Canon-McMillan's Girls Basketball Team's First WPIAL Championship Win Had a Unique Start

Plymouth-Whitemarsh surges in the second half; Clarion-Limestone ends title drought; Pennsylvania basketball notebook.

Canon-McMillan's Olivia Ross attempts to block a last-second heave from Norwin's Nia O'Barto during the third quarter of the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday night at Petersen Events Center. / Josh Rizzo

PITTSBURGH – Canon-McMillan won its first WPIAL Class 6A championship Saturday night with a 50-38 win over Nowin. How the event started for the Big Macs was unlike any of the other 12 championship games that were played over three days at Petersen Events Center.

Olivia Ross, who scored two points and grabbed four rebounds, sang the national anthem before the game. The Big Macs (21-4) had plenty to be excited about following that. Canon-McMillan built a 27-15 lead by halftime and survived a 15-0 Knights' run in the third quarter to hold on for the title.

Canon-McMillan's Madison Clair gathers the ball while Norwin's Anna Fraser gets ready to guard her during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday at Petersen Events Center. / Josh Rizzo

Madison Clair led the Big Macs with 15 points, while Samantha Miller added 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Plymouth Whitemarsh Smothers Coatesville in Second Half

The Red Raiders had a 13-point halftime lead against the Colonials at halftime. Coatesville's offense wilted in the second half of the District 1 6A championship game. The Red Raiders shot 2-of-19 from the field and only scored 10 points after halftime in a 56-52 defeat at Hagan Arena.

Five-star recruit Colton Hiller led the Red Raiders with 21 points. Michael Pereira, a Penn recruit, led Plymouth Whitemarsh with 24 points and eight rebounds.

Clarion-Limestone Ends Long Title Drought

The Lions added a new District 9 championship to its trophy case for the first time since 1988. Clarion-Limestone knocked off Elk County Catholic in the 1A championship game at Tippin Gymnasium. According to YDLsportsnetwork.com, Hannah Beggs led Clarion-Limestone with 18 points and became the fourth Lions' girls player to score 1,000 points.

Her dad and coach, Jared, also scored 1,000 points.

West York Takes Down Top Seed Milton Hershey

The Spartans were the top seed in the Class 5A District 3 championship game against West York. The Bulldogs turned in a dominating performance to grab a 66-42 win.

Chase Cristofoletti led the Bulldogs with 18 points. This was West York's first championship since 2007.

United Still Perfect

The Lions picked up their first district title since 2003 with a win over Bishop McCort at Mount Aloysius College. United won 61-53 in the District 6 Class 2A title game and will host Neshannock in the first round of the PIAA Tournament.

Brody Burkett led the Lions with 22 points.

Cathedral Prep Piles Up Points on Way to Postseason

The Ramblers have hardly slowed down this season. Cathedral Prep averages 92.3 points per game and are 24-1 on the year. The Ramblers beat Sharon 99-80 in the District 10 4A championship game.

Cathedral Preps' only loss this season was a 107-90 marathon against Neumann-Goretti. The Ramblers scored a program record 115 points in a win over Oil City.

Cathedral Prep has top 100 points five times this season.

--Josh Rizzo |rizzo42789@gmail.com| @J_oshrizzo