Westmoreland County campus clippings: GCC grad Melina Maietta surpasses milestone

With a reputation for scoring points in bunches, big things were expected of Melina Maietta at Pitt-Greensburg when the guard transferred from Coastal Carolina.

The Greensburg Central Catholic alum has not disappointed.

Maietta joined the UPG women’s basketball 1,000-point club in the team’s 98-53 loss to AMCC leader La Roche.

She finished with a team-high 20 points.

Maietta leads UPG with a 17.1-point average, and also has a team-high 46 assists and 24 steals.

The Bobcats clubbed Pitt-Bradford over the weekend 87-51, as five scored in double figures.

Maietta and sophomore Anna Durbin had 16 points each, sophomore Tianna Moracco (Derry) added 15 with 16 rebounds, and freshmen Melina Boord and Sarah Penrod (Franklin Regional) had 11 apiece.

Women’s basketball

Chatham: Sophomore Alyssa Laukus (Norwin) was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Player of the Week. Laukus led the Cougars to two wins, producing 15 points and six rebounds in a 69-58 win over Saint Vincent, then added 16 points and six rebounds in a 76-51 win against Grove City.

She made 14 of 22 shots combined in those games.

Edinboro: Sophomore Maura Suman (Edinboro) had a season-high 17 points in a 90-76 loss to Edinboro. She played 35 minutes.

Suman was averaging 5.8 points and 22.7 minutes over 11 games for the Fighting Scots.

Florida Tech: Junior guard Sarah Liberatore (Hempfield) led the Panthers with 12 points in a 73-54 loss to Eckerd.

Grove City: Junior guard Mara Polczynski (Norwin) pulled down 14 rebounds in a 76-51 loss to Chatham.

Penn State Behrend: Freshman Lily Paladino (Penn-Trafford) has started all 14 games and is averaging 6.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game in 23.6 minutes.

She tied a season high with 13 points in a 75-50 win over Hilbert.

Saint Vincent: The Bearcats (7-9, 5-6 PAC) forced 23 turnovers and snapped a four-game losing streak with a 61-37 victory over Franciscan.

Emily Cavacini had 12 points to lead SVC.

Seton Hill: Senior Christiane Frye’s double-double (24 points, 10 rebounds) pushed the Griffins past Clarion and over .500 (8-7, 5-4 PSAC).

Sophomore Hallie Cowan added 20 points and sophomore Abby Mankins (Greensburg Salem) had 11 in an 88-72 win that saw the Griffins score 51 in the second half.

Men’s basketball

Carlow: Junior guard Riley Comforti (Southmoreland) produced a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds, but the Celtics fell to Penn State Altoona in overtime, 98-92.

Montevallo: Freshman Landon Butler (Latrobe) scored 11 points and grabbed four rebounds in 30 minutes off the bench in a 94-87 victory over Valdosta.

Pitt-Greensburg: Junior Josh Mentzer scored a career-high 20 points, making all four of his 3-point attempts, freshman Trent Rozich had 17 and six assists, sophomore Jackson Byer added 13 points, and sophomore Matthew Marinchak (Ligonier Valley) had 11 as the Bobcats (6-9, 5-3 AMCC) slipped past Pitt-Bradford, 71-70.

Saint Vincent: Trailing Chatham by eight with seven minutes to play, the Bearcats outscored the host Cougars by 21 the rest of the way to post an 83-66 win.

Sophomore Jaden Gales scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while senior Tayler McNeal added 17 points and seven assists, and sophomore Dev Ostrowski had 16 points and nine rebounds.

Senior Osyon Jones chipped in 15 points.

The streaking Bearcats moved to 16-0 with an 84-74 victory over visiting Franciscan Saturday at Carey Center.

Junior Mike Iuzzolino, senior Osyon Jones and Gales combined for 69 points as the Bearcats (16-0) tied the 2004-05 team’s longest winning streak.

Iuzzolino scored 21 of his 27 in the first half. He made 6 of 10 3-pointers and was 7 for 7 at the foul line, while Jones had 22 on 8-of-12 shooting, and Gales went for 20 plus eight rebounds.

Seton Hill: Led by their seniors, the Griffins (10-5, 5-4) dumped Mercyhurst, 88-72.

Senior Ryan Meis had 20 points, including four 3-pointers, while senior Sean Dillon added 17 points, and senior Caleb Whitaker scored 12 in the win.

Wrestling

Army: Sophomore Ethan Berginc (Hempfield/Jeannette) went into the weekend tied for the most major decisions in NCAA Division I wrestling with eight.

Berginc, a 125-pounder, had a record of 27-8 with two pins and one technical fall.

Bucknell: Senior Kurt Phipps (Norwin) picked up a win at 133 pounds with a 5-0 shutout as the Bison posted their third straight duals victory, 25-11 over LIU.

Phipps (14-2) has shut out three of his last four opponents.

His teammate, Nathan Lukez, and Noah Fox of Franklin & Marshall, also have eight major decisions.

Pitt-Johnstown: Junior 285-pounder Isaiah Vance (Hempfield) was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Wrestler of the Week for the second straight time this season.

Vance had three falls in a combined time of 4 minutes and 29 seconds in three matches at the Mountain Cat Duals.

Saint Vincent: The Bearcats registered their first win in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference, setting aside Waynesburg, 34-18, to move to 2-6 overall in their first season back in nearly five decades.

Freshmen Tyler Debnar and Chase Brandebura recorded pins for SVC, at 149 and 165 pounds.

Seton Hill: William Burgess, a grad 133-pounder, earned a 10-2 major decision, and freshman Nikolas Ferra (Burrell) won with an 8-5 decision, but the Griffins (4-5, 1-2 PSAC) fell to Millersville, 38-7.

Washington & Jefferson: Freshman Christian McChesney (Greensburg Salem) won by technical fall (15-0) at 197 pounds as the Presidents dropped a tight, 25-23 decision to Thiel in PAC action.

Baseball

Wilmington (Ohio): James Rice (Greensburg Central Catholic) was hired as an assistant coach at the Division III school in Ohio.

A Mount Aloysius graduate who played five years (59 games, 22 starts) with the Mounties, Rice was a three-sport athlete at GCC.

Pro Beat

Basketball

Kason Harrell registered his second 50-point game at the professional level for Killestar Basketball Club in Dublin, Ireland.

Harrell, a Hempfield graduate, was an assistant coach for the Yough boys a year ago. He resigned with Pyrobel Killestar and is back to doing what he does best: piling up points.

Harrell hit 15 two-pointers, four 3-pointers and 8 of 9 free throws in a 110-91 win over Eanna in a Super League game.

Two years ago, he scored a team-record 56 points in a 102-87 win over Garveys Warriors.