This time, close one goes to Highlanders
McGuffey’s Colin Chapman is defended Tuesday night by Elizabeth Forward’s Matthew Benedek.
McGuffey’s Andrew Allender drives to the basket while being defended Tuesday by Elizabeth Forward’s Colin Pastor.
McGuffey’s Colin Chapman drives the ball Tuesday against visiting Elizabeth Forward.
McGuffey’s Chase Miller battles for possession with Elizabeth Forward’s Colin Pastor Tuesday night.
CLAYSVILLE – McGuffey High School boys basketball head coach Michael Fatigante expects his team to be the hardest-working one on the court each game.
Every bit of that hard work came in handy Tuesday night as McGuffey bounced back from its first loss of the season to defeat visiting Elizabeth Forward 48-47 in a Section 3-AAAA game.
“We say we need to outwork the other team at both ends of the floor and we didn’t do that the other night,” Fatigante said, referring to a one-point loss to Fort Cherry in the championship game of the Avella tournament.
“I think we did that for most of the night tonight and it paid off.”
Things were dicey throughout for the Highlanders but a big three-point shot from Trent Belleville with 1:25 left gave the Highlanders a 48-47 lead. Belleville led McGuffey (3-0, 9-1) with 14 points.
McGuffey, which is in first place in the section, made that slim lead stand up despite missing the front end of two one-and-one opportunities down the stretch.
With one second remaining in the game, EF (1-2, 3-6) tried a lob to big man Tre Mitchell coming out of a timeout. Fatigante diagramed a defense to stop it and it worked to perfection as the Highlanders escaped with their ninth win of the season.
“Mitchell is their best player and we knew they were going to throw it up to him,” Fatigante said. “We just wanted to get some bodies on him and force him away from the basket. The kids executed the way we drew it up.”
Entering the fourth quarter tied at 37, the Highlanders had some success getting to the rim, which is something they were unable to do for three quarters as the Warriors’ size bothered the Highlanders.
Belleville added a couple early fourth-quarter layups to give McGuffey its first lead since early in the first quarter. But EF’s Colin Pastor had an answer each time, knocking down three-pointers to keep the Warriors in front.
Down 45-43, McGuffey’s Colin Chapman tied the score with a layup. Chapman finished in double figures with 10 points.
Mitchell knocked down a pair of free throws to give EF the lead back before Belleville made the clutch three to put the Highlanders ahead for good.
“We were patient all night,” Belleville said. “My teammates did a great job of getting me open looks and we executed well as a team. After losing the other night, getting this one was big.”
The Warriors took advantage of some early McGuffey defensive breakdowns and put together a 10-0 first-quarter run to jump out to an early 16-8 lead.
Defending the three-point shot was a problem for McGuffey as EF made six of their eight three-point shots in the first half, including three from Gavin Martik, who finished with 11 points.
Yet it was McGuffey’s long-distance shooting that got them back in the game.
Every time the Highlanders got close, EF made an open three – until McGuffey found its shooting touch.
Trailing 26-17, the Highlanders closed the first half on an 13-5 run that saw McGuffey sink four shots from behind the arc, three of which came from Sean Edlis as the Highlanders cut the EF lead to just 31-30 at the half. Edlis finished with 13 points.
“We wanted to keep attacking the rim and kick out for open shooters,” Fatigante said. “We didn’t knock down shots the other night and we didn’t hit many early on tonight, but once we got going I thought we did a great job.”
Mitchell led EF in scoring with 12, while Will Greijack also was in double figures with 11.
The Highlanders will be back at it again on Friday when they host Waynesburg in a section contest.
“We just have to keep working hard,” Fatigante said. “We need to be patient and execute on offense and play with intensity at the defensive end. We did that tonight and this was a big win.”