Farrell-Imani Christian, KC-Bishop McCort preview capsules
Mar. 17—Coach Myron Lowe's Farrell Steelers and coach Justin Magestro's Kennedy Catholic girls squad are the lone survivors in the PIAA basketball quarterfinals. Farrell meets Imani Christian Academy tonight while KC will face Bishop McCort.
The following are preview capsules of the two games:
BOYS BASKETBALL
Who: Farrell (22-4) vs. Imani Christian Academy (20-6).
What: PIAA Class 1A quarterfinal
When: 6 p.m. Today
Where: North Allegheny High School.
Key Players: Farrell — Nasir O'Kane 12.7 ppg., Lamont Samuels 12.3, Danny Odem 9.7, Kylon Wilson 8.2, Khanye Matthews 6.5, Malachi Owens. Imani Christian Academy — Dame Givner 15.9, Alier Maluk 15.2, Virgil Hall 12.7, RJ Sledge 10.5, Avery Wesley.
Bonus Shots: Farrell enters with an all-time record of 84-35 in state playoff games. ... A win would send Farrell to its first state semifinal since 2015. ... In 2015, the Steelers beat Clarion-Limestone in the quarterfinal and Kenned Catholic in the semifinal on their way to being state runner-ups. ... The Steelers have won 12 straight since a 63-59 loss to Shenango on Jan. 15. ... O'Kane is averaging 15.5 points per game since the start of the District 10 tournament. ... The Saints started the season 1-4 before finding their groove in the second half of the season. ... The Saints are fourth by TribLive in the site's latest rankings, and they sit atop the MaxPreps points rankings. ... Maluk is ranked the 16th best sophomore prospect in the country by Rivals.com. He has offers from Pitt, West Virginia, Auburn, LSU, NC State, Ohio State, Oregon, Seton Hall, and Texas A&M. ... Imani Christian beat Union 64-41 to claim the WPIAL Class 1A title. ... The Saints and the Scotties met again on Tuesday in the state quarterfinals, with Imani Christian topping the Scotties again, 80-48. ... Last season, the Saints fell to eventual state champion Bishop Canevin 53-45 in the PIAA quarterfinals. ... The Steelers or Saints will face the Union-Carlynton winner on Monday. Union and Carlynton will play at North Allegheny following the Farrell-Imani Christian quarterfinal.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Who: Kennedy Catholic (23-4) vs. Bishop McCort (16-13).
What: PIAA Class 2A quarterfinals.
When: 6 p.m. Today.
Where: Norwin High School.
Key Players: Kennedy Catholic — Layke Fields 18.6 ppg., Bella Magestro 12.4; Isabella Bianco 9.4, Monique Vincent 8.5, Hayden Keith 7.9, Cassie Dancak 6.5. Bishop McCort: Gianna Gallucci 17.2, Bria Bair 16.2, Cameron Beppler 12.2, Kalina Bailey 3.9, Karalyn Bailey 2.9, Emma Preuss 2.9.
Bonus Shots: Tonight's game will be KC's 22nd PIAA quarterfinal appearance (would've been 23 but COVID wiped out the conclusion of 2020 season). The Golden Eagles have advanced to the semifinals eight times (1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2022). ... The program has competed in 105 state playoff games and has won 67 of them. ... KC is 2-1 against Bishop McCort in the PIAA playoffs — won 73-63 in the 1976 quarterfinals, lost 60-40 in the second round in 1982, and won 48-46 in the second round in 1990. ... KC has reached three state championship games — lost to Marian Catholic (64-49) in 1984, won in 2001 (48-46) against Pottsville Nativity BVM, and lost to Northumberland Christian (66-54) last year. KC won the Third Place game against St. Pius (45-37) in 1976. ... Coach Justin Magestro's D-10 champs opened the state playoffs with a 77-20 win over Brentwood and beat Burgettstown, 56-39, in the second round on Tuesday. ... Against Brentwood, Keith had 24 points, Fields scored 13, Vincent bucketed 12, Dancak added 11 points, and Magestro scored 10. ... Against Burgettstown, Magestro, who is only a freshman, buried seven treys and finished with a career-high 29 points while Fields scored 10. Magestro's previous high was 25 against Farrell. ... Fields was an All-State selection as a freshman last year and is already at 830 career points. ... KC, which has won 13 straight District 10 championships and 29 overall, has won 20 straight games. The last loss was on Dec. 22 at Class 6A Norwin, 53-29. Norwin (23-4) is still alive in the 6A playoffs. ... KC has also lost against D-7 champ North Catholic (50-28), West Virginia Class 4A state champ Morgantown (51-30) and University (W.Va.) (59-55 in OT). ... KC has notched impressive road wins over Indiana (42-39), Blackhawk (55-53), and McDowell (46-32). Blackhawk (beat Knoch) and North Catholic (beat Harbor Creek) on Wednesday to stay alive in the 4A playoffs. NC beat Blackhawk for the D-7 championship. NC has won two straight WPIAL titles and 22 overall. ... In the PIAA playoffs last year, Kennedy beat North Clarion (60-23), Shanksville-Stonycreek (55-29), Otto-Eldred (77-30), and Portage (51-45) before falling in the Class 1A championship game to Northumberland Christian at the Giant Center in Hershey. ... Coach John Hahn is in his 23rd season as Bishop McCort coach. ... The Crimson Crushers beat Freedom Area (64-58) in the first round of the PIAAs and ousted D-9 champ Redbank Valley (62-48 in OT) in the second round. ... Against Freedom Area, which was the Class 3A runner-up last year, Gallucci scored 23 points, Beppler had 22, and Bair 13. ... Callucci had a career-high 30 points and added 12 rebounds against Redbank Valley, which entered the game with a 26-1 record and was on a 19-game winning streak (had won three D-9 titles in four years). Bair had nine points and 12 boards and Beppler added 12 points. McCort trailed 34-28 at halftime and outscored RV 34-11 in the second half (14-0 run over the final 5:40). ... Bair has over 1,000 career points and rebounds. ... In the District 6 playoffs, BM was seeded ninth. The Crushers beat West Branch (46-27) and Bellwood Antis (65-52) before losing to Homer Center (58-50) in the semifinals. McCort then defeated Marion Center (56-51) to earn the No. 3 seed out of the district. ... Bishop McCort's losses are against Indiana (59-48), River Valley (72-62), Forest Hills (75-50 and 51-50), Westmont Hilltop (58-45, 59-44, and 53-34), Chestnut Ridge (69-60 and 73-53), Central (65-62), United (68-60), Richland (66-58), and Homer-Center (58-50). ... In the PIAA playoffs last year, Bishop McCort beat Windber (63-32) and Linden Hall (54-43) before losing to District 4 champ Southern Columbia (84-64) in the quarterfinals. SC ended up dropping the state championship game to Neshannock (62-56). ... The Crushers reached the PIAA 2A championship game in 2017, but suffered a 63-49 loss to D-11 champ Minersville. ... McCort was also runner-up in the 1986 and 1988 state title games. The Crushers beat Pine Grove (73-49) for the 1985 Class 2A championship. ... Tonight's winner advances to the state semifinals to play the winner between District 7 champ Shenango and D-7 fifth seed Greensburg Central Catholic. That game is at 6 p.m. at Fox Chapel High School.
