Mar 11, 2017 3 min read

The McGuffey High School boys basketball team enjoyed its first trip to the PIAA playoffs so much that the Highlanders have decided to stick around for another round.

Colin Chapman scored a game-winning layup with three seconds remaining as McGuffey defeated District 9 champion Clearfield 48-46 in the first round of the Class AAAA tournament Saturday night at DuBois Middle School.

McGuffey (19-6) advances to the second round Wednesday night and will get a rematch with WPIAL champion New Castle (25-2). The Highlanders lost to New Castle in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL tournament.

A solid first half and a big third quarter are what carried McGuffey past Clearfield (23-2). The Highlanders forged a 25-20 halftime lead and outscored the Bison 16-7 in the third quarter to take a 41-27 lead.

Clearfield, which had only four players score but received 18 points from Tommy Hazel, stormed all the way back and tied the score at 46-46 after a field goal by Will Myers with 28 seconds remaining.

That set up Chapman’s game-winning basket, a play on which he was fouled. Chapman, who scored 15 points, missed the ensuing free throw and Clearfield grabbed the rebound and called a timeout with 2.8 seconds to play. The Bison then made a long throw downcourt that was intercepted by Chapman.

“We played a great first three quarters,” McGuffey coach Mike Fatigante told McGuffey Sports Network. “I don’t think we could have played any better than those first three quarters.

“We’ve played close game after close game after close game, and there’s something to be said for that. Those games prepared us for this.”

Trent Belleville was McGuffey’s leading scorer with a game-high 24 points. He had 10 points in the Highlanders’ big third quarter. Belleville also led McGuffey with 11 rebounds.

Colin Chapman had eight assists.

“This is something special: the first WPIAL win in school history and the first state win in school history,” Fatigante said. “Now, we get another crack at New Castle.”

The 19 wins is a school record for McGuffey.

Wilmington 69, Chartiers-Houston 38: After failing to score in the first quarter, Spencer Demedal scored 12 of his 19 points during a 26-5 second quarter run as Wilmington took control of a PIAA Class AA first-round playoff game against Chartiers-Houston, winning 69-38 at Sharon High School.

“Their best player just took charge,” said Chartiers-Houston head coach Eugene Briggs. “He’s just a man-child. He took command and they sucked back on defense. We never recovered.”

A.J. Myers scored 12 of his 13 points in the first quarter as the Bucs, who finish their season at 19-6, grabbed a 16-6 lead after one quarter.

But the Bucs were outscored 44-12 over the course of the second and third quarters by the District 10 champions.

Spencer Terling added eight points for Char-Houston, while high-scoring Cam Hanley was limited to just one point.

Robert Pontis added 17 points for Wilmington (19-7), which made nine three-pointers in the game.

Erie Strong Vincent 67, South Fayette 48: South Fayette’s season ended with a 67-48 loss to Erie Strong Vincent in a Class AAAA first-round game. The Lions finish with a 13-12 record.