Times' Top Performances from last week: Jan. 23-28

Ethan Morrison
·6 min read

Every week, the Beaver County Times will recognize both individual athletes and teams for their impressive performances that took place in the last week of high school sports action. Here are the standout efforts from the week of Jan. 23-28.

Boys Basketball

Jerome Mullins, Rochester

It was a rough week for Rochester as they dropped both of their games at the beginning of the week, but Mullins was dominant in the two losses putting up 24 points in the team’s 79-52 loss to Beaver Falls. He followed that game up with a 15-point performance in the Ram’s 80-61 loss to Aquanis Academy. Rochester got over the hump on Friday, however, as Mullins put up 13 points in the team’s 53-44 win over Cornell.

Rochester's Jerome Mullins shoots over Beaver Falls' Damien Jones during a Jan. 23, 2023, game at Beaver Falls.
Rochester's Jerome Mullins shoots over Beaver Falls' Damien Jones during a Jan. 23, 2023, game at Beaver Falls.

Maleek Thomas, Lincoln Park

Thomas was once again on fire this week for the Panthers as he put up 27 points in the team’s 79-40 win over Ambridge. Then against North Catholic on Friday, Thomas logged 22 points in the 71-55 win over the Trojans. Thomas followed that with a team-high 37 points in a tight game on Sunday against Chartiers Valley.

Brandin Cummings, Lincoln Park

Cummings just like Thomas had a massive week for Lincoln park as he had a 20-point effort Tuesday evening against Ambridge. He followed that performance with 23 points on Friday in their win over North Catholic.

Zach Oliver, Blackhawk

Blackhawk went 1-1 on the week and a big part of their success came from Zach Oliver as he posted 13 points in a tough four-point loss to Central Valley. But the Cougars bounced back nicely on Friday thanks to a massive 33-point performance from Oliver in a non-section win over Deer Lakes.

Sawyer Butler, Beaver

Butler was active all week for the Bobcats as in their 74-36 blowout win against Hopewell on Tuesday, Butler recorded 12 points. Butler reached double figures once again on Friday as he recorded 11 points in the team’s 55-48 win over Central Valley.

Joseph Roth, Ellwood City

It was a rough week for Ellwood City as they dropped both of their games. But the one player that stood out for the Wolverines was Roth. Roth continued to impress for the Wolverines this week as even though the team fell to Neshannock 77-53 on Tuesday night, Roth put together an impressive performance as he put up 24 points in the losing effort. Ellwood City dropped their second game of the week to Mohawk on Friday as Roth put up 39 points but it wasn’t enough as the Wolverines fell 64-59.

Elijah Gulliroy, Moon

Gulliroy was dominant for the Tigers this week as he put up 20 points in a thrilling 53-51 double-overtime victory over South Fayette. Moon would fall to Central Catholic later in the week to Central Catholic as Gulliroy recorded 14 points in the losing effort.

Sam Hughes, Riverside

Hughes played a major role in Riverside’s 76-52 win over New Brighton Friday evening as he recorded a team-high 18 points in the winning effort for the Panthers.

Riverside's Sam Hughes looks to pass as New Brighton's Khalil Castaneda defends during a Jan. 28, 2023, game at Riverside High School.
Riverside's Sam Hughes looks to pass as New Brighton's Khalil Castaneda defends during a Jan. 28, 2023, game at Riverside High School.

Rocco Spadafora, OLSH

Spadafora, and the Chargers were absolutely dominant this week as OLSH defeated Sto-Rox by 38 points winning by a final score of 80-42. Spadafora was the leading points-getter for OLSH contributing 34 points in the winning effort. He was dominant once again on Saturday as he was a key contributor in the Chargers’ 60-57 win over Carlynton.

Girls Basketball

Avian Norman, Beaver Falls

Norman was a force to be reckoned with this week for the Tigers as she contributed 12 points in the team’s 46-39 win over Hopewell. She followed that performance up by recording 13 points in the team’s 56-45 win over Eden Christian. Norman and the Tigers capped off their week with a 44-25 win over Riverside where she scored 16 points in the victory.

Libby Eannarino, Sewickley Academy

Eannarino put up two 30-point performances this week as she put an even 30 points in the team’s 60-53 loss to Rochester. After only scoring six points in the team’s loss to Freedom Eannarino responded with put up 31 points knocking down four three-pointers in the team’s 52-50 loss to Montieau.

Aleaya Mercier, Rochester

Mercier was dominant in Monday night’s win over Sewickley Academy as she posted 22 points in the team’s 60-53 win over Sewickley Academy.

Jayla Brown, Moon

Brown played a crucial role in the Tiger’s 47-43 victory over Central Valley as she posted a team-high 14 points in the winning effort.

Sarah Scott, Lincoln Park

Scott was dominant once again for the Panthers this week as she posted 14 points in a close 53-50 victory over Quaker Valley. She then followed that performance up with another 14-point showing in Lincoln Park’s 63-31 win over West Allegheny.

Julz Mohrbacher, Freedom

Mohrbacher had another strong week out on the hardwood for the Bulldogs as she put up 20 points in Freedom’s 62-57 loss to Shenango. Freedom bounced back later in the week as on Thursday Mohrbacher put up another impressive showing posting 23 points in their win over Sewickley Academy.

Julz Mohrbacher and Freedom coach John Kaercher pose with her basketball that says 'Julz, 1,000 Points" after scoring her 1,000th point in Freedom's victory Jan. 17 against New Brighton at Freedom High School.
Julz Mohrbacher and Freedom coach John Kaercher pose with her basketball that says 'Julz, 1,000 Points" after scoring her 1,000th point in Freedom's victory Jan. 17 against New Brighton at Freedom High School.

Shaye Bailey, Freedom

Just as Mohrbacher showed out for the Bulldogs, so did Bailey as she posted team high’s in both of Freedom’s games this week putting up 27 points in the team’s loss to Shenango and she followed up that performance with 26 points on Thursday in the win against Sewickley Academy.

Oumou Thiero, Quaker Valley

Thiero had a dominant week for the Quakers as she scored a team-high 14 points in the team’s close loss to Lincoln Park on Monday. Quaker Valley bounced back later in the week as they defeated Ambridge 64-20 where Thiero also paced the Quakers in that matchup as she put up 16 points in the win.

Alena Fusetti, Blackhawk

Fusetti had a dominant week for the Cougars as she put up 17 points in a 55-53 double overtime loss to Kennedy Catholic. Fusetti and Blackhawk bounced back on Thursday as she recorded 20 points in the team’s 66-16 blowout win over Central Valley which improved the Cougar’s record to 15-2 and a perfect 6-0 in section play.

Chloe List, Beaver

List had a strong start to the week as she put up a team-high 17 points in a close 41-39 loss to Union. She had a downtick in production on Thursday in the team’s 38-27 win against Hopewell but still contributed eight points in the winning effort.

Claire Noble, Ellwood City

Noble continues to lead the way for the Wolverines as she was just one point shy from reaching double figures in Ellwood City’s 62-34 loss to Neshannock. Then on Saturday Noble paced the Wolverines with 23 points in their 47-20 win over Portersville Christian.

Boys Bowling

Ethan Alderman, Blackhawk

The senior was dominant on a senior day as he paved the way for the Cougars en route to their 7-0 win over Rochester as Alderman threw a team-high 230, 235, 184 to finish with a total of 649.

Dave Rokicki, Moon

Rokicki had a strong showing in their match against Quaker Valley as he finished with a 638 in the series to defeat the Quakers 7-0.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Times' Top Performances from last week: Jan. 23-28