Feb 7, 2017 4 min read

BURGETTSTOWN – The Burgettstown High School boys basketball team that stumbled out of the gate to an 0-5 record seems like a distant memory to Blue Devils head coach Rich Tranquill.

The young Burgettstown team, with only three seniors on its roster, has matured over the last two months and developed a knack for playing tough defense. It also has improved its passing and discovered the value of protecting the basketball and making free throws.

All those qualities were on display Tuesday night as Burgettstown clinched its first WPIAL playoff berth in six years by grinding out a 54-44 victory over Brownsville in Section 4-AAA.

The Blue Devils (5-6, 10-10) have overcome that disastrous start to reach the .500 mark. They’ve become one of the hottest teams in the section, winning five of their last six games and are allowing only 55 points per game.

“We started 0-5 and had to do some soul-searching,” Tranquill said. “We’re playing so much more efficiently both offensively and defensively. Teams were packing in their defense against us, but we started passing the ball from side to side and moving those zones. When we started doing that, the confidence level went way up.”

Burgettstown, which is assured of at least a tie for fourth place and the final playoff berth from the section, controlled the tempo for the first three quarters against turnover-prone Brownsville (4-7, 9-12) then held off a late comeback by the Falcons with some torrid free-throw shooting over the final five minutes.

Burgettstown led 22-16 at halftime after forcing 13 Brownsville turnovers. The Falcons turned it over five more times in the opening three minutes of the second half and didn’t score in the third quarter until only 2:44 remained. Burgettstown, which patiently picked apart the Brownsville half-court defense, led by as many as 14 points in the quarter.

“Unfortunately, many of those turnovers came from seniors,” Brownsville coach Mark Marino said. “You can live with them if it’s underclassmen committing them. When seniors are turning the ball over, it’s not a good sign.”

It also wasn’t a good sign for Brownsville that it was playing without starting shooting guard Isaiah Cintron. Without him in the lineup, Burgettstown was able to pay more attention to Shandon Marshall, who scored 24 points against the Blue Devils in a four-point Falcons win last month.

This time, Marshall finished with a team-high 13 points before fouling out with 2:15 remaining and Burgettstown leading 43-39.

“(Cintron) is like a rocket in the open court,” Marino said. “The difference between this game and the first time we played Burgettstown is we didn’t get the ball into the open court and run.”

Brownsville, which already has a short bench, decided to pick up the pace in the third quarter when it switched to a full-court press. It bothered the Blue Devils and Brownsville closed to within 36-33 with halfway through the fourth quarter. That’s when Burgettstown’s Ryan Lounder confidently made a three-pointer from the corner that cut short Brownsville’s comeback. Lounder could have passed up the shot and attempted to run valuable time off the clock, but he opted to launch the open shot from the left baseline.

“I was cringing when that shot was on the way up,” Tranquill admitted. “What a momentum swing that was. Brownsville had the momentum and Ryan made a shot when we needed it.”

Marino agreed that Lounder’s shot was the biggest of the game. Brownsville was able to close to within four points down the stretch but Cole LaRocka sealed the win at the free-throw line. LaRocka was 11-for-11 at the free-throw line in the game, including eight-for-eight in the final five minutes. He finished with a team-high 18 points.

“The game that turned things around was the (one-point) win at Charleroi,” Tranquill said. “Cole hit a last-second shot and made a free throw and we won by one. That started a 4-0 run for us and these guys started to believe that making the playoffs was possible.”

Jarred John scored 10 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds for Burgettstown.

Brownsville can still make the playoffs but the Falcons need a win and some help. They must beat Beth-Center Friday night while South Side Beaver must upset Burgettstown. That would send both the Blue Devils and Falcons to the postseason.