PT still looking for offense after loss
Peters Township’s Ryan Faloni positions himself for a shot while Bethel Park’s Brendon Thorsen guards during the second quarter of Tuesday night’s game.
Peters Township’s Nick Valentic breaks away for a two-point shot for the Indians during the first half of the game against Bethel Park.
McMURRAY – Through five games, it’s been a struggle for the Peters Township boys basketball team to find consistent offense. The Indians are averaging fewer than 50 points per game.
That scoring problem showed up again in a big way Tuesday night.
Bethel Park broke open a one-point game in the third quarter with a 21-1 run that spanned nearly 10 minutes, holding PT without a field goal during that span, as the Black Hawks cruised to a 59-41 Section 4-AAAA victory.
“It has been our problem all season,” said Peters Twp. coach Gary Goga. “We go through long droughts. It’s like a broken record. We are either playing in the 40s or low 50s. Scoring two points in a quarter and six points in a quarter – we’re aren’t going to win many games if we can’t make shots, especially in our section.”
Both teams had problems scoring early and the Indians found themselves down 10-6 after the first quarter.
The pace picked up in the second quarter and Bethel Park (1-0, 3-1) eventually extended their lead to 17-12 on a three-point shot from Josh Duda, but the Indians clawed their way into the lead, taking a 23-22 lead on a three-pointer from Clayton Yates.
The Black Hawks’ Chance Wright put BP back on top with a three before Sam Verner had an answer for PT (0-2, 2-3) to put the Indians ahead by one before the end of the half.
BP big man Jake Dixon gave the Black Hawks a 27-26 halftime lead, scoring two of his eight-first half points in the closing seconds.
The PT bench kept the Indians in the game, scoring 14 of the team’s 26 first-half points.
Tim Swoope gave the Indians a 28-27 lead with a shot in the paint to start the third quarter, but PT didn’t make another field goal until two minutes had passed in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, Bethel Park found its rhyth and raced to a 19-point lead.
“The third quarter was more like us,” said BP coach Ben O’Connor. “Our guys just started playing. In the first half, we were over dribbling instead of passing. What you saw in the third quarter was a team willing to make the extra pass and find open guys for easy shots.”
A lot of PT’s problems offensively were caused by an aggressive BP man-to-man defense that limited driving lanes and rebounded the ball well, holding the Indians to one shot attempt most trips down the floor.
“We defended very well in the second half,” said O’Connor. “In the first half, we let them drive past us too much for some easy layups, but we really focused on guarding the ball and not letting them into the paint. I also liked the way we rebounded the ball. We take a lot of pride in that.”
Dixon led the Black Hawks with 15 points. Anthony Bomar chipped in 13 – all in the second half – and Joe Mascaro had 11.
Verner led the Indians with nine points.
PT will try to find its offense in Florida as the Indians are headed to Orlando to compete in the KSA Classic.
“We have to figure something out,” said Goga. “We have to mix up the lineup. We have to find ourselves. If that means changing the lineup or playing a different style, then we have to figure it out because right now we are struggling.”