Wednesday playoff basketball rundown: Freshman Eric James helps North Hills storm back for revenge win vs. Fox Chapel

Anybody who believed the North Hills boys were going to be a one-man show in the postseason might want to check their notes.

Although 6-8 junior forward Royce Parham was his usual dominant self again, it was freshman Eric James who put together a star-making performance to lead the Indians past Fox Chapel and into the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals on Wednesday night. James scored 20 of his game-high 30 points in the fourth quarter, while Parham finished with 25 to help North Hills pull off a 67-62 comeback win at North Allegheny High School. The game was a rematch of last year’s WPIAL Class 6A championship game won by the Foxes, 43-36.

“I thought that was the hardest we’ve played all year,” Indians coach Buzz Gabos said. “It’s one thing for [James] to score, but the other thing is, guys found him when he was open.”

Jefferson Moorefield-Brown led three players in double figures for Fox Chapel with 18 points, with Kam Greil adding 15 and Asher White 12. The Foxes held a 37-27 halftime lead before North Hills stormed back to cut the deficit to two entering the final quarter, and that’s when James announced his arrival as one of the WPIAL’s next big stars.

“He’s blessed with great instincts,” Gabos said. “He can be very explosive, and he made some tough finishes. It wasn’t like he was wide open. He was in traffic a bunch of times and took some contact and did a good job of just playing off Royce and realizing they were giving him so much attention.”

The win sets up a must-see WPIAL semifinal showdown between the Indians and No. 2 Penn Hills on Saturday. Many believed Penn Hills deserved the No. 1 seed going into the playoffs and that the two teams would meet in the championship game. Instead, they will collide for the right to play at “The Pete.”

“You can go, ‘ugh, we’ve got to play them in the semis.’ But guess what? We had to play two tough games just to get to the semis,” Gabos said. “You’ve got to beat tough teams if you want to win the whole thing, and this will be another one on Saturday.”

Other Class 5A boys

• Noah Barren paced four Penn Hills players in double figures with 18 points to send the No. 2 Indians to the WPIAL semifinals with a 60-41 win against No. 7 Mars (15-9) at Chartiers Valley High School. Daemar Kelly tacked on 15 points for Penn Hills (19-3) to go with 11 from Rob Thomas and 10 from Julian Dugger. Tasso Sfanos led all scorers with 22 points for the Planets.

• Junior forward Taili Thompson scored 14 points to lead No. 4 Gateway to a hard-fought 53-51 win against No. 12 McKeesport (11-11) at Norwin High School, sending the Gators (17-5) to the WPIAL semifinals to take on top-seeded Peters Township on Saturday.

Class 1A boys

• R.J. Sledge and Alier Maluk scored 21 points apiece for top-seeded Imani Christian (16-6), with Sledge tallying seven assists and six steals and Maluk grabbing 11 rebounds in a 78-41 win against No. 8 Rochester (11-13) at Moon High School. Dame Givner also added 14 for the Saints, who advanced to take on No. 4 Geibel Catholic in the WPIAL semifinals on Saturday.

• The WPIAL’s all-time leading scorer saw his team’s title hopes dashed by No. 2 Union (21-2) in a lopsided 100-47 defeat for No. 7 Aquinas Academy (19-5). The Scotties made a whopping 17 3-pointers to advance to the semifinals, while Aquinas star Vinnie Cugini finished with 36 points in the defeat. He now has 3,108 points for his career.

• Austin Milliner and Jaiden McClure finished with 14 points apiece for No. 3 Carlynton (16-6) to go along with 12 from Chase Jones in a 62-39 home win over No. 6 Monessen (21-3). Monessen‘s Lorenzo Gardner scored a game-high 22 points. Carlynton faces No. 2 Union in the semifinals Saturday.

Class 3A girls

• The phenomenal freshman duo of Maggie Spell and Karis Thomas again spurred No. 1 Shady Side Academy (22-2), combining for 39 points in a dominant 49-19 win against No. 8 Waynesburg (20-4) at Fox Chapel High School. Spell scored 21 and Thomas finished with 18, leading the Bulldogs into the WPIAL semifinals to face No. 4 Avonworth on Saturday.

• Megan Pallerino tallied a game-high 17 points and Mairan Haggerty added 16 points and 12 rebounds for Neshannock (18-6), which reached the WPIAL semifinals with a 51-36 win against No. 11 Mohawk (15-9) at Union High School. The No. 3 Lancers, two-time defending WPIAL champions, will meet No. 2 Laurel on Saturday for a spot in the title game. The teams split their regular-season series.

• Becca Goetz scored a game-high 15 points and Greta O’Brien added 10 for No. 4 Avonworth (17-5), which held No. 5 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (17-7) scoreless in the second quarter en route to a 43-25 win at North Allegheny High School.

Class 2A girls

• No. 2 Freedom, the returning WPIAL and PIAA runner-up in Class 3A, entered the postseason facing an uphill climb back to the finals minus star junior Shaye Bailey, out with a collarbone injury. The Bulldogs (19-4) had to scratch and claw for every point against No. 7 Chartiers-Houston (16-8), forcing overtime on a game-tying layup by Cassidy Harris and pulling out a 45-41 quarterfinal win. Julz Mohrbacher led the way with 22 points and 13 rebounds, and Morgan Keller added 12 points.

• Aliquippa wasn’t on many people’s radar going into the postseason, but that sure changed in a hurry. The No. 11 Quips (12-9) pulled off their second consecutive upset with a 60-56 win against No. 3 Serra Catholic (17-3), which boasted the No. 1 scoring defense in the WPIAL. Aliquippa will face No. 2 Freedom on Saturday for a spot in the WPIAL title game.

Hot from deep

Players with 3 or more 3-pointers: Karis Thomas, Shady Side Academy, 5; Asher White, Fox Chapel, 4; Jerome Mullins, Rochester, 3; Maggie Spell, Shady Side Academy, 3.

Boys scores

Class 5A first round

Gateway 53, McKeesport 51

North Hills 67, Fox Chapel 62

Penn Hills 60, Mars 41

Peters Township 68, South Fayette 60

Class 1A first round

Carlynton 62, Monessen 39

Geibel Catholic 66, Neighborhood Academy 64

Imani Christian 78, Rochester 41

Union 100, Aquinas Academy 47

Girls scores