By: Chris Harlan 
Monday, April 26, 2021 | 1:00 PM

North Allegheny’s Lizzy Groetsch and Chartiers Valley’s Aislin Malcolm each added another statewide honor to their resumes.

Groetsch, a senior, and Malcolm, a junior, each earned Pennsylvania Player of the Year honors in their classifications when girls basketball all-state teams were announced Monday.

Groetsch was named the state’s top player in Class 6A. Malcolm won in 5A.

They were among 20 WPIAL players named all-state in a vote of sportswriters. Seven earned first-team honors: Groetsch, Malcolm, Bethel Park’s Olivia Westphal, Plum’s Kennedie Montue, Neshannock’s Mairan Haggerty, and Rochester teammates Corynne Hauser and Alexis Robison.

North Allegheny’s Spencer Stefko was named the top coach in Class 6A after the Tigers won WPIAL and PIAA titles.

Groetsch, a 5-foot-11 guard and Penn recruit, scored a game-high 24 points in the state championship game to defeat Spring-Ford, 55-40.

Malcolm, a 5-11 guard committed to Pitt, helped lead the Colts to a third consecutive WPIAL title and a PIAA runner-up finish. Chartiers Valley also set a state record this season for consecutive wins at 64 games.

Class 6A

First team

Talya Brugler, Nazareth, 6-1, Sr., 15.3

Lizzy Groetsch, North Allegheny, 5-11, Sr., 16.2

Julie Jekot, Cumberland Valley, 5-10, Sr., 15.9

Lucy Olsen, Spring-Ford, 5-9, Sr., 18.6

Ava Sciolla, Pennsbury, 5-11, Jr., 17.0

Olivia Westphal, Bethel Park, 5-9, Sr., 24.6

Second team

Lindsay Berger, Parkland, 6-2, Sr., 14.8

Emily Chmiel, Central Bucks East, 6-0, Sr., 16.2

Ashleigh Connor, Mt. Lebanon, 5-10, Jr., 21.7

Caroline Shiery, Central Dauphin, 6-3, Jr., 18.0

Emily Strunk, Stroudsburg, 6-2, Sr., 20.9

Third team

Jillian Jekot, Cumberland Valley, 5-11, Fr., 12.5

Anna McTamney, Plymouth-Whitemarsh, 5-10, Sr., 13.1

Paige Morningstar, North Allegheny, 6-1, Sr., 11.0

Grace O’Neill, Archbishop Carroll, 5-7, Jr., 12.8

Emina Selimovic, McDowell, 6-0, Sr., 13.8

Jasmine Timmerson, North Allegheny, 5-7, So., 11.0

Makiah Shaw, Red Lion, 6-0, Sr., 16.0

Player of the Year: Lizzy Groetsch, North Allegheny

Coach of the Year: Spencer Stefko, North Allegheny

Class 5A

First team

Anne Bair, Gettysburg, 5-7, Sr., 16.5

Maggie Doogan, Cardinal O’Hara, 6-2, Jr., 14.5

Talia Gilliard-Jackson, Mechanicsburg, 5-8, Sr., 14.7

Aislin Malcolm, Chartiers Valley, 5-11, Jr., 17.2

Kennedie Montue, Plum, 5-11, Sr., 23.6

Sydni Scott, Cardinal O’Hara, 5-7, Jr., 12.0

Second team

Laila Campbell, Spring Grove, 6-0, Fr., 15.9

Courtney Dahlquist, Trinity, 6-1, Sr., 17.4

Grace Niekelski, Mount St. Joseph, 6-0, Sr., 17.0

Perri Page, Chartiers Valley, 6-0, Jr., 15.2

Peyton Pinkney, Woodland Hills, 6-0, Sr., 15.0

Emma Ruhlman, Warren, 5-10, Jr., 14.7

Third team

Alexa Abbonizio, Springfield (Delco), 5-7, Sr., 13.9

Alexis Hess, Fleetwood, 6-0, So., 17.5

Maddie Knier, Manheim Central, 5-10, So., 21.2

Marin Miller, Hollidaysburg, 5-5, Jr., 24.5

Emma Theodorsson, Moon, 6-1, Jr., 18.0

Kourtney Wilson, Bethlehem Catholic, 5-9, Jr., 14.8

Player of the Year: Aislin Malcolm, Chartiers Valley

Coach of the Year: Chrissie Doogan, Cardinal O’Hara

Class 4A

First team

Ryanne Allen, Archbishop Wood, 6-0, Jr., 16.6

Anajah Brown, Baldwin (Philadelphia), 6-1, Sr., 17.4

Cecelia Collins, Scranton Prep, 6-1, Sr., 16.5

Moriah Murray, Dunmore, 5-9, Jr., 16.5

Kaitlyn Orihel, Archbishop Wood, 5-10, Sr., 16.1

Rachael Rose, Scranton Prep, 5-7, Sr., 16.5

Ciera Toomey, Dunmore, 6-3., So., 15.3

Second team

Gabby Casey, Lansdale Catholic, 5-9, So., 19.8

Taja Colbert, Bishop McDevitt (Harrisburg), 5-5, Sr., 20.9

Kaylie Griffin, Gwynedd Mercy, 5-8, Sr., 15.3

Gianna Hoddinott, Delone Catholic, 5-9, Jr., 16.5

Lily Seyfert, Wyomissing, 5-8, Sr., 17.5

Skyler Searfoss, Jim Thorpe, 5-9, Jr., 17.9

Third team

Carissa Dunham, Villa Maria (Erie), 5-7, Jr., 9.9

Jaida Parker, Tyrone, 5-9, Jr., 13.4

Emma Pavelek, Beaver, 5-8, Sr., 15.8

Ava Waid, Villa Maria (Erie), 5-6, Sr., 7.1

Corinne Washington, Quaker Valley, 5-11, Sr., 15.5

Player of the Year: Kaitlyn Orihel, Archbishop Wood

Coach of the Year: Mike McDonald, Archbishop Wood

By: Greg Macafee 
Friday, March 12, 2021 | 6:48 PM

The Beaver girls basketball team could’ve packed it in during the WPIAL Class 4A championship game Friday when they trailed section rival Quaker Valley early and things weren’t going their way.

But the Bobcats had been through too much.

The senior class had suffered a WPIAL championship loss on a buzzer-beater against North Catholic as freshmen. Then, they went through the pain all over again last season when they lost in the WPIAL Class 3A finals to Montour.

“I still think about it to this day, that buzzer-beater when I was a freshman,” Beaver senior guard Emma Pavelek said.

Add a worldwide pandemic to the mix and it seemed like the deck was stacked against them. But all year long, the Bobcats continued to grind, and the hard work paid off on the biggest stage.

After falling behind by five points at the end of the first quarter, the top-seeded Bobcats (20-0) held the No. 2 Quakers (15-5) to 15 points through the rest of the game and earned the first WPIAL championship in program history with a 45-29 win.

“The sweet is never sweet without the sour, and we were the epitome of sour two of the last three years, especially in 2018,” said Beaver coach Greg Huston, who won his 200th career game earlier this season. “That sour feeling made this feel way, way sweeter.”

The Bobcats didn’t control the game from the start, though. It was actually the newcomers, Quaker Valley, who threw the first punch.

After Beaver’s Anna Blum hit a 3-pointer to open up the game, Quaker Valley’s Lily Johns answered with one of her own. The Quakers took their first lead when a Claire Kuzma layup made it 6-5, and they built it up to 14-9 by the end of the frame.

At that point, Quaker Valley coach Tom Demko said he and the players were feeling confident.

“I thought we had opportunities and some good looks near the basket and we would come up with the ball,” Demko said. “We wanted to build that lead up in the first half especially.”

It didn’t go that way for the Quakers, though. Early on in the second quarter, a pair of free throws from Pavelek, who led the Bobcats with 13 points, sparked an 18-1 run that stretched until the end of the third quarter.

A Payton List free throw tied the game at 17 and moments later, senior Madison Weiland scored two of her nine points to put the Bobcats ahead for good.

Beaver scored 14 points in the second quarter and held the Quakers scoreless in the third while scoring 14 more.

“That was just a remarkable effort by this group of girls, and they have the skill to do that, but it’s really about the heart they have,” Huston said. “They just kept grinding away and to shut out two Division I players (Corinne Washington and Bailey Garbee) like they (Quaker Valley) have, they are a great team. It’s really a credit to these guys.”

The funny part about it for the Bobcats was that they had no idea what type of run they were having while it was going on. They were just playing like they normally do.

“We knew we were playing great defense, but scoring wise, I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll just go down see what I got.’ Emma was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll get into the lane. Anna (Blum) was like, ‘I’ll shoot a 3,’ and Kenzie (Weiland) would get a layup,” Madison Weiland said. “We were just doing our thing, and we didn’t think about it too much. I mean we’re kind of oblivious half the time, too.”

From around the five-minute mark of the second quarter to the end of the third, the Quakers only hit one free throw. Despite being down by 13 points in their first WPIAL championship appearance, Demko said his team never felt completely out of it.

“I think there were two minutes left in the third, and even though we were cold, I felt like we just needed that one bucket to kind of lift us up,” Demko said. “Maybe we go on a little run there that we could trim it to six, seven or eight, then we have the whole fourth quarter.”

The Quakers found somewhat of a rhythm in the fourth quarter and outscored the Bobcats 11-8, but by that point, the game was decided. Garbee led the Quakers with nine points, Lily Johns added eight and Washington scored six.

After suffering two WPIAL championship losses in the past three years and battling through a pandemic that included tough zoom workouts and avoiding being contact traced, the Bobcats finally pulled through.

They couldn’t be more excited.

“The emotions were definitely high for us today,” Makenzie Weiland said. “Being able to win this was so awesome.”

Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .

The Roundball Classic is back.

COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the annual high school basketball all-star event at Geneva College last year, but the showcase will return this May for a three-day event in Beaver Falls.

Games will be held May 13 to 15 at Geneva College, with rosters made up of graduating seniors from teams in the WPIAL, Pittsburgh City League, and District 10.

Here's the schedule:

Thursday, May 13

Class 1A boys vs Class 2A boys, 6:30 p.m.

Class 4A silver boys vs Class 3A boys, 8:30 p.m.

Friday, May 14

Class 2A/City League girls vs Class 3A/1A girls, 6:30 p.m.

Class 6A/City League silver boys vs Class 5A silver boys, 8:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 15

District 10 girls vs Class 4A girls, 1 p.m.

Class 6A girls vs. Class 5A girls, 2 p.m.

Class 4A gold boys vs District 10 boys, 5 p.m.

Class 6A gold boys vs Class 5A gold boys, 7 p.m.

Here are the preliminary rosters for the games:

Class 1A boys

Coach: Gino Palmosina, Bishop Canevin

Ryan Aiken, 6-4, F, Eden Christian

Aidan Betsil, 5-10, G, Imani Christian

Dylan Cook, 5-11, G, Leechburg

Manny Dotson, 6-6, F/C, Nazareth Prep

Dom Elliott, 6-4, F, Bishop Canevin

Devon Hemer, 6-4, F, Rochester

Gabe Lis, 6-1, G, Avella

Elijah Manges, 6-4, F, Eden Christian

Jamal Newton, 5-5, G, Propel Montour

Jerome Rockymore, 6-3, F, Propel Montour

Anthony Stanley, 6-1, G/F, Union

Lance Stevenson, 5-9, G, Mapletown

Andrew Sullivan, 6-0, G, St. Joseph

Class 2A boys

Coach: Mike Rodriguez, OLSH

Aden Almashy, 6-4, F, South Side

Austin Arnold, 6-3, G, Chartiers-Houston

Max Belt, 6-3, G, Sewickley Academy

Toby Cline, 5-9, G, Jeannette

Gideon Deasy, 5-10, G, Riverview

Demitri Fritch, 6-4, G, Springdale

Henry Karn, 6-2, G, Fort Cherry

Christian McGowan, 6-0, G, Greensburg C.C.

Owen Newcomer, 6-1, G, Frazier

Keith Rockmore, 6-0, G, Jeannette

Luke Santo, 5-11, G, Frazier

Hunter Schmidt, 6-9, F/C, Jeannette

Dante Spadafora, 5-11, G, OLSH

George Zheng, 5-8, G, Sewickley Academy

Class 3A boys

Coach: Steve Antuono, Ellwood City

Michael Conley, 6-4, G, Beaver Falls

Tyjeir Crocker, 6-2, G/F, Aliquippa

Antonio Epps, 6-0, G, South Allegheny

Omar Faulkner, 6-5, F, South Allegheny

Jake Fello, 6-1, G, Apollo-Ridge

Klay Fitzroy, 6-4, F, Apollo-Ridge

Andrew Gannon, 6-2, G/F, Avonworth

Camden Glass, 6-7, F, Beaver Falls

Marcus Haswell, 6-0, G, Laurel

Sam Haswell, 6-0, G, Laurel

Russell Kwiat, 6-3, G, Neshannock

Jackson Miller, 5-10, G, Mohawk

Johnpaul Mozzocio, 6-2, G, Neshannock

JoJo Reynolds, 5-9, G, New Brighton

Chase Rosing, 5-10, G, Brentwood

Jacob Scarff, 6-10, C, Seton LaSalle

Zach Usher, 5-9, G, Charleroi

Class 4A silver boys

Coach: Brooks Roorback, Blackhawk

Elias Bishop, 6-3, G/F, Lincoln Park

Daquan Bradford, 5-9, G, Lincoln Park

Owen DeGregorio, 5-9, G, North Catholic

Charlie Higgs, 6-4, F, Beaver

Isaiah Jackson, 5-11, G, North Catholic

Sam Jones, 6-5, F, Derry

Da’Marr Lewis, 6-4, F, Uniontown

Ryan McClymonds, 6-1, G, Blackhawk

Zach McMillan, 6-3, G/F, Knoch

Luke Persinger, 6-4, F, Montour

Aiden Rongaus, 6-2, G, South Park

Zach Taylor, 6-2, G/F, Keystone Oaks

Class 4A gold boys

Coach: Mike Bariski, Lincoln Park

Andrew Ammerman, 6-7, F, North Catholic

Enire Bowens, 6-10, F/C, Ambridge

Dakari Bradford, 6-4, F, Lincoln Park

Ryan Bushey, 5-9, G, Derry

Brandon Graham, 6-1, G, Central Valley

Alex Griggs, 6-0, G, First Love Academy

Jake Haney, 5-9, G, Belle Vernon

Jonas King, 6-5, F, Mt. Pleasant

Nathan Kubasky, 6-0, G, Mt. Pleasant

Gamal Marballie, 5-10, G, Yough

Connor Maddalon, 6-2, G, North Catholic

Montae Reddix, 6-8, F, Lincoln Park

Justin Thompson, 6-3, F, Central Valley

Class 5A silver boys

Coach: Kevin Kovach, McKeesport

Garrett Alauzen, 6-3, G, Chartiers Valley

Ethan Dunsey, 6-6, F, Thomas Jefferson

Nick Egnot, 6-3, F, Laurel Highlands

Ian Hanson, 5-8, G, Thomas Jefferson

Adam Hudock, 5-11, G, Armstrong

Luke Kimmich, 6-0, G, Franklin Regional

Colton Kovach, 6-5, F, McKeesport

Antoine McDaniel, 6-2, G, Highlands

Frank Newill, 6-2, G, Latrobe

Caleb Palumbo, 6-0, G, Laurel Highlands

Robert Robinson, 6-4, F, McKeesport

Wahkeem Roman, 6-6’, F, Highlands

Hunter Sexton, 6-2, G, Albert Gallatin

Dylan Shea, 6-3, F, Albert Gallatin

Class 5A gold boys

Coach: Ralph Blundo, New Castle

Ajani Blyden, 6-7, F/C, Albert Gallatin

Demetrius Butler, 6-1, G, Ringgold

Sheldon Cox, 6-3, G, New Castle

Eddie Daniels, 5-10, G, Penn Hills

Michael Dunn, 6-2, G, Trinity

Nate English, 5-11, G, Albert Gallatin

Kadyn Hannah, 6-5, F, Franklin Regional

Aiden Kelly, 6-3, G/F, Thomas Jefferson

Brisan Kisan, 6-3, G, McKeesport

Wes Kropp, 6-6, F, Penn Hills

Connor Moss, 6-2, G, Plum

Jake Pugh, 5-9, G, Thomas Jefferson

Braydon Reynolds, 6-3, G, Chartiers Valley

Mihali Sfanos, 6-1, G, Mars

Ryan Sickenberger, 5-10, G, Latrobe

Class 6A gold boys

Coach: Danny Holzer, Upper St. Clair

Ty Bilinsky, 5-10, G, Norwin

Cole Brooks, 6-0, G, Seneca Valley

Mattix Clement, 6-2, G, Butler

Khalil Dinkens, 6-6, F, North Allegheny

Luke Gensler, 6-1, G, Upper St. Clair

Greg Habib, 6-3, G/F, North Allegheny

Michael Hosni, 6-3, F, Hempfield

Josh Kapcin, 6-2, G, Penn-Trafford

Connor Lyczek, 6-0, G, Seneca Valley

David Pantelis, 6-0, G, Upper St. Clair

Joey Petcash, 6-3, G, Pine-Richland

Jake Reinke, 6-5, G/F, Mt. Lebanon

Joe Starzynski, 6-3, G, Baldwin

Christian Zilli, 6-2, F, Hempfield

Class 6A/City League silver boys

Coach: Devin Crummie, Allderdice

Kent Baldauf, 6-0, G, Fox Chapel

Luke Banbury, 6-3, F, Upper St. Clair

Sayvon Bennett, 5-10, G, Obama Academy

Cam Butcher, 6-2, G, Allderdice

Cade Cavanaugh, 6-3, G, Greensburg Salem

Jack Christy, 5-8, G, North Allegheny

Anderson Cynkar, 6-1, F, Central Catholic

Ethan Dalhem, 5-9, G, Upper St. Clair

Kierre Henning, 6-3, G, Allderdice

Ethan Lake, 6-4, F, North Allegheny

Connor LaVelle, 6-1, G, Baldwin

Evan Sentner, 5-8, G, Mt. Lebanon

Chase Vecchio, 6-1, G, Penn-Trafford

Jayden Walker, 6-4, G, Norwin

Logan Wright, 6-3, G, Bethel Park

District 10 boys

Coach: Tom Koval, Erie

Hayden Adams, 6-2, G, Franklin

Marcel Banks, 6-3, G, Erie

Michael Brooks, 6-2, G, Grove City

Benny Cano, 6-4, G/F, Greenville

Aaron Collins, 5-9, G, Erie First

Matt Cannone, 6-0, G, Hickory

Jackson Doyle, 6-0, G, Sharpsville

Connor Evans, 6-5, F, Hickory

Liam Galla, 6-4, F, Cathedral Prep

Ryan Ladjovich, 6-3, G, Sharpsville

Peyton Mele, 6-3, G, Hickory

Ethan Plesakov, 6-4, G, Slippery Rock

Brett Salsgiver, 6-0, G, Sharon

Jamie Smith, 6-4, F, Erie

Sky’ler Thomas, 6-5, F, Kennedy Catholic

Charlie Waid, 6-2, G, Meadville

Class 2A/City League girls

Coach: Mark Gaither, Sewickley Academy

Robyn Arrington, 5-5, G, Westinghouse

Makayla Boda, 5-4, G, California

Grace Bradley, 5-6, G, OLSH

Hailey Drutarosky, 5-5, G, Sewickley Academy

Zamierah Edwards, 5-11, G/F, Chartiers-Houston

Natalie Jasper, 5-6, G, Ellis School

Kamryn Lightcap, 5-7, G, Sewickley Academy

Mariah Martin, 6-1, F, Westinghouse

Grace Navarro, 5-6, G, Serra Catholic

Nya Nicholson, 5-11, G/F, Winchester Thurston

Nicole Pawlowski, 5-7, G, Serra Catholic

Emma Walsh, 5-6, G, Seton LaSalle

Bre Warner, 5-11, F, Sewickley Academy

Class 3A/A girls

Coach: Mike O’Lare, Mohawk

Savannah Abbott, 5-9, G/F, Bishop Canevin

Elizabeth Brudnock, 5-6, G, West Greene

Taylor Haring, 5-6, G, Eden Christian

Taylor Jackson, 5-8, G, Clairton

Page Julian, 5-8, G/F, Mohawk

Nadia Lape, 5-5, G, Mohawk

Cassandra Lewis, 5-4, G, Washington

Tara Lucot, 5-5, G, North Catholic

Karissa Mercier, 5-7, G, Freedom

Natalie Merrick, 5-9, F, Eden Christian

Grace O’Brien, 5-6, G, Avonworth

Alexis Robison, 5-7, G, Rochester

Harris Robinson, 5-8, G, Avonworth

Nyla Rozier, 5-11, F, Shady Side Academy

Lexy Wagner, 5-5, G, Keystone Oaks

Jersey Wise, 5-7, G, West Greene

Class 4A girls

Coach: Greg Houston, Beaver

Macyla Collins, 5-7, G, Beaver Falls

Neveah Ewing, 5-10, G/F, Knoch

Bailey Garbee, 5-11, G, Quaker Valley

Shelby Genes, 5-6, G, West Mifflin

Mia Graham, 5-5, G, New Castle

Claire Kuzma, 5-11, F, Quaker Valley

Emma Pavelek, 5-8, G, Beaver

Anna Resnick, 5-6, G, Elizabeth Forward

Taylor Rodriguez, 5-5, G, Belle Vernon

Jolie Strati, 5-10, G/F, Blackhawk

Alivia Thompson, 5-10, F, Blackhawk

Corrine Washington, 5-11, G/F, Quaker Valley

Kenzie Weiland, 6-0, F, Beaver

Maddi Weiland, 6-0, F, Beaver

Lauren Yuhas, 5-5, G, West Mifflin

Class 5A girls

Coach: Kathy McConnell Miller, Trinity

Bryn Bezjak, 5-6, G, Albert Gallatin

Olivia Bianco, 5-4, G, Hampton

Amoni Blackwell, 5-6, G, Penn Hills

Paige Brown, 5-11, F, Lincoln Park

Courtney Dahlquist, 6-3, F, Trinity

Domenica Delaney, 5-9, G/F, Fox Chapel

Jasmyn Golden, 5-7, G, Penn Hills

Jayla Golden, 5-7, G, Penn Hills

Haley Hertzer, 5-5, G, McKeesport

Kennedie Montue, 5-11, F, Plum

Peyton Pinkney, 6-0, F, Woodland Hills

Ellie Schwartzman, 5-11, F, Fox Chapel

Dynasty Shegog, 5-10, F, Gateway

A’lysa Sledge, 6-0, G, Penn Hills

Maddy Trainer, 5-8, G, Thomas Jefferson

Emily Venick, 5-6, G, Trinity

Kaylin Venick, 5-6, G, Trinity

Class 6A girls

Coach: Spencer Stefko, North Allegheny

Maria Brush, 5-6, G, Franklin Regional

Jaden Divinsizer, 5-10, G/F, Seneca Valley

Megan Dryburgh, 5-11, F/C, Baldwin

Sarayne Forbes, 5-5, G, Butler

Lizzy Groetsch, 5-11, G, North Allegheny

Emma Hoffner, 5-7, G, Hempfield

Anna Lucarelli, 5-8, G, Baldwin

Paige Morningstar, 6-0, F, North Allegheny

Morgan Palmer, 5-9, G/F, Mt. Lebanon

Mara Polczynski, 5-7, G, Norwin

Makenzie Powell, 5-9, F, Penn-Trafford

Allie Prady, 5-6, G, Penn-Trafford

Danielle Rosso, 5-7, G, Norwin

Olivia Westphal, 5-9, G, Bethel Park

District 10 girls

Coach: Amber Osborn, Slippery Rock

Aniyah Anderson, 5-7, G, Hickory

Amy Batt, 5-10, G/F, Greenville

Kelly Benson, 5-5, G, Slippery Rock

Clara Hannon, 5-9, G/F, Grove City

Anna Kadlubek, 5-8, G, Slippery Rock

Sydney Keinath, 5-11, F, McDowell

Rachel Majewski, 5-9, G, Villa

Maria Keegan McConahy, 5-8, G, Kennedy Catholic

Hallie Raab, 5-9, G/F, Slippery Rock

Becca Santom, 5-7, G, Grove City

Emina Selimonic, 6-0, G/F, McDowell

Jaysina Sellers, 5-7, G, Sharon

Ainsley Thunell, 6-0, F, Villa Maria

Ava Waide, 5-7, G, Villa Maria

KEITH BARNES

Tri-State Sports & News Service

MAR 11, 2021

5:30 AM

Beaver has done its level best to put last season’s WPIAL Class 3A championship game loss into the rear view mirror, never to be looked at or reflected upon again.

“We’ve worked really hard not to talk about it, to be honest and I think it’s always in the back of everybody’s head, that disappointment we felt last year and three years ago as well,” Beaver coach Greg Huston said. “Certainly, there’s some motivation to finish the job, but we’ve just left it off in the distance and tried to take it one day at a time. I think it’s always in the back of your head that you want to make up for that.”

Though the venue has changed, from Petersen Events Center to the state-of-the-art AHN Arena at Peters Township, as has the foe, from Mohawk to Quaker Valley (16-4), the basic premise for Beaver (19-0) is the same as it was a year ago. For the Bobcats to win the school’s first title, they must defeat a section opponent they have already faced twice during the regular season. Tip-off for the championship game is 5 p.m.

“I’m sitting here watching film and you’re thinking about what you want to do game-plan wise. There’s also the mental part of it, but that’s something I have to figure out in the next 24 hours so we can get prepared,” Huston said. “I think we were a little shell-shocked last year and, hopefully, this year, with that experience, we can draw from that. There’s certainly some changes I need to make as a coach as well to have us more prepared.”

While Beaver has been to the championship game twice in the previous three years, this will be uncharted territory for Quaker Valley, which has never appeared in the finals. But it may be an advantage that the two squads have already seen each other twice previously.

“I think these girls are very excited about getting that chance to beat a team that’s undefeated, a team that got us twice and, although those games were tight, we didn’t do what we needed to do to finish those games,” Quaker Valley coach Tom Demko said. “I like the flow of things and how they’re going for us right now.”

In their first meeting, Quaker Valley had a 22-20 lead at halftime and was tied, 31-31, heading into the fourth quarter before Emma Pavelek, who had 22 in the win against Knoch in the semifinals, scored five of her 18 to pull it out, 40-37. Their second was similar as the Quakers led at halftime, 22-19, as Bailey Garbee scored nine of her 22 in the first half before Pavelek scored 14 of her 22 after the intermission in a 48-42 Bobcats victory.

“I think we’ve got to look at the positives of those games and, in the second game, we came out fast and got a good start and let them come back into the game,” Demko said. “I just think that we have to know that no lead is safe and you’ve got to hang in there and play good defense. It is really all about defense against this team we’re playing now.”

That pattern of getting out to a big lead and holding on worked against Southmoreland in the semifinals. Quaker Valley had an 18-point, third-quarter lead against the Scotties, but let them chip away until they got it down to 56-50 with less than a minute remaining before the Quakers finished off a 60-50 win.

That will not work against a team like Beaver with scorers like Pavelek and Payton List who can play defense and create turnovers almost at will. Though Quaker Valley may have been an exception in its two games thanks to 1,000-point scorers Garbee and Corinne Washington, the Bobcats have allowed fewer than 25 points to 11 of their 19 opponents and more than 40 only twice.

“I think it’s going to be really fun to play Beaver again for the third time and try to get one more chance at them,” Garbee said. “We had them in the second game we played them and just gave up the lead, but I think this time, we’re going to be more ready than ever. I think the first two games have really helped us for this game coming up on Friday.”

Still, one of the biggest things for both teams to shrug off will be that this is like a section game. Even though they are section foes with two games against each other under their belts, the stakes are higher with the school’s first WPIAL title to the victor as well as a berth in the PIAA playoffs.

“It’s never easy to beat a team three times in a season and Quaker Valley is a really good team with a lot of really good players. It doesn’t matter if it’s a section game, a WPIAL championship game or a scrimmage in the backyard, you know you’re getting a really tough game,” Huston said. “I think that’s the biggest thing we have to remember — it doesn’t matter what you’re playing for, you’re going to get their best and we’ve got to bring our best.”

KEITH BARNES

Tri-State Sports & News Service

MAR 9, 2021

11:21 PM

Southmoreland tried a new approach in the first half of its matchup with Quaker Valley in the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals.

It didn’t work.

And it probably cost the Scotties a return trip to the championship game.

Quaker Valley senior Bailee Garbee scored a game-high 23 points, including the 1,000th of her career and Corrinne Washington made sure it stood up with 22 of her own and nine rebounds as the No. 2 seeded Quakers (15-4) dominated the first half, then held on for a 60-50 victory over Southmoreland (16-5).

“It was a good team effort, early on, sharing the ball, different people making shots and not just them two and that’s just the story of our season,” Quaker Valley Tom Demko coach said. “It hasn’t been just those two, we’re getting a lot of points and a lot of contributions … but no doubt, we needed them to step up and have a big game in a big situation and they did.”

Quaker Valley will play Section 2 rival Beaver in the WPIAL Class 4A championship game at 5 p.m. Friday at Peters Township. It will be the Quakers first appearance in a title game.

“It’s been cool and really fun to grow alongside everyone,” Garbee said. “It’s been great these four years to kind of start from the bottom ninth-grade year when we didn’t make the playoffs to now when we’re making history at Quaker Valley.”

Garbee was crucial to the Quaker Valley attack in the first half as he scored 12 points to keep Southmoreland at bay. She also knew she was pursuing her 1,000th point and got it on a two-pointer 1:03 into the second quarter.

At least she did until right before the game

“I actually forgot about it before the game and, even when I scored the sixth, I forgot about it, so when they announced it, it was the first time I remembered,” Garbee said. “It was a cool moment. Everyone was clapping and they announced it. It was just really nice.”

Southmoreland would have been out of the game early were it not for Gracie Spadaro, who scored 11 of the team’s 13 first-quarter points and had 15 of its 20 at the intermission. The junior forward finished with 21 as the Scotties struggled throughout the first half trying to match up with Washington and Garbee.

“I take that on me, and we tried match up a little bit more size-wise because they have a bigger lineup and we tried [to do something] a little bit different after watching them on film,” Southmoreland coach Amber Cernuto said.” I went back and forth, do we stick with our same game plan or do we fall back, but the girls got through it.”

Other 4A game

If there’s one thing Beaver (19-0) does better than anyone, it’s clamp down on defense.

And that’s exactly what the Bobcats did against a Knoch (10-2) squad than came in averaging nearly 55 points per game.

Emma Pavelek scored as many points as the entire Knights team as she went for a game-high 22, and top-seeded Beaver rolled into the WPIAL finals for the third time in four years with a 40-22 victory over No. 4 Knoch.

Beaver has limited 11 of its 19 opponents to fewer than 25 points.

“We played great defense all night and we challenged all those 3s they took,” Beaver coach Greg Huston said. “But the big thing was that we limited their second chances and we had 37 rebounds. And then, offensively, Emma just kind of stepped up and put us on her shoulders.”

By: Bill Hartlep 
Thursday, March 11, 2021 | 5:28 PM

WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball championship

No. 1 Beaver vs. No. 2 Quaker Valley

5 p.m. Friday at Peters Township’s AHN Arena

On the air: 1230 AM, 99.3 FM, 1460 AM; TribHSSN.TribLive.com (video stream)

Winner plays: District 8, 9 or 10 champion in PIAA quarterfinals, March 20

How they got here: Beaver defeated No. 16 Burrell, 59-20, in the first round; No. 8 Elizabeth Forward, 47-40, in the quarterfinals; and No. 4 Knoch, 40-22, in the semifinals. Quaker Valley beat No. 15 New Castle by forfeit in the first round; No. 7 Montour, 68-39, in the quarterfinals; and No. 3 Southmoreland, 60-50, in the semifinals.

Starting lineups

Beaver (19-0)

Coach: Greg Huston

No., Player, Pos., Ht., Yr.

1, Emma Pavelek, G, 5-8, Sr.

2, Anna Blum, G, 5-7, Sr.

11, Kenzie Weiland, F, 6-0, Sr.

13, Maddi Weiland, G, 6-0, Sr.

32, Payton List, G/F, 5-11, Jr.

Quaker Valley (15-4)

Coach: Tom Demko

No., Player, Pos., Ht., Yr.

0, Corinne Washington, G/F, 5-11, Sr.

3, Bailey Garbee, G, 5-11, Sr.

10, Nora Johns, PG, 5-7, So.

13, Lily Johns, G 5-6, Sr.

34, Claire Kuzma, F, 5-11, Sr.

Title-game history: Beaver and Quaker Valley each are searching for their first WPIAL title.

Notable: Unbeaten Beaver is making its second straight trip to the WPIAL championship game after falling to Mohawk, 44-26, last season in the Class 3A final. The Bobcats moved up to Class 4A this season via PIAA realignment. The bump in classification hasn’t slowed the Bobcats, who average 53.1 points per game. Beaver defeated Section 2 rival Quaker Valley twice during the regular season, 40-37 and 48-42. Beaver is led by the scoring tandem of Payton List (15.6 ppg) and Emma Pavelek (15.4 ppg). List had 24 points against Burrell in the first round, while Pavelek scored 17 in the first round, 23 in the quarterfinals and 22 in the semifinal win over Knoch. Beaver coach Greg Huston has a record of 203-82 over 12 seasons. … Quaker Valley dropped just two games outside of the losses to Beaver, falling to Class 5A Penn Hills and Class 6A Mt. Lebanon. The Quakers average 51.7 points behind the talented senior Division I-bound tandem of Bailey Garbee (American) and Corrine Washington (Boston). Garbee averages 18 points and Washington 15.5. Garbee scored 23 and Washington had 22 in the semifinal win over Southmoreland, which was a finalist last year. Quaker Valley has won six straight games and 11 of 12.

Bill Hartlep is the sports editor of the Tribune-Review. You can contact Bill at bhartlep@triblive.com 

By: Bill Beckner Jr. 
Tuesday, March 9, 2021 | 8:34 PM

Remember all that talk about Southmoreland being the darlings of the WPIAL girls basketball playoffs a year ago?

Well, the spotlight might have shifted to the Scotties’ latest opponent.

It is Quaker Valley’s turn to wear Cinderella’s slipper in Class 4A.

A semifinal team for the second time in school history — the team’s first appearance since 1998 — the No. 2 Quakers are headed to the WPIAL finals for the first time after holding back visiting Southmoreland, 60-50, on Tuesday night.

That is six straight wins and 11 victories in 12 games for the second-seeded Quakers (15-4), who advance to meet No. 1 Beaver (19-0) — for the third time this season — in the championship at 5 p.m. Friday at Peters Township’s AHN Arena.

Quaker Valley’s program has come a long way to join the postseason conversation. The team had four losing seasons in five years from 2013-18 before returning to WPIAL contention.

Now, it will play for a title.

“Hopefully, people know who we are now,” Quaker coach Tom Demko said. “A lot of the ink and publicity has gone to a lot of other programs. Maybe now it will come to us. It would be nice to add a 2021 to that banner (in the gymnasium). Our girls deserve it.”

Third-seeded Southmoreland (16-5), the WPIAL runner-up last year, came in allowing 32 points per game. The Scotties played their first road playoff game since last year’s PIAA second round and, despite a valiant comeback, surrendered a season-high 60 to the Quakers, who were powered by their Division I combo of 5-foot-11 seniors Bailey Garbee and Corinne Washington.

Garbee scored 23 and Washington 22 in the victory.

Stopped short in the quarterfinals last year by eventual champion North Catholic — the Trojanettes toppled Southmoreland in the title game at Pitt — the Quakers took another big step forward with their latest win.

A 1-3-1 defense, which Southmoreland thought was its best chance to match up with the Quakers, did little to slow the host team. The Quakers built an 18-point cushion late in the third quarter before the Scotties trimmed it to five with just under a minute to play.

“Our girls fought until the end,” Scotties coach Amber Cernuto said. “We tried something different to try and match up with their size, and it didn’t work out. That is on me. We were focused more on defense this game. (Garbee and Washington) were really good, with their size and skill. They have probably played 100 more games (year-round) than any of our girls. Give credit to Quaker Valley.”

As more players got involved offensively for Southmoreland, the lead began to shrink.

“They’re a great team,” Demko said of the Scotties. “They kept creeping back, but I like the way our girls responded. We jumped out quick and shared the ball well. It was a team effort.”

Washington, a Boston U commit, scored on an array of drives, leaners and floaters. Her 12 in the second half, and her free throws, allowed the Quakers to stay on top.

The team made 11 of 12 free throws.

Garbee, an American recruit, had eight in the fourth. She made three 3-pointers.

She and Washington each came up with a steal inside the final 30 seconds. Both had an answer for just about every Scotties’ push.

Garbee scored her 1,000th career point with 6:57 to go in the second quarter. Washington hit the 1,000-point mark earlier in the season.

“It’s great for them to each get (1,000 points) and to do it now,” Demko said. “They mean so much to this program but it’s not always those two. Other girls stepped up too.”

Senior Claire Kuzma added eight points for Quaker Valley.

Southmoreland planned to lean on its big-game experience in the girls basketball semifinals, but the Quakers didn’t give them much time to get situated. It was 16-4 early as the Quakers moved the ball around the perimeter and scored on drives.

Southmoreland junior Gracie Spadaro was the offense for the Scotties, as she scored 16 of her 21 points in the first half. But the Scotties, who cut the margin to five after one quarter, trailed 33-20 at halftime.

Sophomore point guard Olivia Cernuto had 12 points for the Scotties, nine in the second half. Sophomore Maddie Moore added nine and junior Delaynie Morvosh chipped in eight, including two 3s in the second half.

“We were fortunate to get all of our games in and make it this far,” Amber Cernuto said. “We knew any day the hammer could drop. I was proud of the way our girls fought tonight.”

The Scotties were 7 of 12 at the foul line.

“I think our legs got a little tired toward the end,” Demko said. “We missed some layups and didn’t box out. We needed to burn some clock.” 

It was 46-39 heading to the fourth before the Scotties chipped away. Olivia Cernuto scored off a steal and made two free throws before Morvosh’s 3 made it 56-50 with 52 seconds remaining. 

Quaker Valley lost both section games to Beaver, 40-37 and 48-42. 

Bill Beckner Jr. is a Tribune-Review Staff Writer. You can contact Bill by email at bbeckner@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Bill Allmann

Times Sports Correspondent

LEETSDALE — Time and again, especially in the first half, someone wearing a white jersey of the Quaker Valley High School girls’ basketball team would tip a Montour pass into a seemingly open area of the floor. 

But a split second later, the ball would be in the hands of another player wearing a white jersey – often enough, in fact, that the Quakers put together a 24-2 first half run en route to a 68-39 WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal mercy rule win. 

It was no accident, though. That was experience. 

“I’ve been playing with the other seniors since first, second, or third grade basketball and even before that at the Y,” said senior center Claire Kuzma, one of four starting seniors along with Bailey Garbee, Corinne Washington, and Lily Johns. “We’ve been playing together so long now that it’s easy to know what the others are doing. 

“We definitely play team basketball and tonight we really shared the ball well.” 

The Quakers, now 14-4, started out a little slowly, trailing 7-6 after three minutes but the 24-2 run settled the issue. Given that they hadn’t played in 11 days, that start wasn’t a sure thing. 

“I wanted to come out and play fast and push the ball hard from the start,” said Quaker Valley coach Tom Demko. “But you can only prepare as much as you can. I gave them a day or two off to rest up but you need to keep the consistency of the schedule. 

“We did a good job from the jump, though, and everybody hit their shots.” 

Everyone was indeed hitting their shots as Garbee scored 23, Kuzma 14, Washington 10, and Johns eight. It was the defense, though, that set the stage. The Quakers forced 22 turnovers and using the 5-foot-11 Garbee at the point of the defense was a problem Montour couldn’t solve. On three straight possessions, she stole the initial pass and scored on a fast break. 

“Our defense was the catalyst and I’m really proud of the effort we got from everyone,” said Demko. “We spread the ball around and when defenses concentrate on Bailey and Corinne, Claire is our secret weapon.” 

With the Quakers reaching the semifinals, there may not be a lot of secrets left, though. Second-seeded Quaker Valley hosts third-seeded Southmoreland (16-4) Tuesday at 6 p.m. It will be the last home game for the Quaker Valley seniors regardless of the result because the final will be played at a neutral site. 

“It definitely was a goal to get this far, but I can’t say we expected it,” said Kuzma. “When the season got shut down for those three weeks, it even went through my mind that we might never play again. 

Tuesday, the chance is here. 

By: Bill Beckner Jr., Michael Love And Bill Hartlep 
Tuesday, February 23, 2021 | 8:48 PM

Here is a breakdown of the 2020-21 WPIAL girls basketball playoffs:

Class 4A

Favorite: A WPIAL Class 3A finalist last year, Beaver (15-0) survived a test Monday against Blackhawk (11-5), winning 34-32, and the Bobcats beat the Cougars by 17 on Jan. 28. It was the closest game for Beaver this season, which is outscoring opponents by 28.6 points a game. Junior guard/forward Payton List (17.3 ppg.) and senior point guard Emma Pavelek have paced the Bobcats. Pavelek, who surpassed 1,000 points last year, is a Navy recruit who averages 15.4 points. Beaver’s next victory will be the 200th for coach Greg Huston (199-82) at the helm of the Bobcats, who are seeking their first WPIAL title.

Challengers: Southmoreland finished as last year’s Class 4A runner-up to North Catholic. The Scotties (14-3) lost just once in Section 3, a one-point setback to West Mifflin (7-3) on Jan. 19. Southmoreland beat West Mifflin by 17 on Feb. 1. Its only other losses have come to Thomas Jefferson and Latrobe. … Quaker Valley (12-4), led by senior Bailey Garbee at 16 points per game, owns a win over Class 5A Hampton and lost by just three to both Beaver and Class 6A Mt. Lebanon (14-3). … Knoch, out for the past two weeks under a covid pause, hopes to revive its season with a strong WPIAL run. The Knights, led by the scoring of senior Nevaeh Ewing (17.3 ppg.), junior Madilyn Boyer (15.3) and sophomore Nina Shaw (14.8), have lost just once in eight games, falling to Class 3A Laurel (15-2) on Feb. 6.

Don’t overlook: Blackhawk (11-5) has battled through a challenging Section 2 with Beaver and Quaker Valley. The Cougars’ only Class 4A losses have come to the Bobcats and the Quakers. Blackhawk, a WPIAL semifinalist and PIAA qualifier last year, leads all of Class 4A scoring 62.3 points a game. Senior forward Jolie Strati (14.5 ppg.) is one of the team’s top scorers.

Prediction: Beaver over Quaker Valley

By: Greg Macafee 
Sunday, February 14, 2021 | 9:01 AM

The Quaker Valley girls basketball team is searching for a WPIAL title this season, and with just four losses on their record, the Quakers seem to be in a good position as the WPIAL’s open tournament quickly approaches later this month.

Before the No. 2 Quakers fell to No. 1 Beaver, 48-42, on Feb. 8 for the second time this season, they had put together a nice five-game winning streak that moved their overall record to 8-3, 6-1 in Section 2-4A.

During their five-game winning streak, the Quakers were averaging 56.6 points per game while only allowing 39 points. They earned section victories over Hopewell, Montour and their second victory over Blackhawk. They also defeated nonsection opponents Hampton and Sewickley Academy.

Four of their five victories came by 14 points or more. Their win over Sewickley Academy was the lone single-digit win of the streak.

“We’re really happy with where we are at right now,” Quaker Valley coach Tom Demko said. “There are some things we still need to clean up down the stretch here. We have six games left. We knew the one against Beaver was going to be a tough one. But we’re almost where we need to be. We’re feeling good though.”

Like they have all season long, the senior class led the Quakers in recent weeks. Seniors Corinne Washington and Bailey Garbee have played significant roles in the team’s success.

During a signature win over No. 5 Blackhawk, Washington scored 25 while Garbee added 21 during a 21-point victory. Garbee also scored 32 in Quaker Valley’s first win over Blackhawk earlier this season.

On Feb. 6, the Quakers took on WPIAL Class 2A No. 5 Sewickley Academy, which is loaded with a talented group of seniors, and Washington turned around and scored 23 of her team’s 34 points in a four-point victory.

Garbee also scored 22 of Quaker Valley’s 42 points in the second loss to Beaver.

“Shots were falling for them, and Bailey’s been shooting the three really well,” Demko said. “She’s been getting out in transition so much. She’s our leader defensively. Then, Corrine has been finding her in transition, and Corrine has been using a really nice pull-up, and shots have been falling for her. She carried us against Sewickley Academy.”

During Quaker Valley’s second loss to Beaver, they jumped out to a quick 18-8 lead in the first quarter. The Bobcats crawled back into the game by holding the Quakers to single digits in both the second and the third quarter.

Beaver’s Emma Pavelek ended up with 22 points while Payton List scored 17. Overall, Demko saw a lot that the Quakers needed to work on if they want to beat the last undefeated team in Class 4A down the line.

“We’re gonna look at both of those games if we need to down the stretch, but we know that they come to play and they are solid,” Demko said. “They play good defense, and we know that 2-3 of theirs, that defense that they like to play, and we are just going to try and keep working on getting out in transition and attacking their zone.”

Quaker Valley’s goal since the beginning of the season hasn’t changed, and with a few weeks left before the playoffs, Demko said that they are going to do whatever they can to finish on a strong note. Demko believes that all depends on his seniors.

“It’s going to be up to our seniors, especially to hold the players together and make them realize how important, and the magnitude, of where we’re at,” Demko said. “We’re one of the top-ranked teams, and this is our chance. We can only do so much as coaches to motivate. But right now, we are really depending on our seniors to continue to bring these players together.”

Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .

By: Tribune-Review 
Friday, February 19, 2021 | 12:22 AM

Girls basketball

Albert Gallatin 76, Ringgold 19 – Bryn Bezjak scored 27 points and Liz Murtha contributed 14 as Albert Gallatin (12-5, 7-4) defeated Ringgold (2-9, 2-7) in Section 3-5A.

Beaver 65, New Castle 8 – Maddi Weiland scored 18 points and Payton List and Emma Pavelek added 13 each to help No. 1 Beaver (14-0, 12-0) past New Castle (4-8, 2-8) in Section 2-4A.

Blackhawk 68, Hopewell 19 – Led by 15 points from Kassie Potts, 13 from Alena Fusetti and 11 from Alivia Thompson, No. 5 Blackhawk (11-4, 9-3) defeated Hopewell (3-8, 3-8) in Section 2-4A.

Fox Chapel 65, Indiana 54 — Ellie Schwartzman scored 18 points, and Elise Smith added 16 as Fox Chapel avenged a Section 2-5A loss from earlier in the season. Domenica Delaney chipped in 13, and Marissa Ritter scored 12 for the Foxes (9-6, 8-4), who erased an 11-point halftime deficit. Hope Cook and Katie Kovalchick paced Indiana (6-8, 4-5) with 16 points apiece.

Gateway 64, Freeport 45 — The Gators capitalized on an early 11-point lead in a nonsection victory. Dynasty Shegog led Gateway (6-9, 2-6 Section 4-5A) with 18 points. Ava Soilis and Melaina DeZort led the scoring effort for Freeport (7-2, 7-1 Section 1-4A) with 14 and 12 points.

Hampton 58, Kiski Area 25 — Kayla Hoelher scored 15 points for the Talbots (12-4, 8-2) in a convincing Section 2-5A victory. Karli Keller scored 12 points for Kiski Area (3-13, 0-11).

Laurel 48, Ellwood City 24 – Lucia Lombardo and Reese Bintrim scored 10 points apiece for No. 4 Laurel (13-2, 7-2) in a Section 1-3A win. Kyla Servick led Ellwood City (3-6, 2-6) with 14 points.

Lincoln Park 71, St. Joseph 54 — Sarah Scott scored a game-high 30 points to lead Lincoln Park (13-7, 2-6) to a nonsection win. Paige Brown added 18. Julie Spinelli scored 21 for St. Joseph (4-9, 3-2). Trinity Lockwood-Morris also scored 12 for the Spartans.

Mars 51, Armstrong 37 – Ava Black scored 18 points to lead Mars (6-8, 5-5) to a Section 2-5A win over Armstrong (7-4, 5-4). Olivia Donnelly added 11 and Madeleine Horvath had 10.

McKeesport 60, Hempfield 45 – Madeline Chereprko scored 12 points to help McKeesport (13-3, 5-2) to a nonsection win. Emma Hoffner hit four 3-pointers and scored 16 points for Hempfield (3-6, 1-4). Brooke McCoy added 10.

Montour 55, Ambridge 18 – Led by 16 points from Olivia Lyscik, 14 from Raegan Kadlecik and 10 from Olivia Persinger, Montour (10-8, 6-6) defeated Ambridge (1-12, 1-10) in Section 2-4A.

Mt. Lebanon 46, Baldwin 40 – Ashleigh Connor scored 14 points and No. 4 Mt. Lebanon (13-3, 5-0) pulled away in the fourth quarter for a Section 2-6A win. Morgan Palmer added 12 and Reagan Murdoch had 11. Lexi Bernotas led Baldwin (5-7, 1-3) with 10.

Norwin 50, Pine-Richland 35 – Danielle Rosso and Mara Polczynski scored 14 points apiece as No. 5 Norwin (11-2, 9-2) rolled to a Section 1-6A victory. Madison Zavasky scored 13 for Pine-Richland (5-9, 4-8).

Oakland Catholic 53, Moon 36 – Alexa Washington scored 15 points to lead Oakland Catholic (9-8, 5-1) to a Section 1-5A win. Emma Theodorsson had 18 for Moon (5-10, 4-4).

Quaker Valley 67, Central Valley 23 – Behind 19 points from Bailey Garbee, 14 from Corrine Washington and 10 from Lily Johns, No. 2 Quaker Valley (11-4, 9-2) defeated Central Valley (6-10, 3-8) in Section 2-4A.

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, February 6, 2021 | 8:45 PM

Class 6A

Rk., Team, W-L, Last

1. North Allegheny, 11-0, 1

2. Upper St. Clair, 8-1, 2

3. Bethel Park, 7-2, 4

4. Mt. Lebanon, 9-2, 3

5. Norwin, 8-2, 5

Out: none

Class 5A

Rk., Team, W-L, Last

1. Trinity, 10-1, 1

2. Chartiers Valley, 12-1, 2

3. Armstrong, 6-0, NR

4. Thomas Jefferson, 8-5, 3

5. Woodland Hills, 3-3, 4

Out: Oakland Catholic (5-7, 5)

Class 4A

Rk., Team, W-L, Last

1. Beaver, 9-0, 1

2. Quaker Valley, 8-3, 3

3. Knoch, 7-1, 2

4. Southmoreland, 9-2, 4

5. Blackhawk, 7-4, 5

Out: none

Class 3A

Rk., Team, W-L, Last

1. North Catholic, 11-2, 1

2. Mohawk, 12-2, 2

3. Brentwood, 9-0, NR

4. Laurel, 10-2, 4

5. South Park, 8-1, 3

Out: Avonworth (6-2, 5)

Class 2A

Rk., Team, W-L, Last

1. Serra Catholic, 7-0, 1

2. Winchester Thurston, 6-3, 2

3. Neshannock, *10-1, 3

4. OLSH, 9-1, 4

5. Sewickley Academy, 7-4, 5

LEETSDALE — Playing the team directly below it in the standings and the last hurdle before a showdown for the section championship, the Quaker Valley girls’ basketball team decided to settle the issue early. 

The Quakers jumped to an 11-0 lead in the first four minutes and never looked back in a 74-53 win over Blackhawk at home. 

“To be honest, this is the first game we got out quickly,” said coach Tom Demko, whose charges improved to 7-3 overall and 6-1 in Section 2-4A. “This was a good game to do that. 

“I’m pleased how we got out and how we finished. I think we’re in our groove now.” 

The Quakers jumped to the 11-0 lead behind a pair of 5-foot-11 seniors – Bailey Garbee and Corinne Washington. Garbee scored nine in the opening burst and finished with 21. Washington scored the other two in the run and finished with 25. 

“We played our game,” said Washington, who will play next season at Boston University. “We were able to stay in our 1-3-1 defense and stick with it. It sure got easier when we had the momentum of the early lead.” 

“It was huge to beat Blackhawk twice,” said Garbee, who scored 32 in the earlier 63-51 win at Blackhawk. She’ll play at American University in Washington, D.C. “We always play better when we have the momentum. 

“It took a while to get in shape after the three weeks off and with the masks, but we’ve adjusted.” 

The adjustment obviously took hold as the Quakers had their highest scoring output of the season – by 10 points.  

“Bailey is one of the best guards I’ve ever coached, she scores and she changes the game defensively,” said Demko. “Corinne had a big game, too. She played a complete game, too, with rebounding and defense. 

“When the two of them are clicking, we’re doing well but the other girls are playing better, too. Our sophomore point guard, Nora Johns, is getting more comfortable and Claire Kuzma is getting more consistent in the middle. We’re where we want to be even with everything we went through to start.” 

The Quakers are hitting their stride at a good time, trailing first place Beaver by one game and travelling there Monday night. When the teams met earlier at Quaker Valley, Beaver prevailed 40-37 in its closest win in an unbeaten season.  

A win there could mean a share of the section title in a season when playoff games will be played at the home of the higher seed until the championship game. 

“We know what our goals were at the beginning of the season,” Demko said. “As we check things off, we keep the girls motivated.” 

On the other bench, Blackhawk will remain motivated with a 7-4, 5-3 record and in solid position to host a playoff game. The Cougars were led by Jolie Strati with 18 points while freshman Alena Fusetti added 13 and Alivia Thompson 12.  

Joe Sager

Times Sports Correspondent

LEETSDALE – Beaver wants to rack up the points this season.

But, when the buckets aren’t falling, the Bobcats know they can fall back on their defense for a boost.

That was the case Thursday night in the team’s 40-37 win at Quaker Valley in a key WPIAL Section 1-4A battle.

Beaver (3-0 overall, 2-0 section) produced 58 points in both of its victories entering the contest. However, the squad struggled to find its scoring touch against a formidable Quakers defense.

“To get them down here is extra nice because it’s tough to play on this court. They do a nice job; their defense is good,” Beaver coach Greg Huston said. “I was really proud of our girls to just battle. We did not play well tonight. A lot of that had to do with how good Quaker Valley is, but we left some points out there. It was a gutsy win.”

The Bobcats were held without a field goal for the final 3:23 of the third quarter and first 5:12 of the fourth, so they were relieved to escape with a victory.

“That was definitely frustrating. We knew from the start that they are a really good defensive team. We knew we had to be smart, get good shots and just take our time,” Beaver’s Maddi Weiland said. “It was definitely a big win for us and sets the tone for the season. Even with the win, we still have a lot to work on.”

“We can be happy with the win and celebrate today, but we can’t be satisfied with it. It definitely wasn’t our best performance. Even though we were able to pull it out, there are still a million things we need to work on and get better at,” Beaver’s Emma Pavelek added. “Especially this game, we were struggling a bit on the offensive side. Our shots weren’t falling – it felt like there was a cap on the rim. At that point, you really have to rely on your defense.”

Neither team led by more than five throughout the contest. Beaver had a 13-9 edge after the first, but Quaker Valley (1-2, 1-1) posted a 22-20 halftime lead. The teams were tied at 31 after three quarters.

The Quakers pulled ahead, 35-33, on a pair of Lily Johns free throws 1:54 into the final quarter. However, Pavelek answered with a free throw and swished a 3-pointer with 2:47 to play. That broke Beaver’s long drought from the field and gave the guests a 37-35 edge.

Corinne Washington’s hoop knotted the game at 37-all with 2:16 to go. Quaker Valley set up for a go-ahead hoop, but Pavelek stole the ball and drew a foul. She swished a free throw for a 38-37 edge with 57.1 seconds remaining. The Quakers had another chance to pull ahead, but Payton List stole the ball with 16.2 seconds left on the clock and was fouled. She made both free throws.

“Emma and Payton are our scoring leaders, generally, and they struggled a little bit putting the ball in the hoop, but they both hit big shots at the end,” Huston said. “Emma hit that 3 and Payton had those foul shots. That was huge to get it to three points.”

Quaker Valley had a chance to tie, but a 3-point attempt was way off at the buzzer.

“We’ve always relied on our defense. We’re trying to change the narrative on ourselves a little bit. We want to be known for our offense a little more,” Huston said. “But, at the end of the day, I told them defense is still king around here. That’s how we are going to win games, especially in tight games like this on the road.

“Anytime you can get a win against a team like this on the road, I think it’s a big confidence booster. I am really excited about this one. I told the girls that, in all honesty, this is a 50-50 game – just two good teams that would battle it out. We knew it was going to be close, so we’re happy to be on the right side of it.”

Sunday January 17, 2021

Quaker Valley's Bailey Garbee moves upcourt during a game against Keystone Oaks last season.

By Greg Macafee

The Quaker Valley girls basketball team has great expectations this year.

They want to lift WPIAL gold and hang a championship banner in their gym.

In order to do that, though, coach Tom Demko and the Quakers knew that they would have to get a few signature wins throughout their season in order to build their confidence. On Jan. 12, the Quakers got one of those wins as senior Bailey Garbee scored 32 points to lead her team past Section 2-4A rival Blackhawk, 63-51, to secure their first victory of the season.

"They are just so well-coached, and they have such a great program there year after year, they are the ones you have to beat in order to achieve what you want to, move forward and come up with some confidence, ” Demko said. "A win like that is huge, a win like that this early in our season maybe even bigger because of how we can build on it.”

After Gov. Tom Wolf put a three-week pause on high school athletics in mid-December, the Quakers returned to practice to prepare for a matchup with Hampton on Jan. 8. Leading up to the game, the girls were able to get four solid practices in as they got back into shape after the layoff.

But their game with Hampton ended up getting postponed, and the Quakers were able to get in a few more practices that allowed them to prepare even more for an important matchup with Blackhawk.

"We went six practices before we played again, and we just got really pumped up to prepare for a team like Blackhawk and a section game, ” Demko said. "It was exciting.”

Although those extra practices were beneficial in regards to preparing for Blackhawk, the Quakers were also able to work on a few things they had encountered during their first loss of the season.

Before Wolf’s pause, the Quakers were able to get one game in, but they suffered a 48-40 defeat against Penn Hills. Demko said it helped them over the break and also allowed them to grow moving forward.

"That loss helped us, and we took a look at some things and preparing for Hampton, they kind of have a similar style to Blackhawk, so in preparation for Hampton, I think that helped us add a few extra practices geared towards that style of play as well, ” Demko said.

While Garbee poured in the points against the Cougars for Quaker Valley’s first win of the season, another positive thing to come out of an important victory was the fact that it was a team win.

Demko said Garbee created several turnovers with defensive pressure and was assertive on the offensive end, but she also benefited from the play of her teammates.

"With the line that Bailey had in that game, she deserves a lot of attention, but it felt like a really good team win, ” Demko said. "All coaches will say that they’ll take that feeling beyond anything after a game when everyone is contributing.”

Now, the Quakers are looking to take another step forward and a win over Blackhawk was just the beginning for what they want to accomplish moving forward.

"We’re excited to know that we’re not just able to hang in there with a great team, but come out on top, ” Demko said. "It’s going to do a lot for our confidence, our trust in each other, and our team unity.”

Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Bill Allmann

Times Sports Correspondent

CHIPPEWA TWP. — Quaker Valley girls’ basketball coach Tom Demko could only hope all of his players took instruction as well as senior Baly Garbee. 

“I told Bailey that she needed to shoot more and score more,” Demko said after a 63-51 win at Blackhawk that evened both team’s records at 1-1. “This game, she came out of her shell.” 

Garbee came out of that shell in spectacular fashion, scoring 32 on a consistent basis – 16 in each half. 

“It didn’t feel like 30 points at all,” said Garbee. “This was just a huge game for us, especially coming to play a team as good as Blackhawk and winning. 

“This will give us momentum going forward.” 

Garbee was providing momentum from the outset. She scored the game’s first point and, when she hit her only three-pointer of the game early in the second quarter, she put the Quakers ahead 19-17.  

They never trailed again, although Blackhawk did come back to tie the score at 23-23 with 2:13 left – then the senior took charge again. 

She started and finished an 8-point Quaker Valley run over the rest of the half that forced Blackhawk to play catchup all second half. The Cougars also adjusted their defense after intermission to watch Garbee closely – there was definitely no social distancing – but the Quakers kept pace. 

“Usually, their pace gets to us here,” said Garbee. “But this time we held on. I definitely didn’t see any social distancing and there is definitely a learning curve to play with this mask on.” 

Demko was certainly not upset about any effects of the new COVID-19 rules, though. His team responded well to their first game back. 

“We played once before the shutdown and this was our first game back,” said Demko. “We had time to prepare for this game. 

“Coming to Blackhawk and winning is huge. Every year they have a solid, well-coached team and to come here and play well – we got some fast break points and made our free throws. We might have had our highest scoring quarter in the three years I’ve been here in the second quarter. 

In addition to Garbee’s 32 points, the Quakers also got 13 points from senior Corinne Washington. On the other side, Blackhawk also may have found a new weapon as sophomore Kassie Potts led the way with 20 points – 16 in the final frame. The Cougars also got 10 points from senior Jolie Strati. 

The Beaver and Quaker Valley girls figure to battle down to the wire for the Section 2 title. And, quite possibly the WPIAL Class 4A crown.

Round 1 goes to the Bobcats.

Beaver (3-0, 2-0), which played in the Class 3A final a year ago, got 16 points from Emma Pavelek, including a go-ahead free throw with a minute remaining,  and Maddie Welland chipped in 10 as the No. 1-ranked Bobcats battled for a 40-37 come-from-behind victory against No. 3 Quaker Valley (1-2, 1-1).

Quaker Valley, which got 5 points from Bailey Garbee and 10 from Corinne Washington, led by two, 22-20, at the half and the score was tied, 31-31, heading to the fourth quarter.

Girls Basketball

WPIAL CLASS 4A

Section 1

Knoch 72, Highlands 29

Highlands 4 12 13 0 — 29

Knoch 17 20 18 17 — 72

High scorers: (H) Jocelyn Bielak 9. (K) Madilyn Boyer 18, Nevaeh Ewing 15, Nina Shaw 15.

Deer Lakes 66, Derry 33

Derry 10 6 10 7 — 33

Deer Lakes 14 17 14 21 — 66

High scorers: (D) Tiana Moracco 14. (DL) Reese Hasley 19, Jessica Sullivan 10.

Section 2

Beaver 58, Montour 31

Montour 5 5 10 11 — 31

Beaver 17 7 21 13 — 58

High scorers: (M) Jordan Wolfe 17. (B) Payton List 27, Emma Pavelek 12.

Quaker Valley 63, Blackhawk 51

Quaker Valley 8 23 11 21 — 63

Blackhawk 11 12 7 21 — 51

High scorers: (QV) Bailey Garbee 32, Corinne Washington 13. (B) Cassie Potts 20, Julie Strati 14.

Central Valley 61, New Castle 46

Central Valley 17 13 21 10 — 61

New Castle 5 18 13 10 — 46

High scorers: (CV) Alyssa Gillin 36, Paige Elmer 11, Alyssa Ott 10. (NC) Aayanni Hudson 19, Neena Flora 16.

Section 3

Mount Pleasant 37, Yough 26

Yough 9 8 5 4 — 26

Mount Pleasant 11 12 10 4 — 37

High scorers: (Y) Bailey Alli 17. (MP) Laney Gerdich 10.

Southmoreland 53, Elizabeth Forward 40

Score by quarters not reported.

High scorers: (EF) Joselyn Dawson 8, Bailie Brinson 8. (S) Olivia Cernuto 19, Gracie Spadaro 13, Delaynie Morvosh 10.

FROM LOCAL DISPATCHES

JAN 11, 2021

11:04 PM

• Bailey Garbee’s career-high 32 points to go with 8 rebounds and 7 assists paced Quaker Valley (1-1, 1-0) in its 63-51 victory against Blackhawk (1-1, 0-1) in Class 4A Section 2.

By: Greg Macafee
Sunday, January 10, 2021 | 9:01 AM

In the first five minutes of practice on Jan. 4, Quaker Valley girls basketball coach Tom Demko could tell his girls were excited to be back.

“We usually warm up with some layups and that told us right there. Wow,” Demko said. “They went hard in the first five minutes, and it was like all this time off just built up and they just needed to let off some steam.”

In mid-December, Gov. Tom Wolf put a pause on high school athletics as coronavirus cases in Western Pennsylvania climbed. Teams were approved to resume practice Jan. 4, and they could play games after completing four mandatory practices to restart.

After the layoff, the boys and the girls Quaker Valley basketball teams were eager to get back on the court. Despite his players’ excitement, boys coach Mike Mastroianni said he did have to limit his players a little bit during their first practice back.

“It was definitely a fun day, and I think between the team and the coaches, it was something that everyone really anticipated,” Mastroianni said. “With that excitement, though, we weren’t trying to win everything on that first day. We were just trying to understand we were back in the gym touching the ball and actually just celebrating and happy to be in the gym together.”

Before its season was interrupted, the Quaker Valley girls’ team was put in the position to get its first game in despite the circumstances. Although they lost to Penn Hills, 48-40, Demko said the game taught the Quakers a lot about what they needed to accomplish over their three-week break.

Demko used that information and stayed in touch with his players over the course of the pause. He had individual Zoom sessions with each player and went over the game film with them so they could hit the ground running when they came back to practice.

“Being able to get one in before that layoff allowed us to step back and say, ‘OK, what did we do well and what do we need to work on?’ ” Demko said “It really helped us to take a look at some things. The film doesn’t lie, and we were able to see some things within our team that we can fix and things we did well.”

While the girls got a game in, the boys didn’t have an opportunity to do so. But, they put the work in during their early season practices and were able to install plays that allowed them to get to the level of play they felt like they needed to be at.

By the time the layoff came around, Mastroianni said he felt his team was starting to reach that point. Now they just have to get back to that level of familiarity.

“I think the biggest challenge is just redeveloping continuity,” Mastroianni said. “I’ve always thought and taught basketball on both ends as a big continuity thing. So, we’re just trying to get back to where we were before that layoff and that takes multiple days of practice.”

While the boys are looking to redevelop the continuity they built up before the layoff, the girls are looking to get back into game shape and work on their conditioning.

“It’s like coming back from an injury,” Demko said. “You’re not going to be in that player’s form until you get a few games in and that competition.”

Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .

By: Greg Macafee 
Sunday, December 6, 2020 | 10:16 AM

The Quaker Valley girls basketball team got a nice taste of success last season, and now it’s ready for more.

After recording an overall record of 17-7 and earning a blowout first-round victory over No. 9 West Mifflin, the Quakers got a shot at No. 1 seed North Catholic.

While some teams may have shied away from the Trojanettes, who had won the past two WPIAL titles at the time, coach Tom Demko said his girls were fired up for the opportunity to test themselves.

“The girls were up for the challenge just to kind of see where we are against a top team like North Catholic,” Demko said. “Holding them to 47 points and kind of being in the game for a while was something that they looked on well after that game. They were able to think, ‘Wow, we’re close.’”

A game like that gave the Quakers the confidence they needed, and with three starters returning from last season, including the core group of seniors Corinne Washington, Bailey Garbee and Claire Kuzma, the Quakers have just one goal.

“The expectations are just out of control this season,” Demko said. “All these girls are expecting huge things this year. This is the first year we have a huge senior class. Five strong seniors, three returning starters, and each of those three have fully committed to playing at the next level. So, they are signed on with their schools, and the big goal is just to try and hang a banner.”

Since they were younger, Washington, Garbee, and Kuzma have played major roles in the rise of the Quaker Valley girls basketball program.

When they were freshmen in 2017-18, the Quakers went 9-13 overall and finished fifth in section play. As sophomores, they helped forge the program’s first winning record since 2014-15 and punched their ticket to the WPIAL quarterfinals with a first-round upset win over Freeport.

Last year was another successful season, and now the team is looking to take it one step further in 2020. In order to do so, Demko feels like they need to prove themselves even more against the top teams in their section like Blackhawk and Central Valley, who tied for the section title last season.

“It’s a really tough section, and we have some real quality teams there,” Demko said. “I think we stayed competitive in the last couple of years with those teams, but to take that next step, we have to beat a Blackhawk because that team has obviously been at the top for quite a while. It’s going to take something like that to get to the next level.”

Along with Garbee, Washington and Kuzma, the Quakers are going to be much deeper this season.

Over the past few years, Demko said he’s been getting some of the younger players a lot more action so that they can build up their confidence and experience level for the future.

Seniors Lily Johns and Allison Wittie, juniors Lauren Blackmer and Amelia Herrmann and sophomore Nora Johns could all play key roles this season.

“I think we can really go 10 or 11 deep, no problem at all,” Demko said. “The girls are ready, we’re deeper, and there are a lot of girls that are right there ready to take the next step as well.”

The Quakers have experience and talent, and with a class of five seniors who are all captains, the Quakers have leadership as well, which will be crucial this season.

“I think that’s a huge advantage for us, to be able to have that leadership and kinda keep the girls focused on the main goal, which is to win a championship,” Demko said. “That’s our goal, nothing short of that.”

Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .