Before the cold and snow hit this weekend, an hot few days of high school basketball in Western Pennsylvania took center stage.
This season, KDKA Radio will again nominate players each week to join the KDKA Radio Super 7 Awards watch list. Every Monday, a new crop of players will be unveiled based on their efforts that previous week. At the end of the year, KDKA Radio will announce the winners of the award for each WPIAL boys and girls classification, as well as the Pittsburgh City League.
Here are the top performances from Week 8:
Amon Hawthorne, Penn Hills
Hawthorne is putting together a strong senior season, but just had perhaps his best week of the year.
The talented guard scored 27 points in a 54-45 win over Hampton on Tuesday and 20 more points in a 60-39 win over Armstrong on Friday.
The wins moved the Indians to 11-6 overall, but 8-1 in Section 2-5A.
Mimi Thiero, Quaker Valley
Thiero has been an unstoppable force for the last four years.
A week ago, the 6-foot-4 senior continued doing just that, scoring 31 and 29 points in a 57-24 win over Sto-Rox and a 37-36 win over OLSH.
Quaker Valley is now 11-6 and 8-2 in Section 1-3A.
Thiero, a top 100 recruit in the country and Quaker Valley's all-time leading scorer, is committed to Maryland.
Connor Vansickle, Fort Cherry
Fort Cherry grabbed a pair of solid wins last week with Vansickle leading the way.
Only a freshman, Vansickle scored 20 points in a 62-45 win over Burgettstown and 27 points in a 63-44 victory over Beth-Center.
The wins moved the Rangers to 8-7 overall and 6-3 in Section 3-2A.
Bella Bartolovic, St. Joseph
Following a three-game losing skid, St. Joseph has responded over the last two weeks with five straight victories.
Last week, the Spartans rattled off a trio of victories, with two coming in section play.
Bartolovic scored 26, 23 and 30 points in wins over Leechburg, Riverview and Eden Christian.
Only a sophomore, Bartolovic has led the Spartans to an 11-6 record, 7-3 in Section 1-1A.
KDKA Radio’s coverage of high school basketball continues this Friday as North Hills visits Fox Chapel. Listen to the game on 100.1 FM, AM-1020 or the Audacy app.