good team defense,” he said. “We were able to jump passing lanes and get out in transition for some easy buckets.”
Alexis Summers also played a key role for Bishop Canevin, scoring eight points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
Springdale, led by Sage Joilet’s five points, dropped to 11-13 overall.
As for Thursday night’s quarterfinal matchup, Travis said he’s familiar with Union, as the Scotties and Crusaders played in the same section for years.
“They are not as deep as they have been in the past, but still talented,” he said. “If we can continue to play solid defense like we have all year, we have a shot.”
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