Canon-McMillan spreads wealth, downs Peters Township
Canon-McMillan’s Elliot Waller looks to get around Peters Township’s Daniel Boehme (15), Colin Cote (5) and Grant Mocharko during Friday's game at Canon-McMillan High School.
Canon-McMillan’s Kenyon Lewis drives for a layup against Peters Township’s Grant Molharko (23) during Friday’s Class 6-A Section 2 game.
Holly Tonini/ Observer-Reporter
Peter’s Township’s Sam Werner scores against Canon-McMillan’s Ethan Beachy during first-quarter action of Friday’s Class 6-A Section 2 game.
Holly Tonini/ Observer-Reporter
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Canon-McMillan’s Jason Fowlkes dunks against Peter’s Township’s Matt Stuck watches during Friday night’s game.
CANONSBURG — In what some believed would be a rebuilding season, the Canon-McMillan boys basketball squad instead authored a memorable one.
Another chapter was written as the Big Macs closed out the home portion of their regular season with a workmanlike 64-53 win over Class 6A Section 2 rival Peters Township Friday night.
Canon-McMillan (19-2, 10-2) finished second in the section after Mt. Lebanon’s 78-54 victory over Upper St. Clair. The Big Macs are still likely to have a high seed when the WPIAL playoff brackets are revealed Tuesday night.
Although those outside the program felt the Big Macs would take a step back from last year, head coach Rick Bell said he believed his team was more than capable of not only contending for a section championship, but for possibly a deeper run in the WPIAL tournament.
“We kind of used that as motivation,” Bell said. “I told them, ‘Are we going to let others define us, or are we going to define ourselves?’ I’m just really proud of our guys.”
The Big Macs were led by senior Jason Fowlkes’ 20 points. Sophomore Thomas Samosky came off the bench for C-M with 14 points.
Peters Township was paced by Colin Cote’s 16 points. Connor Pederson and Grant Mocharko added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
The Big Macs came out hot in the first quarter, outscoring Peters Township 22-10. Canon-McMillan’s three-point shooting was the catalyst as it knocked down six triples in the frame. Kenyon Lewis and Samosky had two three-pointers each as Canon-McMillan established itself in front of a vocal home crowd.
Pederson did his best to hold the Indians within range as he scored eight points in the first quarter.
“People think that we are mostly a pure three-point shooting team, but we are at our best when we move the ball and get penetration into the lane,” Bell said. “We don’t really have that 6-8 player in the post that we can dump it down to and collapse the zone. We have to move the ball around and get dribble penetration to get open shots.”
The Indians began to creep back in the contest as the hot shooting start for C-M went cold in the first part of the second quarter. The Big Macs only made one of their first 11 shots from the field to start the second as PT pulled to with six points, 26-20.
That was until Fowlkes threw down a slam dunk in transition that gave the Big Macs a 33-20 halftime lead.
Peters Township would make another push to get back into the game midway through the third quarter as Cote connected from behind the three-point arc to cut the Indians deficit to seven points, 46-39.
But for every PT rally, the Big Macs would have an answer.
Samosky hit a three-pointer of his own to put C-M ahead 50-41 entering the fourth quarter.
“They are a well-coached team, for sure,” Bell said in reference to the Indians. “They were in it the whole way and never let up.”
Canon-McMillan looked to throw the knockout punch early in the fourth when Ethan Beachy knocked down a three pointer in the corner and Fowlkes added back-to-back baskets to stretch the Big Macs’ lead to 57-41.
“No one really cares who scores or who gets the credit,” Bell said of his unselfish group. “We do a real nice job of playing as one. That is what will help come playoff time.”
Canon-McMillan will conclude its regular-season schedule at 7:30 p.m. Monday with a non-section game against Washington.