Off and Running
United romps in opener; Indiana wrestlers win; Kosmack tops 1,000
The United Lions played as though they had been pent-up since last winter.
United bolted to a big lead and rolled past West Shamokin, 72-43, on the first night of the Heritage Conference boys’ basketball season Thursday. Teams were scheduled to open Tuesday, but a winter storm canceled school and forced the postponement of all games.
The Lions led 27-4 at the end of the first quarter and 34-20 at halftime.
Carter Payne, a 5-foot-10 senior point guard, led United with a game-high 21 points. He made four of his team’s five 3-point field goals.
Ryan Felix, a 6-4 junior, scored 13 points, and 5-10 senior Jake Burkett added 12.
Senior point guard Alex Talmadge scored 19 points for West Shamokin.
United plays host to Windber in a non-conference game Friday. West Shamokin welcomes Northern Cambria on Tuesday.
West Shamokin (0-1)
Talmadge 7 4-5 19, Harkleroad 2 0-2 4, A.Krizmanich 2 0-2 4, Wingard 1 0-0 2, Cravener 1 0-0 3, Cessna 0 0-0 0, N.Krizmanich 2 2-3 6, Myers 0 0-2 0, Buffone 2 0-0 5, Totals 17 6-14 43
United (1-0)
James 2 0-0 4, Worthington 3 1-1 7, Darr 2 3-5 7, Burkett 4 3-3 12, McGinnis 1 0-0 2, Dubics 0 0-0 0, Oleksa 1 0-0 2, Payne 8 1-2 21, Felix 6 1-3 13, Laughard 1 0-0 2, Robertson 1 0-0 2, Totals 29 9-14 72
West Shamokin 4 16 13 10 — 43
United 27 18 19 8 — 72
3-point field goals: West Shamokin 3 (Talmadge, Cravener, Buffone). United 5 (Payne 4, Burkett).
JV score: United 40-27.
MARION CENTER 65, CAMBRIA HEIGHTS 44: Marion Center opened each half on a roll and beat Cambria Heights in the Heritage Conference opener for both teams.
Marion Center grabbed an 18-11 lead in the first quarter and extended a 25-14 halftime advantage to 27 at 48-21 after three quarters.
Marion Center’s Kamden Rozier, a 6-foot-4 senior forward, scored a game-high 26 points. Juniors Hayden Fox and Alex Brudnock combined for 22 points.
Travis Kubat led Cambria Heights with nine points.
Both teams play Monday. Marion Center plays host to River Valley, and Cambria Heights visits Conemaugh Township.
Marion Center (1-0)
Fox 5 0 12, Brudnock 3 4 10, Mattis 0 0 0, Rozier 9 2 26, Pack 2 0 5, Sacco 2 0 4, Roach 0 0 0, Bish 3 1 8, Totals 24 7-10 65
Cambria Heights (0-1)
Clawson 1 4 6, Farabaugh 2 0 4, Ivory 2 0 5, Lobick 1 0 2, Kubat 4 1 9, L.Kline 1 2 4, M.Kline 2 1 5, DeArmitt 2 0 6, Dutko 1 0 3, Thomas 0 0 0, Gwizdak 0 0 0, Totals 16 8-15 44
Marion Center 18 7 23 17 — 65
Cambria Heights 11 3 7 23 — 44
3-point field goals: Marion Center 10 (Rozier 6, Fox 2, Pack, Bish), Cambria Heights 4 (DeArmitt 2, Ivory, Dutko).
JV score: Cambria Heights 50-17.
CONEMAUGH VALLEY 75, PENNS MANOR 45: Penns Manor stuck with Conemaugh Valley through the first quarter, but the Bluejays pulled away in the second in the Heritage Conference opener for both teams.
Penns Manor trailed 17-16 before Conemaugh Valley broke the game open during a 27-5 second quarter.
Vinny Myers, 5-foot-10 junior, poured in 28 points for Penns Manor. He scored nine points in the opening quarter and 13 in the fourth but was held without a field goal in the middle periods. He was 9-for-10 from the free throw line.
Jaylen Henry, a 5-foot-10 senior, canned 28 points to lead Conemaugh Valley. Lance Masser, a 6-5 junior, scored 18 points, and George Weimer had 14.
Conemaugh Valley plays host to Harmony on Friday. Penns Manor plays at Harmony on Monday.
Conemaugh Valley (1-0)
Henry 10 6 28, Dietz 2 0 4, Weimer 5 2 14, Korhut 3 2 8, Masser 9 0 18, Buchan 1 0 3, Palmer 0 0 0, Hill 1 0 3, Totals 31 10-13 78.
Penns Manor (0-1)
Myers 8 10 28, Depp 1 4 7, Valazak 2 1 5, Hardesty 1 0 3, Jarvie 0 0 0, Brendlinger 0 0 0, Fennell 1 0 2. Totals 13 15-21 45
Conemaugh Valley 17 27 20 14 — 78
Penns Manor 16 5 10 14 — 45
3-point field goals: Conemaugh Valley 6 (Weimer 2, Henry 2, Buchan, Hill), Penns Manor 4 (Myers 2, Hardesty, Depp).
CONEMAUGH TOWNSHIP 67, HOMER-CENTER 31: Homer-Center managed only three points in the first quarter and couldn’t keep up with Conemaugh Township in the Heritage Conference opener for both teams.
Colin Dinyar, a 6-foot-4 senior, scored a game-high 21 points for the defending conference champion. Stephen Stango, a 5-11 senior, turned in 17. Erik McClemens, a 6-8 junior, scored 10 of his team’s 18 points in the first quarter and finished with 16.
Joey Kosmack, a 6-3 junior, scored 11 points for Homer-Center.
Conemaugh Township plays at Central Cambria on Friday. Homer-Center plays host to the Kisko School on Saturday
Conemaugh Township (1-0)
Dinyar 10 0-0 21, Stango 6 4-5 17, Studer 4 0-0 9, McClemens 8 0-0 16, Brotz 0 0-0 0, Bartis 1 0-0 2, Shippey 1 0-0 2, Totals 30 4-5 67
Homer-Center (0-1)
Budner 2 0-2 5, Fisher 2 0-0 4, Sharer 1 0-0 2, Arone 0 2-2 2, Fedoruk 1 0-0 2, Kosmack 5 1-2 11, Palmer 1 0-0 2, Rodman 1 0-0 3, Darr 0 0-2 0, Totals 13 3-8 31
Conemaugh Township 18 16 18 15 — 67
Homer-Center 3 10 10 8 — 31
3-point field goals: Conemaugh Township 3 (Dinyar, Stango, Studer), Homer-Center 2 (Budner, Rodman).
PORTAGE 55, PURCHASE LINE 30: Portage jumped on Purchase Line and won the Heritage Conference opener for both teams.
Portage took a 24-8 lead in the first quarter and stretched the margin to 22 points going into halftime.
Braylin Walker scored 14 points and Lleshson Walker and Tyson Burkett added 10 apiece for Portage.
Jacob Stein scored nine points for Purchase Line.
Both teams play Tuesday. Purchase Line visits Cambria Heights, and Portage welcomes Penns Manor.
Portage (2-1)
L.Walker 5 0 10, Burkett 5 0 10, B.Walker 6 0 14, Caldwell 1 0 3, Bobolsky 1 0 2, Kick 3 0 8, Gathers 3 0 8, Slanoc 0 0 0, Regitz 0 0 0, Burgan 0 0 0, Papcun 0 0 0, Mitchuk 0 0 0, Allison 0 0 0, Totals 24 0-0 55
Purchase Line (0-1)
Kauffman 0 2 2, S.Prusso 1 1 3, J.Stein 3 3 9, Lotion 2 1 5, Mountain 0 0 0, Matko 2 1 5, Clawson 0 1 1, Engle 0 3 3, A.Stein 0 0 0, R.Prusso 1 0 2, Barkey 0 0 0, Frantz 0 0 0. Totals 9 12-19 30
Portage 24 16 12 3 — 55
Purchase Line 8 10 5 7 — 30
3-point field goals: Portage 7 (B.Walker 2, Kick 2, Gathers 2, Caldwell); Purchase Line 0.
JV score: Portage 31-28.
FOREST HILLS 83, DERRY 67: Forest Hills pulled away from Derry in the second quarter of its opener in an interdistrict game.
Forest Hills, out of District 6, led 23-22 going into the second quarter and stretched the lead to 11 points, 44-33, by halftime. The Rangers took a 16-point advantage into the fourth quarter.
Brayden Robinson fired in 29 points and Stanley Rajkovich scored 20 for Derry, which plays in the WPIAL.
Forest Hills’ Koy McGough, a 6-foot-1 senior guard, opened the season with a 32-point effort. Dylan Stohon, a 6-6 junior, scored 23. Dylan Gregovich added 11.
Derry (2-2) welcomes Connellsville on Tuesday.
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
HOMER-CENTER 39, CONEMAUGH TOWNSHIP 31: Julia Fabin buried four 3-point field goals to lead Homer-Center past Conemaugh Township in the Heritage Conference opener for both teams that was played Wednesday.
Fabin, a 5-foot-9 sophomore, hit two 3s in the first quarter and another in the second to help the Wildcats take a 22-17 lead into halftime.
After a slow third quarter in which the teams combined for three field goals, Fabin hit another 3 in the fourth to help keep Homer-Center in control. She finished with 16 points.
Bekah Marshall, a 5-10 junior, added 11 points.
Conemaugh Township’s Mayce Kordell, a junior guard, matched Fabin with 16 points.
The teams combined to shoot only 13 free throws and made eight. Marshall made all three of Homer-Center’s on five attempts.
Both teams play Friday. Homer-Center welcomes Northern Cambria, and Conemaugh Township visits Penns Manor.
Homer-Center (1-1)
Marshall 4 3-5 11, Bence 1 0-0 2, Fabin 6 0-0 16, Brendlinger 0 0-0 0, Bartlebaugh 3 0-0 6, Totals 14 3-5 35
Conemaugh Township (0-3)
M.Kordell 6 3-4 16, Seibert 1 0-0 2, Moser 2 1-2 5, Hagan 2 1-2 5, Lasure 1 0-0 3, L.Kordell 0 0-0 0, Totals 12 5-8 31
Homer-Center 13 9 4 13 — 39
Conemaugh Township 9 8 2 12 — 31
3-point field goals: Homer-Center 4 (Fabin 4), Conemaugh Township 2 (Kordell, Lasure).
WRESTLING
INDIANA 39, BUTLER 31: Indiana strung together five pins in a six-match stretch and opened the season by defeating Butler in a WPIAL Class 3A non-section wrestling match Wednesday.
Indiana trailed 26-9 before the dominant stretch. Conner Sevajian, a junior, started it at 152 pounds with a pin of Dennis Brunton.
After the lone loss in the stretch, junior 171-pounder Domenic Donatelli pinned Hunter Dinger, senior Dominic Fanella followed suit against Drake Barto at 189, and senior Jacob Snyder pinned Javier Valadez at 215.
Junior heavyweight Jackson Higgins finished the string with a pin of Ace McElravy.
Two freshmen made their varsity debut and racked up wins. Lewis Sears pinned Carmelo Cantera for Indiana’s first points at 114, and Charles Spells followed with a decision of Sullivan Stutz at 121.
Indiana travels to Kiski Area on Wednesday for a Section 3 match.
Times and scores not available
107: Ben Kinney (B) pinned Isaiah Hilliard
114: Lewis Sears (I) pinned Carmelo Cantera
121: Charles Spells (I) dec. Sullivan Stutz
127: Nick Savannah (B) forfeit
133: Santino Sloboda (B) tech. fall Hunter Williams
139: Mason Swidzinski (B) pinned Sean Parks
145: Dylan Thurber (B) dec. Nate Turner 12-5
152: Conner Sevajian (I) pinned Dennis Brunton
160: Sutton Stoner (B) tech. fall Rowan Grantz
172: Domenic Donatelli (I) pinned Hunter Dinger
189: Dominic Fanella (I) pinned Drake Barto
215: Jacob Snyder (I) pinned Javier Valadez
Hwt: Jackson Higgins (I) pinned Ace McElravy
Exhibition matches
Gavin Kelly (I) pinned Lucas Green
Cash Allshouse (I) pinned Johnathan Gill
SWIMMING
HOMER-CENTER OPENS: Homer-Center’s swim teams piled up 10 wins in their season opening-meet Thursday evening at the Jack Pidgeon Natatorium on the IUP campus.
First-place finishes for Homer-Center were turned in by Morgan Nagy in the 200 freestyle, Maria Frazer in the 100 backstroke, Blake Lucas in the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle, Brady Frazer in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke, Nathaniel Bilo in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle and Trevor Cameron in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke.
The boys’ relay team of Lucas, Frazer, Cameron and Bilo won the 200 medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay. The team of Chase Shoup, Lincoln Schaldenbrand, Peyton Strong and Carter Henry won the 200 freestyle relay.
Four swimmers competed in their first meet: Wedu Chilume, Shoup, Shadebrand and Strong.
Joshalyn Patterson, Maria Frazer, Natalia Thomas, Trevor Cameron and Nathaniel Bilo had time drops.
The boys’ team received a win over Ligonier Valley, which does not have enough swimmers to form a squad. Ligonier’s girls scored a 96-50 win.
Homer-Center competes against Cambria Heights at St. Francis on Monday.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
KOSMACK TOPS 1,000: Molly Kosmack, a Homer-Center High School graduate and a junior at Mount Aloysius College in Cresson, surpassed a milestone in the Mounties’ 98-54 win over Carlow on Tuesday at the Donahue Pavilion.
Kosmack, a 6-foot forward, scored 18 points and surpassed 1,000 points in her collegiate career.
Kosmack recorded a double-double in points and rebounds in each of her first two seasons. She is averaging 16.7 points and 16.0 rebounds this season and 17.3 points and 12.6 rebounds for her career.
Mount Aloysius has won two straight after an 0-4 start and faces Hilbert (N.Y.) at home on Saturday afternoon.
