Latrobe, Canon-Mac punch tickets to tournament final
Trinity’s Joey Koroly scored his 1,000th high school career point against Latrobe during a tournament at Canon-McMillan
Trinity’s Dausen Marry (24) tries to defend a play by Latrobe’s Mirko Pandini during the second quarter
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Trinity’s Dylan Kern is defended Friday night by Latrobe’s Reese Mueseler in a game at Canon-McMillan High School.
Trinity’s Zach Ecker scores against Latrobe’s Reed Fenton
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Canon-McMillan’s Kenyon Lewis makes a pass Friday night while being defended by Altoona’s Braeden Burchfield (22) and Jayvion Queen (54).
Canon-McMillan’s Ethan Beachy carries the ball towards the net during a game against Altoona
Canon-McMillan’s Kenyon Lewis (13) and Thomas Samosky (3) crowd Altoona’s Max Crownover on a play in the second
Canon-McMillan’s Jason Fowlkes scores on the layup against Altoona
CANONSBURG – For openers, this one felt more like a postseason tournament game in February or March instead of a pre-holiday contest.
Latrobe and Trinity’s boys basketball teams put on a show in the opener of the Canon-McMillan Tip-Off Tournament Friday evening. In the end, it was the Wildcats who outlasted a game Trinity squad, 80-77.
The Wildcats were paced by Reed Fenton’s 33 points. Teammates Bryce Butler and Mirko Pandini chipped in with 21 and 13 points apiece.
Zack Ecker and Joe Koroly each scored 18 for the Hillers. Koroly garnered his 1,000th career point with a lay-up midway through the second quarter. It gave him the rare distinction of having 1,000 career points in basketball along with 4,000 plus rushing yards in football.
“At the end, this game certainly felt like a playoff game,” Latrobe coach Brad Wetzel said. “We needed to take better care of the ball there in the fourth quarter. But we made our free throws at the end when it counted.”
Latrobe will play Canon-McMillan in tonight’s 8 p.m. championship game. The Big Macs defeated Altoona, 66-48, in the final game of the opening round.
Every time it appeared Latrobe would pull away in the fourth quarter, Trinity found a way to reel the Wildcats back in range. Five consecutive Butler points gave Latrobe a 74-69 lead late in the quarter. But a Dylan Kern three-pointer from the wing sliced the lead to two with 1:57 left.
Fenton pushed the Wildcats advantage out to four with a steal and lay-in. Trinity answered with a Jeff Ecker put back, cutting the Latrobe lead to 76-74.
Fenton then missed the front end of a one and one, giving the Hillers a chance to tie or take the lead late. But Stephen Schultz’s corner three bounced off the front rim. Butler rebounded the miss, was fouled and made both free throws, effectively ending the contest. Two more Fenton free throws extended the lead to six, but Koroly sliced the Wildcats lead again, this time to 80-77 with three seconds left to play.
The Hillers would get no closer.
A Fenton three-pointer from the corner gave Latrobe a 69-62 lead with 4:15 left in the game. But Koroly answered with a step-back three of his own to cut the margin to four.
Fenton scored the first four points of the final quarter to give Latrobe a 61-58 lead, forcing Trinity coach Tim Tessmer to call a time out in an effort to stem the Wildcats momentum.
“Our effort was there, it is always there,” Tessmer said. “We just needed to execute a little better, such as coming to the pass offensively. But that is an awfully long group we played tonight. I thought overall we played well for it being the first game of the season.”
Trinity built its largest lead late in the third quarter when Kern knocked in a three-pointer from the corner to give the Hillers a 56-49 advantage.
But the Wildcats went on a 8-2 run over the final 1:45 of the third. A Butler breakaway dunk was sandwiched between two Fenton foul shots and a floater in the lane to bring Latrobe to within one at 58-57 at the end of the third.
The first half of the tourney opener was tightly contested as Latrobe established an early first quarter lead while the Hillers gathered themselves and found themselves taking a 38-35 lead at the half.
Fenton, who is getting looks from schools such as Princeton, Holy Cross and Lafayette, displayed a deft shooting touch as a scored 14 first-half points for the Wildcats. But Trinity used their size inside to take control of the contest.
Zack Ecker scored all 18 of his points in the first half, most of which on put backs and dunks, but the Wildcats shut him down in the second half.
“I thought Bryce Butler stepped up and played large, especially in the second half inside defensively,” Wetzel added. “That was key in keeping their bigs in check.”
Canon-Mac, 66-48
Big Macs coach Rick Bell could be heard Friday evening bellowing “attack, attack” during his team’s contest against Altoona.
His players heeded Bell’s wishes and overcame a slow start to tame the Lions 66-48 in the second half of the doubleheader. Although the Big Macs margin of victory was comfortable, it was not easy in the beginning.
“We were fired up and ready to play against someone besides us in practice,” Bell noted. “We may have been a little too up in the beginning.”
Elliot Waller made the game’s first basket, a three-pointer from the wing. But the Big Macs would go on to miss their next 10 shots as the Lions pushed out to an early lead.
“I think our shot selection much of the evening was good, except in the beginning,” Bell added. “We made that first three and kind of settled. We are much better when we are moving the ball and getting drive and kick outs for open looks.”
Altoona took a 17-8 lead into the second quarter on the strength of Javion Queen’s six first quarter points. But the Big Macs adjusted, tuned up their pressure defense and forced a multitude of turnovers and missed shots in the second quarter.
The result was a 20-9 second quarter scoring run and a 28-26 lead at the half.
“We do not have a post presence, so what we have to do is pressure and get turnovers and speed the game up,” Bell said. ” I think we did a good job of that from the second quarter on.”
Waller along with Jason Fowlkes notched 11 first half points for the Big Macs. Fowlkes monster dunk on a two on one breakaway seemed to pump life into the hosts while the visitors from Altoona sagged going into the locker room at the break.
The beat went on for the Big Macs as they increased their lead in the third quarter. Consecutive three pointers by Fowlkes and Ethan Beachy extended the Canon-McMillan lead to 43-31 midway through the third.
A Waller three-pointer from the wing after discarding his defender pushed their advantage to 51-37 going into the fourth. From there, the Big Macs cruised home to a victory that put them in the tourney’s title game against Latrobe.
Fowlkes paced the Big Macs with 27 points, 16 of which came in the second half. Waller and Beachy added 16 and 13 respectively.
Connor Zerbee led Altoona with 13 points. PJ Charles chipped in nine.