Feb 27, 2017 5 min read

CORAOPOLIS – The Washington High School boys basketball team’s tenacious defense finally ran into an opponent that kept possession of the ball, kept its cool and kept its composure.

Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic fought off a valiant second-half comeback by Washington and held off the Prexies, 49-44, Monday night in the WPIAL Class AAA semifinals at Moon High School.

Washington (20-5), which will enter the PIAA playoffs next week as either the third- or fourth-place team from the WPIAL, received a huge emotional and scoring boost from senior guard Matt Popeck, who returned to the court after missing two games with an ankle injury. Popeck helped Washington erase a 12-point second-half deficit but the final surge and the victory belonged to North Catholic. It was the Prexies’ first loss of the season to a Class AAA opponent.

North Catholic (20-5), which has won 12 of its last 13 games, will play top-seeded Lincoln Park, which routed Shady Side Academy in the other semifinal, in the championship game Thursday night at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center.

The Trojans came out hot from long range against Washington’s 1-2-2 zone defense that had throttled Ellwood City and Aliquippa in consecutive playoff games. North Catholic made five of its first six three-pointers to forge a 19-8 lead in the second quarter. The Trojans’ largest lead was 26-14 early in the third quarter.

“In the playoffs, when you don’t play a complete game, it hard to come back and win,” Wash High coach Ron Faust said.

Wash High, behind the long-range shooting of Popeck, the school’s all-time leading scorer, its relentless work on the offensive boards and a switch to a man-to-man-defense in the second half, erased the double-deficit and took its only lead of the game at 42-41 after Popeck made two of three free throws with 2:51 remaining.

“I give our guys a lot of credit,” Faust said, “because we’ve played 25 games and on not one night have we failed to give a good effort. That was a stellar effort on our part.”

Wash High, however, ran out of gas down the stretch as North Catholic scored eight of the game’s final 10 points. The Trojans committed only five turnovers. North Catholic also made seven three-pointers but just two over the final 2½ quarters, helping Wash High’s comeback.

“That’s the story of the evening,” Faust said. “Their execution was better than our execution. That’s what won them the game. Their effort wasn’t better than ours, but North Catholic is not going to beat itself.”

Popeck led Washington with 18 points. He scored 11 of those in the fourth quarter, when he made three shots from three-point range.

It wasn’t until Sunday that the Prexies knew Popeck’s ankle had healed enough that he could play.

“We brought him in for a little workout,” Faust explained. “We didn’t start him because we didn’t want him to go out there for two minutes and then come out and be with the trainer while we go, ‘What do we do now?'”

Popeck entered the game with 3:44 left in the first quarter and the Prexies trailing 6-2. It took some time for him to get his shooting range back as he missed his first five shots. But once he got the first one to drop, Wash High’s offense seized the momentum.

“He makes a complete difference for them,” veteran North Catholic coach Dave Long said. “I’m happy for Wash High that he was able to get back for the playoffs. It would have been a shame if he could not have participated in the WPIAL playoffs.

“He stepped up huge for them in the second half. He kept making three-pointers, even with people on him. I came away very impressed with his abilities.”

Popeck made his fourth and final three to tie the score at 40-40 with 3:53 left. He made two of three free throws to give the Prexies their 42-41 lead but they had trouble stopping North Catholic point guard Isaiah Wilson down the stretch. Wilson scored 11 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter, and the Trojans’ final three of the night, by Vinnie DiNicola with 2:10 remaining, gave North Catholic the lead for good at 44-42.

Two free throws by Kenny Fukon made it a four-point game and Prexies never got closer than three the rest of the way.

After attempting 40 free throws in a quarterfinal win over Aliquippa, Wash High was 12 of 17 against North Catholic and had four of those misses in the pivotal fourth quarter.

“One of the things we talked about after the game was it’s tough to get young men to understand how important free-throw practice is,” Faust said. “Sometimes they make it a social event but tonight brought to light how important free throws really are.”

Isaiah Robinson was the only other Wash High player in double figures with 10 points.

John Fukon led North Catholic with 15. DiNicola had 10.