Highlands boys basketball picked up its third straight win, 40-35, over Burrell last Friday night. The Golden Rams are now in position to threaten to clinch their 11th straight trip to the WPIAL playoffs.

Josh Rizzo is the publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshrizzo.

The Burrell girls basketball team did it needed to do in order to move past Highlands 55-27 Thursday night at home. The Buccaneers held Highlands without a point in the first quarter. Burrell's defense has been excellent all season.

The Buccaneers have held nine of their opponents to 30 points or less. Burrell is in fourth place in Section 1-4A.

Josh Rizzo is the publisher and owner of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be sent to [email protected] or on X @J_oshrizzo.

Kiski set up a first-place Section 2-5A showdown with Penn Hills next week by beating Plum 57-30. The Cavaliers were dominant defensively, limited the Mustangs to 11 points in the first half. 

Jacob Musselman led Kiski with 16 points, while Colin Keller had 14. Max Grice and Mekhi Samuels each scored 10 points for the Mustangs.

Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshrizzo

Here are the results from the Section 9-2A match between Valley and Burrell. The Buccaneers cruised to a 67-6 win Wednesday night on the road.

Burrell 67, Valley 6
139: Julian Bertucci (B) pinned Brendon Knuckles, :38
145: Caydn Crawford (B)  p. Chance Johnson, 1:40
152: Calio Zanella tech. fall (B) Antonio Perkins 19-3, 5:06
160: Ben Catullo (B) t.f. Jaron Reid, 1:12
172: Isaac Lacinski (B) p. Isaiah Cain, :27
189: Logan Shank (B) p. Caden Shurina, :40
215: Luke Boylan (B) p. Omar Sanchez, 1:01
285: Ayden Kun (B) p. Brendan Andrzejczuk, :32
107: Logan Barrett (B) win by forfeit
114: Radyn Thomas (V) p. Vincent Guerrini, 3:31
121: Carter Thomas (B) p. Xavier Ross, 2:24
127: Cameron Baker (B) wbf
133: Jacob Stewart (B) decision Juzef Betts, 7-6

By Josh Rizzo
Penn Hills boys basketball coach Chris Giles would love for all of his adjustments to work out like they did Tuesday night during a Section 2-5A matchup with Plum. The Indians played with an impeccable flow that allowed them to bury the Mustangs from the outside during the first quarter of a 79-57 win.

"We've made some changes to our philosophy offensively and defensively to put our guys in a better position," Giles said. "That's what you are supposed to do as a coach. You've got to make adjustments and you have to change your system based on your personnel. Quite frankly, it took me a while to figure out what we were going to do."

The fruits of Giles and his staff's labor reflected in how they played against the Mustangs (6-5, 2-2). Penn Hills shot 67 percent (10-of-15) from the 3-point line in the first half. Amon Hawthorne led the Indians with 20 points and made six 3-pointers.

Calix Clark finished with a double-double for the Indians, putting up 17 points and 11 rebounds. Cam Glenn (14 points), Aiden Thompson (13) and Cato Womack Call (10) also scored in double figures.

Plum coach Dave Pucka said it was an impressive shooting display to witness.

"I, personally, have never seen a team shoot like that in the first half of a basketball game," Pucka said. "All the credit to Penn Hills, they shot very well. But I'm still going to give credit to our team. We didn't stop fighting until the last buzzer went off. We have to get back to work for sure."

Will Beckner led the Mustangs with 15 points, while Owen Proskin added 11. The Indians (5-6, 5-0) are in sole possession of first place and will look to carry that momentum forward.

Giles said he knew the Indians shot well, but doesn't get into the numbers during games.

"I don't know the numbers," Giles said. "I'll have to look at the stats after the same. When you are on the sideline, you see it happening, but you don't appreciate it like you do like when you see it in the stands."

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By Josh Rizzo
Riley Stephans got stuck with what inflicts many of us around the holidays. An illness kept the guard for the Plums girls basketball team longing for more time in the gym.

"Over Christmas break, I was sick," Stephans said. "I was out for a week straight, so I didn't get back in the gym until I think it was (last) Thursday. This is my first game back since probably two weeks ago."

The Mustangs looked a little tired and weary at the start of their Section 1-5A girls basketball game at Penn Hills Tuesday night. But Plum found a way to battle to a 39-29 win. Stephans finished with a game-high 23 points and knocked down six 3-pointers.

Stephans believed it was a career-high for 3-pointers she made in one game. She puts a lot of effort into being able to make those types of shots.

"I stay after practice every day and shoot until I make five to seven shots out of 10 from each spot that I go to," Stephans said.

One of Stephans' most important makes came at the first-quarter buzzer. Stephans shook free and made a trey to cut their deficit to 9-7. Plum (3-7, 2-2) felt fortunate to have the game be so close after the first quarter. The Mustangs struggled to defend Penn Hills forward Cara Crawford.

​Crawford scored seven of her 12 points in the first quarter. The Indians (1-9,1-3) also missed five layups that could have extended the lead. 

"We're really struggling at rebounding and making layups," Penn Hills coach Robert Cash said. "There's a couple of games where I thought the game would have been out of reach if we made a few layups in the first quarter and we got teams to chase us. We're allowing them to stay in the game by missing layups."

During the first quarter, Plum seemed to settle too often for long jump shots. 

"We weren't patient," Mustangs coach Rich Mull said. "We were pressing a little too much. Maybe part of it was the fact we haven't played since the Saturday before last."

Plum took the lead toward the end of the first half. Stephans completed a three-point play to put the Mustangs ahead 18-15. During the second half, Stephans made three more 3-pointers in the third quarter to stretch the lead out. Tamia West helped pick up the scoring for Plum.

West was the only other Mustang to score, contributing 16 points. Penn Hills would cut the lead to six, 35-29, with around 2 minutes, 30 seconds left in the game. Milani Oliver, who finished with 13 points, scored five in the third quarter to help the Indians rally.

But turnovers on the next few possessions stalled the momentum Penn Hills had momentarily built.

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Rashan Murray built his reputation as a standout defensive back with California (Pa.) University. The Obama Academy graduate recently announced that he will test himself at the next level after accepting an offer from Pitt. Murray was recently named to the D2Football.com Elite 100 Squad List.

Murray helped the Vulcans win the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division title this season. Cal reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II playoffs before losing to Slippery Rock University. Murray, a junior, was named second-team All-American by the Associated Press and Don Hansen Football Committee.

Murray was second in Division II with 18 passes defended and grabbed a team-high four interceptions. Murray also recorded 39 tackles and forced a fumble.

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be sent to [email protected] or to @J_oshrizzo on Twitter.

The Riverview boys basketball team only made one 3-pointer. With how the Raiders rebounded the ball, that's all they needed to keep ahead of Springdale in a 44-39 win Section 2-2A win Friday night in Oakmont.

With the win, the Raiders moved into second place in Section 1-2A.

Here's a breakdown as of where things stand now.

1. Jeanette             4-0        10-0
1. GCC                    4-0        10-1
3. Riverview            3-1        5-5
3. Clairton              3-1        3-3
5. Springdale          2-2         8-3
6. Bentworth          0-4         3-7
7. California           0-4         2-8
8. Frazier               0-4         2-9

Donovan Hinish answered the call for Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. The former Pittsburgh Central Catholic standout recorded a late sack against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl to help put a stamp on Notre Dame's 23-10 win. The Fighting Irish dominated the game defensively.

Notre Dame will play Penn State in the semifinals of the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff next week. Hinish had 3.5 sacks during the regular season for Notre Dame. 

Mars graduate Lauren Wasylson signed a contract to play with ZKK Spartak Subotica, which is the top level of women's basketball in Serbia. Wasylson was a Class 5A all-state player during her time with the Fightin' Planets. During Wasylson's senior season, she helped the Planets beat Archbishop Wood 36-33 in the state championship game.

Wasylson started he collegiate career at Xavier and played three seasons there. She ended up transferring closer to home to play at Duquesne. During her time in college, Wasylson averaged 5.5 points per game and avereged 2.3 rebounds per contest.

Wasylson's best statistical season was her freshman year with the Musketeers. She averaged 7.2 points per game and shot 38.3 percent from the 3-point line during her freshman year.

"We are very happy for one of the hardest-working players who have come through our program," Duquesne coach Dan Burt said in a news release. "Lauren has overcome significant adversity and injury to help Duquesne be better and now, to lead Spartak Subotica."

Josh Rizzo is the owner and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.