Boys

Salisbury-Elk Lick 88, Johnstown Christian 29

SALISBURY – Alex Beiler notched his 1,000th career point in Salisbury-Elk Lick’s lopsided win over Johnstown Christian on Tuesday night.

Beiler stole a pass and scored on a lay-up to reach the milestone. He poured in 30 points in the win and reached the milestone in the first quarter.

“Alex is a great kid and he works hard, so it’s nice to see him get these accolades,” said his brother and head coach Aaron Beiler, who is six years older than Alex. “I scored 1,000 points here, too, so it was really special to be coaching when he got the milestone. He’s the ultimate team player. He got it early on. That was great because it seemed to take the pressure off him.”

Alex was pleased that the points came early, so he could focus on basketball.

“I don’t like having all of the attention on me so it was nice to get it out of the way,” he said. “It was a great experience, though. I got to watch my older brother do it. It was real special to do it in front of him.”

With the win, Salisbury-Elk Lick raised its record to 5-5. Johnstown Christian slipped to 0-7.

In addition to Beiler’s big night, Brandon Miller led the way with 36 points. Jeremy Pyles paced Johnstown Christian with 25.



Johnstown 39, Altoona 30

ALTOONA – Johnstown High used an effective man-to-man defense to defeat host Altoona in a non-conference game at the Altoona Field House.

“It was a great defensive game. We held them to two points in the third quarter,” Johnstown coach Neil Cobaugh said. “They got those two points with 45 seconds left on an offensive rebound. It was a hard-fought defensive game.

“We started in a zone and switched to a man in the second quarter. We held them to 15 points after that.”

Johnstown’s Dwight Andrews had 12 points, and Alkwan Williams added 11 points for the Trojans, who are 11-1 overall. Altoona, now 5-8, did not have a player reach double-digit scoring.

“This is big. It was a playoff type of a game where you have a physical type of defense,” Cobaugh said. “To win in a storied rivalry like this is a big win for us.”

Altoona held a slim 8-5 first-quarter advantage. Johnstown led 17-16 at halftime and limited the Mountain Lions to 14 second-half points, including only two in the third quarter.

“We’re finally starting to hit our stride. We preach defense and free throws,” Cobaugh said. “To go 11 of 13 from the line and to play that type of defense against a team like Altoona was impressive.”

Johnstown has a key LHAC game against visiting Richland tonight and travels to Somerset on Friday.

Northern Cambria 56, Ligonier Valley 49

LIGONIER - Josh Bonatesta scored 17 points and Adam Polites added 15 points as Northern Cambria posted a key Heritage Conference road win over Ligonier Valley.

The Colts (10-2), still unbeaten in the conference at 7-0, also got 13 points from Jeff Hogan along with 13 rebounds and six assists from Nick Lee.

Zach Yeskey and Alec Bloom had 14 points each for the Rams (7-4).



Rockwood 55, Portage 36

PORTAGE – Portage fell behind 18-10 after the first quarter of play and couldn’t make up the ground in a loss to visiting Rockwood.

Rockwood improved to 9-4 with the win. Ethan Keefer led the way with 23 points, while Luke Miller reached double digits, scoring 10.

Portage slipped to 4-7 with the loss. Jake Bryja led the Mustangs with 15 points while Jesse Kreutzberger added 10.



Cambria County Christian 54, Great Commission 52

MUNDYS CORNER - Cambria County Christian overcame a 30-26 halftime deficit with an 18-8 surge in the third quarter on its way to a win over visiting Great Commission.

Dom Williams led the way for Cambria County with 23 points while Andy Mo added 13.

Jonah Salyards had 23 points for the visitors while Dylan Johnson added 10.

Girls

Portage 63, Rockwood 33

PORTAGE - Portage led 31-16 at the half then put the game away in the third with a 21-6 surge in a WestPAC non-section victory over visiting Rockwood.

 Emily McCabe and Emily Chobany scored 16 points each for the Mustangs (10-3), who also got 15 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots from Olivia McCabe.

Chobany contributed six steals while Emily McCabe provided nine rebounds and seven steals.

Kelsey Zerfoss topped the Rockets with 14 points.



Great Commission 32, Cambria County Christian 13

MUNDYS CORNER - Jen Drenning scored a game-high 22 points, but was just 2 of 18 from 3-point range, as Great Commission (15-0) remained unbeaten with a road win over Cambria County Christian.

Alexis Wolfe topped Cambria County (10-6) with seven points.



Blacklick Valley 62, Shade 32

NANTY GLO – Shade scored just 13 points in the first half and dropped a road contest at Blacklick Valley.

Blacklick Valley improved to 5-6 overall. It was led by Jordynn Kish, who scored 16 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Allison Verba added 13 points in the win.

Shade was paced by Becca Muha, who scored 11 points.



Berlin 63, Ferndale 37

FERNDALE – Berlin jumped out to a 23-5 first-quarter lead and kicked things into cruise control in an easy home victory.

Berlin had three players reach double digits. Aleesa Fieg led the way with 11 points, while Shelby Coughenour and Erica Craig added 10 points apiece.

Ferndale was led by Elizabeth Chobany, who scored 16.



Johnstown Christian 40, Salisbury 30

SALISBURY - Visiting Johnstown Christian dashed out to a 13-3 lead after the first quarter on its way to a win over Salisbury-Elk Lick.

The Blue Jays were led by 18 points from Kayla Conahan while Sam Haynes added 10 points.

Alayna Harshberger scored a game-high 20 points for the Elks.