Norwin had a memorable visit to the center of the state, going 2-0 to win the State College girls basketball tournament and remain unbeaten.
The Knights opened with a 51-46 victory against Abington Heights as Nia O’Barto had 10 points, Liz Yarosik added nine and Ava Christopher and Aubrey Graney each had eight.
In the championship game, Norwin edged State College, 48-46, with O’Barto scoring 12 on four 3-pointers, Graney with 10 and Yarosik with eight.
Christopher and Yarosik were named to the all-tournament team.
Norwin then moved to 4-0 with an impressive 67-44 win over Thomas Jefferson on Tuesday as Christopher poured in 23 and O’Barto had 11.
Spartans unbeaten
Hempfield also has kicked up a 4-0 start to the season.
After a 48-40 win over McKeesport to tip off the year, the Spartans took both games with lopsided wins at the Greensburg Salem Tournament.
They handled Mt. Pleasant, 47-17, before posting a 48-23 win over Greensburg Salem.
Ava Shipman was named tournament MVP, while Gabby Coccia and Reagan Fisher made the all-tournament team.
On Tuesday, Coccia scored 12 to lead Hempfield to a 44-30 win over Fox Chapel.
Hempfield hosts North Hills (1-3) on Thursday night.
Earning his stripes
Hempfield coach Bob Madison saw a pretty good football game right before the basketball season started. And he had a pretty good view, too.
Madison was a referee for the WPIAL Class 5A football championship Nov. 22 at Acrisure Stadium. Peters Township came back from a 19-0 halftime deficit to beat Pine-Richland, 20-19.
Madison was the umpire for the game. This is his 10th year as an official, and he previously served as head linesman.
He has worked four WPIAL finals and a PIAA title game (2022, Harrisburg vs. St. Joseph Prep).
Section play arrives
Section play starts Thursday night around the WPIAL.
Local matchups include Plum at Franklin Regional (Section 1-5A), Penn-Trafford at Greensburg Salem and West Mifflin at Latrobe (2-5A), Derry at Freeport (1-4A), Belle Vernon at Ringgold, Elizabeth Forward at Southmoreland and Yough at Mt. Pleasant (3-4A), Greensburg Central Catholic at Steel Valley and Ligonier Valley at Avonworth (2-3A) and Monessen at Bishop Canevin (2-A).
Gribble goes for record
Greensburg Central Catholic finally takes the court again Thursday at Steel Valley after a 10-day layoff. Standout point guard Erica Gribble will go for the school scoring record. The Richmond recruit needs just three points to break Franco Sebastiani’s career mark of 1,751 points set in 2007.
Earlier this season, Gribble broke the the GCC girls career scoring record.
Busy schedule
Jeannette has played a front-heavy schedule as far as number of games. The Jayhawks (5-1) already have six games under their belts.
“That’s OK,” second-year coach Jenna Lusby said. “Each game is another chance for us to get better. The girls would probably rather play games than practice. We’re excited to get to conference play.”
That won’t happen, though, until Jeannette hosts Riverview on Dec. 18. That means there will be eight nonsection games before then.
They have been stingy on defense, allowing just 26.5 points a game.
At the Helm
Norwin has a new assistant this season, and he was one of the better players in the county six years ago.
Geoff Helm, a Greensburg Central Catholic alum, has joined Brian Brozeski’s staff this season at Norwin.
He had already joined the Brozeski family when he married the head coach’s niece and a former Norwin standout athlete, Emily Brozeski, the daughter of former Norwin football coach Dave Brozeski.
After a strong prep career that began at Blairsville, Helm went on to play at Shippensburg briefly before transferring to Chatham, where he won a PAC championship.
Former coach returns
When South Park plays Belle Vernon this season, the Eagles’ coach will go against his former program.
Ronnie Drennen, who leads South Park, was Belle Vernon’s coach for two seasons until he resigned in 2020.
The teams play Dec. 18 at Belle Vernon.
First win for Brush
Derry and Southmoreland weren’t the only Westmoreland County schools to hire new girls basketball coaches in the offseason.
Tom Brush, the former head coach at Hempfield and Westmoreland County Community College, is the new head man at Kiski Area.
Brush earned his first win in the Cavaliers’ opener, a 52-20 win over Apollo-Ridge.
Kiski Area plays host to Hempfield on Jan 28.
Layup lines
Yough is quietly off to a 4-1 start. The Cougars are limiting their opponents. They held a 26.4 defensive scoring average after holding East Allegheny to nine points and Highlands to 18. Yough’s loss came against Deer Lakes, 39-38. … Belle Vernon 6-1 sophomore forward Aubrey Brown had a double-double in a 58-41 win over Connellsville. She finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds. … Southmoreland coach Barry Collins picked up his first win as the Scotties’ head man, 49-26 against Ligonier Valley.