West Hills area teams went two for three Friday night in the opening round of the PIAA Basketball Tournament.
In boys Class 5A action, Montour got 28 points from Kaleb Platz – including four 3-pointers — to whip Milton Hershey, 68-49, on the Spartans home court while Moon Area fell 60-53 to host Greater Johnston.
In girls Class 3A play, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart built a big first-half lead and held on to beat Seneca, 53-44, at Sewickley Academy.
Montour’s victory means the Spartans will collide with section foe Chartiers Valley in Tuesday’s second round at a site and time to be determined. Chartiers Valley knocked off Montour in the semifinals of the WPIAL Tournament and went on to win the WPIAL Class 5A title.
Moon, meanwhile, saw its season come to an end Friday night with a 19-8 record.
OLSH’s girls will advance to take on Greensburg Central Catholic in Tuesday’s second round at a time and place to be determined. The Chargers fell to the Centurions in the semifinals of the WPIAL tournament before going on to finish third.
In Montour’s win, the Spartans led just 15-12 after one quarter. But they changed their defensive tactics in the second quarter, and that sparked a 25-12 run that resulted in a 40-24 halftime lead, tipping the game in Montour’s favor.
Montour coach Bill Minear, whose team improved to 25-2, said it was difficult to know what to expect when playing a team he’d never seen in person.
“But we thought that if we could change the pace of the way they played, it would favor of us,” he said. “We use a lot of different presses in the second quarter and were able to outscore them, and that gave us enough separation.
“In the second half, we were methodical in the way we ran our offense. We got the shots we wanted and controlled the pace of the game that way.”
Milton Hershey fielded a big lineup, with their guards standing around 6-foot-2 and a frontcourt that featured players who stood 6-7 and 6-4. The size didn’t prove to be a factor, though.
“They got some baskets inside, but we made them use clock to get them, and we were able to manage the lead the rest of the way,” Minear said.
In addition to Platz’s 28 points, the Spartans got 13 points from 6-11 Ama Sow and 10 each from Trey Hopper and Colton Straight.
That puts the Spartans into Tuesday’s second round against Chartiers Valley, which whipped Cocalico, 62-29, in its tournament opener Friday night.
Montour defeated the Colts twice during the regular season but fell 47-44 in the WPIAL semifinals as Chartiers Valley overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to win.
Minear said he was planning to watch that game again Saturday but thought the difference in the outcome was simply that his team “did some uncharacteristic things.”
“We committed some unforced turnovers that we normally never have,” he said. “We won 17 in a row coming into that game and usually down the stretch in all our games, we executed really well when the games were close. I didn’t think in that game we executed well at all.
“To Chartiers Valley’s credit, they took us out of some things and they hit some big shots.”
Minear said he believes Chartiers Valley has gotten better as the season has gone along, and some of their younger players have gotten more used to playing with standout guard Jayden Davis. “And their defense has improved since we played them the first two times,” Minear said of Chartiers Valley.
Montour, meanwhile, still has room to improve, Minnear said.
“I still believe we haven’t played our best game,” he said. “As the season goes along, you hope you peak at the very right time. But I do not believe we’ve played our very best yet.”
GIRLS: Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 53, Seneca 44
The Chargers held the Bobcats to two first-quarter points and 10 in the first two quarters combined, and that went a long way toward securing their opening-round tournament victory.
OLSH used a balanced offensive attack, with three players scoring in double figures to improve to 23-4 on the season.
Claudia Ierullo led the way with 14 points while Lola Garner contributed 13 and Leah Parker 12.
OLSH coach Don Eckerle said Seneca’s game plan was to shut down Ierullo, but the Chargers short-circuited that plan as Parker scored eight points while Garner and Sara Daeschner each scored six in the first half.
Eckerle also praised his team’s defensive effort.
“We shut down Seneca’s offense with only two players scoring in the first half,” he said. “That enabled us to get a nice cushion in the first half.”
Seneca, led by Haylee Farrell’s 15 points, outscored the Chargers 19-16 in the third quarter, trimming OLSH’s lead to 38-29, but the Chargers maintained a lead the rest of the way.
Eckerle said Libby Gallick had a fine third quarter, scoring five key points, while Garner added five and Ierullo four.
Seneca pulled to within four points in the final quarter, but Daeschner hit much-needed 3-pointer, and Ierullo and Parker converted a combined seven free throws in the last two minutes to seal the victory.
That puts the Chargers in a familiar position – facing off against Greensburg Central Catholic for the third time this season.
The Centurions won a regular-season matchup, 40-30, before beating the Chargers, 41-18, in the WPIAL semifinals Feb. 22.
Greensburg Central Catholic went on to beat Shady Side Academy, 56-51, in the WPIAL championship game while OLSH wound up winning the third-place game, 62-31, over Ellwood City.
BOYS: Greater Johnstown 60, Moon Area 53
Donte Tisinger poured in 21 of his 33 points in the second half, including 15 in the final quarter, to lead the Trojans to a first-round win over the Tigers at Johnstown.
The loss ended Moon’s season and left the Tigers with a 19-8 record.
The game was tight most of the way, with the two teams battling to a 27-27 halftime deadlock. Moon used a 13-4 run during the final five minutes of the second quarter to erase a nine-point deficit and pull even.
The Tigers took a brief four-point lead two minutes into the third quarter before the Trojans outscored them 14-8 the rest of that quarter and led 41-39 going into the final eight minutes.
Tisinger came alive in the fourth quarter, scoring 15 points and hitting several key baskets as Greater Johnstown scored eight straight points to pull away from a 41-41 tie midway through the period.
Moon answered with a basket and had a chance to cut into the lead even more when a questionable out-of-bounds call gave the Trojans possession with 2 minutes, 50 seconds remaining and a six-point lead.
Greater Johnston’s Dom Alberter buried a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession, and after a Moon turnover, Tisinger converted a three-point play to widen Greater Johnstown’s lead to 55-43.
That, for all intents and purposes, ended the game, although the Tigers continued to battle down to the final horn.
“We just couldn’t finish in the fourth quarter,” Moon coach Gino Palmosina said after the game. “They made more plays in crucial times than we did.”
Michael Santicola scored 13 points to lead Moon and Carter Tumulty and Braeden Stuart each contributed 10.
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