North Allegheny opens on a high note

After blowing a double digit lead in the second half of last year’s Class AAAA WPIAL championship game, North Allegheny was itching for the opportunity to begin this season with a strong showing.

The Tigers — who are ranked No. 1 in Class 6A — passed their first test, defeating Class 6A No. 5 Penn Hills, 67-38, in their home tipoff tournament.

The Tigers held the Indians to four points in the first quarter and jumped out to a 29-17 lead at the half.

Leading the way for North Allegheny were juniors Courtney Roman and Piper Morningstar with 16 points.

Roman hit four 3-pointers for the Tigers.

Senior Desiree Oliver — who signed with Temple University — led the Indians with 14 points.

This is the third year in a row the Tigers defeated the Indians in their tournament.

Other top games

Senior Kenzie Bushee picked up where she left off from a year ago, pouring in 21 points to lead Class 6A No. 3 Mt. Lebanon to a 6951 victory against Chartiers Valley in the North Allegheny tournament. The Colts came into their season opener as the top-ranked team in Class 5A. The Blue Devils opened the game up in the second quarter, outscoring the Colts, 22-11, after being tied after the first. Sophomore Mackenzie Wagner led the Colts with 19 points.

Winchester Thurston proved that it doesn’t matter what classification your in as the No. 1 team in Class 1A throttled Class 4A No. 5 Highlands, 48-28, at the St. Joseph tournament. Junior Ayanna Townsend led the Bears with 19 points and Shaler transfer Gia Thorpe totaled 16 points.

Peters Township surprised teams last year but come into this year as one of the top teams in Class 6A, and it showed in a 69-19 drubbing of Elizabeth Forward. Senior Alyssa Konopka led the No. 2 Indians with 17 points. Sophomore sensation Makenna Marisa finished with 16 points.

Stars of the night

Junior Laura Graytok nearly outscored Karns City on her own with her 40-point performance to lead the Wildcats to an 87-43 win against the Gremlins in the Indiana tournament. Graytok’s performance broke the single-game record at Latrobe.

Junior Sydney Wolf scored 18 of her 27 points in the first half to lead Riverside to a win against Shenango, 57-45, in the New Castle tournament. Wolf also grabbed eight rebounds, just missing a double-double.

Sophomore Bella Burrelli recorded the first tripledouble of the season in Neshannock’s 62-26 win against Rochester in the New Brighton tournament. Burrelli recorded 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 steals for the No. 2 team in Class 3A.

Junior Mikayla Lovelace outscored Kiski Area on her own, finishing with 38 points and 13 rebounds to lead Class 2A No. 2 Leechburg to a 68-26 opening win in the Leechburg tipoff tournament.

Hotshots

Players with four or more 3-pointers: Kamryn Lach, Bethel Park, 5; Michelle Burns, Hempfield, 5; Kerri Bungard, Mount Pleasant, 5; Alyssa Hyland, Mt. Lebanon, 4.