Feb 5, 2016 4 min read

McMURRAY – When the Canon-McMillan boys basketball team began play Friday night, it didn’t matter to the Big Macs that they could not make the WPIAL playoffs. It also didn’t matter that the Big Macs had only seven victories on the season, just two coming in Section 4-AAAA, or that they would be done playing basketball after this weekend.

All the Big Macs cared about was knocking Peters Township out of playoff contention, an experience the Indians missed out on last season.

This time, Canon-McMillan made a last-second, game-winning shot but it still wasn’t enough to keep arch-rival Peters Township out of the postseason.

With the Big Macs trailing by two points with 3.3 seconds left, an inbounds pass from Canon-McMillan’s Britton Beachy to Carson Miller in the corner allowed enough time for a buzzer-beating three from the junior guard, giving the Big Macs a 65-64 victory.

“The play actually wasn’t for me,” Miller said. “I just went to the corner, was wide open and hit it. We’re just a team that loves to be together and compete. Playing Peters Township with a chance to knock them out of the playoffs was a big motivation for us.”

“(Peters Township) has had a lot of success,” said Canon-McMillan assistant coach Scott Drakeley, who was filling in for head coach Rick Bell, who missed the game after having foot surgery. “It’s been a rivalry for years but we have always respected the way they do things. We had an opportunity to maybe ruin someone’s season, and with all due respect, that’s what we came here to try and do.”

Despite the heartbreaking loss that featured the Indians battling back from a 21-9 first-quarter deficit, Peters Township was able to garner a playoff spot. Upper St. Clair’s win over Mt. Lebanon left Peters Township (13-8 overall) tied with the Blue Devils at 7-7 in the section. The Indians and Blue Devils split their two regular-season games, so both teams will advance top the postseason as fourth-place teams.

“We’re fortunate to be in,” Peters Township head coach Gary Goga said. “Coming back from 17 points takes a lot of effort and heart.”

After being outplayed for most of the first half, a 9-2 run at the end of the second quarter allowed the Indians to trim the Canon-McMillan lead to 37-27 going into halftime.

“They can shoot the ball and make a lot of their shots,” said Goga. “There are no surprises at this point in the year. The message at halftime was to just get one stop and at a time.”

That effort showed by the Indians to gain traction as the game progressed came to a head when they finally retook the lead at 53-50 in the fourth quarter with a deep three-pointer from junior guard Mike Cortese.

Baskets continued to be traded between both the Big Macs and Indians, until a 6-2 spurt, highlighted by a Nick Valentic floater, put Peters Township ahead 61-56 with only 2:26 to play.

With only 7.4 seconds left on the clock, Canon-McMillan’s RJ Bell stepped to the free-throw line with the Big Macs trailing 64-61. Bell converted the front end of the one-and-one and missed the second shot on purpose to give the Big Macs an attempt at a putback. Canon-McMillan retained the ball after it went out of bounds.

“I told them before the game if you can’t get up for this, you might want to check your pulse,” said Drakeley.

That pulse was calm for Miller as he buried the baseline three to seal the victory in front of the Big Macs’ bench and student section, the latter decked out in all black.

“We just never give up on each other,” said Miller. “We just love each other so much. Coach Drakeley brought us together when we were down late and we just continued to battle.”

Three players in double figures led by Bell, who scored a team-high 16 points, balanced the Big Macs’ offensive firepower. Beachy finished with 12 points and Miller scored 10.

Leading the near-comeback for Peters Township was Valentic with a game-high 19 points, eight points coming in the fourth quarter. The Indians also got help in the paint from Ben Doyle, who scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Following a sigh of relief from the Peter’s Township locker room after it learned its postseason fate was a simple, stern message from Goga.

“Don’t spot teams 17points,” he said.