Feb 24, 2018 4 min read

BALDWIN – Maybe it was the venue, the purple-splashed Baldwin High School gymnasium, where the Canon-McMillan boys basketball team suffered a stunning loss two weeks ago, a setback that cost the Big Macs a share of the section title. It was a loss that was still fresh in the minds of the C-M players.

Perhaps it was the athleticism of the opponent, a talented Woodland Hills team.

Or maybe it was simply one of those days when the shots that usually fall through the basket instead bounced harmlessly off the rim time and time again.

Whatever was bothering normally sharp-shooting Canon-McMillan, it caused the Big Macs to misfire too often Saturday afternoon against too good of an opponent. The end result was Woodland Hills defeating the Big Macs 57-41 in the WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinals.

Canon-McMillan coach Rick Bell knew exactly what was to blame for his team’s scoring problems.

“It wasn’t the site. Woodland Hills had a lot to do with our play today,” Bell said. “Their athleticism had a lot of do with that. Their closeouts on our shooters were really quick. We weren’t getting as many open looks off our penetration and pitch.”

It was only the third loss in 24 games for Canon-McMillan, which will not learn if its season is over or not until Wednesday night. If Woodland Hills (20-3) can defeat Pine-Richland in the semifinals, then Canon-McMillan will garner one of the WPIAL’s six spots in the state tournament. A Woodland Hills loss and the Big Macs can put away the basketballs until next winter.

“Now we’re the biggest Woodland Hills fans,” Bell said. “We’ve been in this same situation before – last year. When I was shaking hands with the Woodland Hills players after the game, I told them, ‘Get us in.'”

Canon-McMillan could have avoided playing the waiting game by defeating Woodland Hills, but the Big Macs couldn’t generate enough offense against the Wolverines and held only two leads in the game, the last being 11-10 after a three-pointer by Jason Fowlkes, who played a superb game by scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Fowlkes’ three-pointer that gave C-M the lead came late in the first quarter, when each team was sizzling from the perimeter. The Big Macs, however, went cold after Fowlkes’ basket and didn’t make another three-pointer until the second half.

Meanwhile, Woodland Hills started figuring out Canon-McMillan’s packed-in 2-3 zone. The Wolverines outscored C-M 12-5 in the second quarter to lead 29-16 at halftime.

“We packed in our defense for two reasons,” Bell said. “We wanted to take away penetration and we wanted to be in position to rebound. Some people I talked to said that sometimes Woodland Hills’ best offense is a missed shot because they go get the rebound.”

Amante Britt, Woodland Hills’ point guard, made a nifty drive and scoop shot in traffic for a basket as time expired in the first half. It would not be the last time Woodland Hills made a clutch shot in the closing seconds of a quarter.

Canon-McMillan finally started making some perimeter shots and gained momentum. Three-pointers by Fowlkes and Drew Engel helped C-M pull to within 31-27 late in the third quarter.

“They packed in their zone and dared us to shoot from the outside,” Woodland Hills coach Omar Miller said. “In the third quarter, we couldn’t score. I finally told the kids to stop shooting three-pointers and try to get some mid-range jump shots.”

Woodland Hills held the ball for almost a minute before Keandre Bowles made a three-pointer from the right baseline with four seconds left in the quarter. It gave the Wolverines a 34-27 lead and Canon-McMillan never recovered.

The Big Macs fouled to put Woodland Hills into the bonus early in the fourth quarter but the Wolverines capitalized by making 10 of 14 free throws in the final five minutes.

“We were told they weren’t a good free-throw shooting team,” Bell said.

Britt led Woodland Hills with 18 points and Bowles had 16.

Engel had 11 points for the Big Macs, who were held to six three-pointers. The Big Macs also couldn’t overcome 14 turnovers. Woodland Hills had only seven turnovers.

“We didn’t shoot the ball like we usually do, but I credit Woodland Hills’ defense for that,” Bell said. “We didn’t get many open looks. When we did, we missed some.”