O'HARA TWP - North Hills girls basketball coach Jason Pirring shouted the information his bench statisticians relayed to him Tuesday night at Fox Chapel High School. Fox Chapel was beating the Indians on the boards.

"Eight offensive rebounds," Pirring shouted toward his team.

The pesky Foxes made the Indians sweat during their non-conference contest. But North Hills did enough in the second half to pull away for a 46-43 win. Pirring had a blueprint for how to proceed following the season opener.

"Imagine what we're working on tomorrow, as well," Pirring said. "Offensive rebounds killed us tonight. We're not a big team either. They're not a big team, but they outhustled us."

North Hills (1-0) fought off a slow start on offense. The Indians shot 14 percent from the field in the first quarter and 20 percent (2-of-10) from the 3-point line in the first half. Fox Chapel led 17-16 at halftime and limited North Hills to five points in the first quarter.

"We couldn't rebound," Pirring said. "We're not making foul shots - we were shooting 50 percent from the line. You can't win games like that. We were making it harder on ourselves."

Fox Chapel coach Marty Matvey was happy with how his team got on the glass. During the summer league, the Foxes struggled to score more than 32 points a game. Fox Chapel's shooting wasn't pretty in the first half either, but the extra opportunities provide more scoring chances.

Lyla Jablon scored six of her team-high 15 points in the first quarter. Emily McKee scored on a layup and drew a foul to stretch the Foxes' lead to 10-4 late in the first quarter.

Fox Chapel shot 11 percent from 3-point line in the first half. The Foxes, who shot 25.8 percent (15 of 58) for the game, saw their offensive go in waves throughout the game.

"I would say tonight was a little bit better," Matvey said. "A lot of people are going to play a zone against us because of the shooting. We're really good in our man sets and we're going to get to the rim. We still have things to work out, but I thought people started to look more comfortable."

North Hills took the lead, 18-17, in the third quarter on a transition basket by Zoey Devlin, who finished with 15 points. Delaney Amato made a 3-pointer to stretch the Indians lead to 27-22 and provide some breathing room.

Fox Chapel (0-1) hung around in the game. The Foxes cut the lead to 43-38 in the final three minutes on a jumper by Jablon. Fox Chapel got a stop on defense and cut the lead to 43-31 with 2:05 remaining on a 3-pointer from McKee.

The Foxes got the ball back after forcing a turnover when North Hills turned the ball over on a closely-guarded five seconds call. Fox Chapel missed a shot that could have tied the game on the ensuing possession. Devlin missed a pair of free throws that could have closed out the game.

The ensuing rebound landed in between three players and was kicked out bounds. The ball was awarded to North Hills, who extended the lead to four on a pair of Amato free throws. Fox Chapel's Bailey Sacco scored on a layup to cut the deficit to two points.

Amato split a pair of free throws with eight seconds remaining to stretch the lead back to three. McKee, who finished with 11 points, had a 3-point attempt to tie the game blocked.

​Matvey said he was happy with his team's effort.

"I talked to them after the game about let's be good early and often so when it comes down to the last quarter, we're sitting comfortable," Matvey said. "These guys are a little further along than I expected."

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

Plum and North Hills have much grander ambitions than their current spots in the Northeast Conference standings would indicate. The Mustangs have dropped three straight games and have yet to pick up a win in conference.

Plum's struggles have come despite quarterback John Nonnenberg showing flashes of ability to put up big numbers. Nonnenberg has passed for 1,002 yards with nine touchdowns and four interceptions. However, Plum's offense took a nosedive in the face of strong competition the past two weeks.

Nonnenberg, who has topped 200 yards passing three times this season, was limited to 37 passing yards in a 56-14 loss to defending WPIAL 5A champion Pine-Richland two weeks ago. He also had a hard time against Penn-Trafford, being limited to 73 passing yards in a 33-14 defeat.

The Indians (1-5, 1-1) put itself in the playoff race with a 56-7 win over Fox Chapel. North Hills is led by quarterback Kelly McCarthy, who has thrown for 660 yards and nine touchdowns. Johnell Edison leads the Indians in rushing, piling up 297 yards on 48 carries.

Can Central Valley scare North Catholic?
The Warriors have had their share of issues going into a Western Hills Conference battle with North Catholic Friday at Stone Field. Central Valley (2-4, 2-1) has taken on its fair share of difficult opponents. The Warriors lost a rematch of the Class 3A WPIAL title game to Avonworth, 34-6.

Central Valley has also taken losses against Thomas Jefferson and Belle Vernon. North Catholic has been beating up all of its opponents so far season. Before losing 36-16 to Imani Christian last week, the Trojans had scored 47 points or more in every game this season.

The Warriors (2-4) have a balanced offensive attack. Central Valley is led by dynamic back Ethan Shearer on the ground. He has 455 yards on 55 carries this season. Warriors quarterback Braddock Ambrose has struggled with interceptions, but has thrown for 737 yards and six touchdowns.

North Catholic quarterback Joey Felitsky has thrown for 1,329 yards and 22 touchdowns. Logan Schade has been his top target, catching 45 passes for 657 yards.

Westmoreland County rivals seek good health
Greensburg Central Catholic and Jeannette could both use a shot in the arm. The Centurions played without their top offensive weapon, Samir Crosby, and were outmuscled in a 26-7 Eastern Conference loss to Riverview. Jeannette is struggling with health issues and took its second consecutive loss against Clairton.

The Jayhawks are seeking to avoid a three-game skid that plagued them in playoff seeding last season. However, things worked out for Jeannette, as the Jayhawks made a run to the WPIAL Class 1A semifinals. Jeannette and GCC are both 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the conference. The teams are in a four-way tie for fourth place with Frazier and Brentwood. A win does a long way toward solidifying a spot in the postseason.

Can Franklin Regional collect first win?
The Panthers hung tough with Kiski last week. But Franklin Regional (0-6) fell short, 14-7, in Big East Conference action. The Panthers will welcome a team that had a tough weekend in the press.

Fox Chapel has two wins this season, but the Foxes' request to have their game with Pine-Richland be played with shortened quarters drew a mixed reaction. The Foxes received a lot of criticism for the request from a vocal segment of the local sports community. Some of the players agreed with the decision.

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