Long-range shooting gives Canon-Mac first 20-win season
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Canon-McMillian’s Drew Engel take a shot as Washington’s Evan Parr closes in during Monday’s game at Washington High School.
Washington’s Marton Norris tries to block the shot of Canon-McMillian’s Kenyon Lewis during Monday's game.
Washington’s Joe Mercer make a layup against Canon-McMillian Monday at Washington High School.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Canon-McMillian’s Elliott Waller, center, and Ethan Beachy try to block the shot of Washington’s Zahmere Robinson during Monday’s non-section game at Washington High School.
The Canon-McMillan High School boys team figured out the mathematics of basketball long before the start of this season: 3 beats 2 any day.
Canon-McMillan, which has relied on its long-range sharpshooting all season, made 13 three-pointers Tuesday night and pulled away in the fourth quarter for an 80-40 victory over Washington in a non-section game between playoff-bound teams.
The victory gives Canon-McMillan (20-2) the first 20-win season in school history and one heck of an argument for a high seed in Class 6A when the WPIAL releases its playoff pairings tonight.
If the basketball committee, which met prior to Monday’s games, has any late questions about Canon-McMillan, then Washington head coach Ron Faust can give the members some help.
“Obviously, Canon-McMillan is a good team. If they shoot like they did tonight, then you can make a case that there is no classification for them,” Faust said. “What they do, they do well.”
On this night, what the Big Macs did was force a flurry of turnovers by Washington – 19 in the game, including 11 in the first half – and make shots from all corners of the gymnasium. Canon-McMillan made at least two three-pointers in each quarter, had five different players make a three-pointer and was 12 of 13 from the floor in the fourth quarter, when the Big Macs outscored Wash High, 29-6.
It was another fine performance by Canon-McMillan but head coach Rick Bell cautioned his team not to put too much importance in where the Big Macs are seeded for the postseason.
“I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’ve seen a lot of coaches and teams lose their first-round (playoff) game at the pairings meeting,” Bell said. “I told our guys that if we’re the team that we think we are, and we think we’re good, then it doesn’t matter who we play, what our seed is or where we play.”
What Canon-McMillan played in the regular-season finale was a short-handed Washington team that was without two of its top players, forwards Isaiah Walton and Dan Etheridge. The Prexies will enter the Class 3A playoffs with a 17-5 record and a section championship but riding a two-game losing streak. The Prexies lost to Class A power Monessen on Saturday.
“This is sort of the same predicament as last year with the Matt Popeck (injury) situation and getting blown out by Trinity in the last game of the regular season,” Faust said.
Wash High rebounded nicely from that loss to make deep runs in the WPIAL and PIAA playoffs. To do that this time, the Prexies will need more offensive firepower than they showed against Canon-McMillan.
“We just turned the ball over too much,” Faust lamented. “When you do that against (Canon-McMillan), it ends up being runouts and layups on the other end of the floor.”
Washington did keep the game close for three quarters. The Prexies scored the game’s first seven points, all by sophomore Joe Mercer, but C-M led 17-14 after one quarter. The Big Macs got going in the second quarter after Bell inserted sophomore Tommy Samosky into the game. Samosky made three three-pointers in the second quarter that helped the Big Macs open a 35-26 halftime lead.
Samosky and teammate Drew Engel each scored a game-high 15 points. Both Bell and Faust know a little about basketball, as their more than 1,000 career wins suggest, and each coach pointed out the key contribution Samosky made off the bench.
“In the NBA, they have a Sixth Man Award,” Bell said. “If they had one of those for our section, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone better than Tommy. I like to say we have six starters. I’ve told Tommy that it’s not who starts the game that is important, it’s who finishes it. And he’s been on the court in crucial situations late in a lot of games.”
Canon-McMillan led 51-34 after three quarters then made five three-pointers, including two by reserve guard Johnny Law, in the big fourth quarter.
Ethan Beachy had 14 points for Canon-McMillan and Jason Fowlkes scored 12. Mercer led Washington in scoring with 14 points and Zahmere Robinson had 13.