West Hills high school spring sports are in progress, showcasing notable performances. The Carlynton Cougars baseball team rallied for an 8-7 win over McKeesport, highlighted by pitcher Ray Filipovitz's debut. Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, meanwhile, dropped a tough one Friday to Quaker Valley. Action also got underway in softball, boys tennis, boys volleyball and girls rugby.
West Hills teams had mixed results Friday night in the opening round of the PIAA Basketball Tournament. Montour boys won against Milton Hershey, 68-49, while Moon Area lost to Greater Johnstown, 60-53, ending its season. In girls Class 3A, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart triumphed over Seneca, 53-44.
Six West Hills area boys and girls basketball teams are set to open play in the PIAA Tournament, with three teams seeing action Friday night and three more entering the fray Saturday.
Six boys and two girls from West Hills area schools qualified for the PIAA Wrestling Championships March 6-8 by virtue of their performances at various regional tournaments that concluded Saturday. Two girls -- Kristen Walzer of Montour and Haley Smarsh of Moon -- both came home with gold medals.
Two West Hills area competitors -- Moon Area's Madison Puthoff and Cornell's Noah Pickett each collected a pair of two-five individual finishes at the WPIAL Swimming and Diving Championships, which concluded Friday at the University of Pittsburgh.
The Montour boys basketball team rebounded from Tuesday's loss to Chartiers Valley to beat Mars in the WPIAL Class 5A third-place game Thursday night. In Class 3A play, Bishop Canevin lost to Mohawk, 70-64, in the battle for third place.
The Moon Area boys basketball team used a big second half to pull away from Penn-Trafford in the battle for seventh place in the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball tournament. The OLSH boys and Bishop Canevin girls both came up short in their fifth-place games.