Congratulations to Girard’s Andrew Rickard who became the all-time leading scorer in boys basketball history at Girard. Rickard scored 35 points on Tuesday to lead the YellowJackets past Warren 53-43. Rickard now has 1,679 points and surpassed Marc Blucas’ record of 1,674 points set in 1990. Rickard’s next target is Girard’s all-time scorer Carrie Nolan at 1,813 points.

-Cathedral Prep and McDowell got together Tuesday for the first of two regular season meetings. The Ramblers used a 22-point second quarter en route to a 63-47 win over the Trojans. RaSean Thrower had a big first half with 17 points, while Prep clamped down on McDowell guards all game. Mike Knoll contributed to the Rambler win with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Adam Blazek scored 14 points. Myke Molnar led the Trojans with 21 points, while Dejon Young added 10. The two teams will meet again Feb. 20 at Paul Goll Gymnasium before a possible meeting in the District 10 Class AAAA playoffs. Some food for thought on a possible third meeting: Have Prep and McDowell ever met in the first round of the playoffs? We have Prep historians working on that question, but some believe it has either never happened or hasn’t happened for over 30 years.

-It seems things will never clear up in Region 6. Central Tech knocked off homestanding Harbor Creek Tuesday 67-65 in overtime to create a three-way tie for third place in Region 6 between Central, Harbor Creek and Girard. Last season District 10 took four teams from Region 6, meaning one of the three tied for third place could be left out of the playoffs. Freshman Eugene Husband continues to impress this season with 21 points Tuesday for the Falcons. Husband scored 15 of those 21 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to lead the Falcons. Harbor Creek did score the winning basket as time expired in regulation but a charge was called on the play to nullify the points and force overtime. Shawnquel Pennamon added 21 points for the Falcons, while Zach Kertulis and Brandon King scored 19 points each for the Huskies.

-Commodore Perry had a big reason to celebrate Tuesday night after the Panthers edged Jamestown 59-56 in overtime. The Panther win snapped a 38-game losing streak that dated back to Feb. 8, 2008 when the Panthers beat Youngsville 53-40 to end the regular season. Commodore Perry was trailing 34-21 at halftime of Tuesday’s game before a furious rally to force overtime. Nick Huffman led the Panthers with 17 points, while Billy Cattron and Matt Vaughn added 13 and 10 points, respectively. Nick Miller led the Muskies with 24 points, while David Richter chipped in with 14.

For more on Tuesday’s action, click below.

– Tom Reisenweber

-Kennedy Catholic isn’t blowing teams out like years past, but the Golden Eagles are getting the job done in Region 1. Jake Penn’s runner with five seconds left vaulted Kennedy to an important 71-69 win over West Middlesex. The Golden Eagles finished the first half of region play a perfect 5-0 and have a two-game lead on the rest of the region. However, Kennedy will have to travel to West Middlesex, Rocky Grove and VisionQuest in the second half of the season. Penn led Kennedy on Tuesday with 19 points, while Rocky Farmartino had 15. Matt Gurska scored 13 points, and Justin Rahim contributed 12. Matt Dogan led the Big Reds with 17 points, while Marcus Murray (16), Ryan Chupak (12) and Jake Jancso (10) all reached double digits.

-East avoided the nightly trap Fort LeBoeuf has been setting for the top teams in Region 6 by defeating the Bisons 72-57. Wendell Torres scored 21 points on Tuesday and should break 1,000 on Friday. Max Sanchez added 10 points for the Warriors, while Corey McWilliams led LeBoeuf with 19 points. East will host General McLane on Friday with a win basically clinching the Region 6 title.

-Speaking of McLane, the Lancers held off an upset-minded Corry team Tuesday 66-55. Marcus Mosher led the Beavers with 25 points, but double-doubles by Kyle Shuman and Nick Lombardo proved too much for Corry. Shuman led the Lancers with 27 points and 12 rebounds, while Lombardo had 17 points and 12 boards.

-Villa Maria picked up a huge win Tuesday over Class AA Cambridge Springs 59-56. Eric Sorensen knocked down a couple of clutch free throws in the final 40 seconds to secure the Victor win. Dustin Bausch had a 3-pointer at the buzzer just miss in an attempt to tie the game. Adam Miller and Joe Galleher had 22 points each for Villa, while Dave Marnella grabbed 12 rebounds. Austin Kondzielski led the Blue Devils with 19 points, including five 3-pointers.

Villa’s win coupled with Conneaut Valley’s 48-35 win over Maplewood jumbled up Region 3. Valley is in first place with a 9-2 region record, while Villa, Linesville and Cambridge Springs are all 8-3. Valley and Villa are battling for the top Class A seed out of Region 3, while Linesville and Cambridge Springs are battling in Class AA. Valley will travel to Villa Friday for the third meeting between the two teams this season. The Victors won the first game in the Commodore Perry Christmas tournament before the Indians held serve at home. Linesville will take on Cambridge Springs on Feb. 15. The Blue Devils won the first meeting 51-47 in Linesville.

-Strong Vincent and George Junior picked up impressive non-region wins Tuesday. The Colonels defeated Westinghouse behind 21 points by Courtney Harden-Pullium and 16 from Ashton Pullium-Jones. The Tigers edged Ursuline out of Youngstown, Ohio 60-59. Omar Johnson had 16 points for George Junior, while Robert Tomoney had 14.

-Mercyhurst Prep dealt a big blow to Seneca’s playoff hopes with a 57-28 win at Mercyhurst Prep. Josh Chojnacki scored 16 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead the Lakers, while Dan DeFelice added 13 points. Matt Brozewicz scored 18 of the Bobcats’ 28 points. Seneca is now tied for fourth place with Eisenhower and desperately needs a win against North East on Friday. The Grapepickers moved into sole possession of third place with a gutty 51-35 win over Northwestern in Albion. Jimmy Bailey led the way once more with 14 points, while Sean Bogart chipped in 11. Blaine Iskula led the Wildcats with 12 points.

-Meadville’s Ray Hamilton and Hickory’s Matt Durisko each moved closer to 1,000 points Tuesday as the Bulldogs edged the Hornets 66-57. Hamilton led Meadville with 23 points, while Artrel Foster scored 13 and Josh Gregor added 12. Durisko scored 17 points for Hickory, while Aaron Banas had 11. While Meadville is firmly in second place in Region 5, while Hickory is all but out of the playoff picture. With five games to play, the Hornets are two full games out of fourth place and still have to play Grove City, Franklin and Sharon. The good news for Hickory is all three teams are ahead of it in the standings and the Hornets could climb back in the playoffs with three wins.

-Sharon struggled from the foul line in the fourth quarter, and Farrell took advantage to defeat the Tigers 67-57. Sharon finished 4-of-12 from the foul line and fell into a third place tie in Region 5. Kevin Brodie led Farrell with 18 points, while Patrick Horton scored 16 and Brandon Johnson added 15. Louis Brown led Sharon with 18 points, while Kaussam Ismail and Andray Jefferson added 17 and 12 points, respectively.

-Jeff Hershberger and Pat Johnson combined for 31 points as Grove City moved into a third-place tie with Sharon by defeating Oil City 48-42. Hershberger scored 16 points, while Johnson had 15 for the Eagles. Dallas Williams led Oil City again with 18 points, while Jake Davis had 13.

-Wilmington cleared things up slightly in Region 2 by defeating Sharpsville 56-54. Darryl Pace scored on a layup as time expired to life the Greyhounds over the Blue Devils. Jake DeMedal led Wilmington with 21 points, while Pace had 13. Vincent Falconi led Sharpsville with 14 points, while Jon Wilson and Ben Davis had 11 each.

Greenville defeated Reynolds 60-45 to leave the Trojans and Wilmington tied for first place in Region 2 at 4-1. Lakeview defeated Mercer 69-55 to stay in the second-place tie with Sharpsville.