Rochester races past St. Joseph

Rochester has been lighting up the scoreboard lately, scoring 91 points in each of its past two games, and St. Joseph likes to run.

A matchup that seemed like a high-scoring affair on paper turned out to be just that, as the Rams edged St. Joseph’s, 81-75, in a WPIAL Class 1A first-round battle at Fox Chapel.

“Coming in we figured it would be a pretty high-scoring game, but I knew if we put points on the board, it would be hard to get beat,” Rochester coach Brad Verrico said.

The Rams (16-6) looked to be on their way to a blowout when they took off on an 182 second-quarter run. But the Spartans (13-10) answered and trailed by just four points at halftime.

Chad Meny led Rochester with 18 points and Mahlik Strozier added 16 points and 16 rebounds.

St. Joseph’s Daniel Fabregas led all scorers with 23.

It was Rochester’s first playoff win since 2011.

Verrico said he would have liked to have seen a better defensive effort, but didn’t have a problem with competing in a shootout.

“However you can win, you just have to do it,” he said. “It’s the playoffs, survive and advance.” Potter, whose previous best was 36 points, netted 19 in the fourth quarter. Potter averaged 26.2 points per game in the regular season, which was the seventh-best tally in the WPIAL. Union (17-6) used a more balanced attack, led by Tre Charles (16), Evan Pinkerton (12) and Nate Meeks (12).

Imani Christian 74, Avella 45: Three players scored at least 20 points in Imani Christian’s rout at North Hills. Kenny Robinson led the charge with 25, followed by Ray Jackson with 21 and Samuel Fairley with 20. The Saints improved to 13-6.

Eden Christian 46, West Greene 35: The Warriors (129) outscored West Greene, 31-16, in the second half to secure a victory at Trinity. Chase Haring netted 15 points and Drew Aiken added nine for Eden Christian. The Pioneers got 13 points from Craig Weaver. West Greene (13-8) made the playoffs for only the fifth time in school history. It has only one playoff win.

Clairton 62, Propel Andrew Street 40: A trio of scorers propelled the Bears (17-5) at Baldwin. Noah Hamlin and Maurice Reeves each had 13 points, while Keishawn Wright chipped in with 11. Darius Davis had 13 points for Propel Andrew Street (9-14).

Cornell 77, Geibel 20: