Butler does it: Underdog Ringgold holds off Ambridge
Luke Campbell/Observer-Reporter
Ringgold’s Demetrius Butler flexes after making a layup and getting fouled in the second half of a WPIAL Class 4A first-round playoff game against Ambridge Wednesday night.
Luke Campbell/Observer-Reporter
Ringgold’s Luke Wyvratt pump fakes on a layup as a pair of Ambridge defenders soar over the top for the block in the first half of Wednesday’s WPIAL Class 4A first-round playoff game.
Luke Campbell/Observer-Reporter
Ringgold’s Demetrius Butler, right, gets ready to high-five teammate Chris Peccon as the Rams’ student section cheers after a three-pointer in the first half of a WPIAL Class 4A first-round playoff game.
Luke Campbell/Observer-Reporter
Ringgold’s Demetrius Butler watches his layup in the first half of a WPIAL Class 4A first-round playoff game Wednesday night at Peters Township High School.
Luke Campbell/Observer-Reporter
Charleroi’s Bella Skobel tries to find a teammate to pass the ball to while being surrounded by East Allegheny’s Amaia Johnson (11) and Riley Verner in a WPIAL Class 3A first-round playoff game Wednesday night at Peters Township High School.
McMURRAY – Phil Pergola was dizzy. Eric Astorino was speechless.
The two coaches leaving the locker rooms – Pergola the longtime coach at Ringgold and Astorino the interim coach at Ambridge – didn’t hide their emotions.
Their reactions couldn’t have mirrored their teams any more perfectly.
Luke Wyvratt made a layup and went chest to chest with Ambridge big man Enire Bowens, who stood at 6-8. Demetrius Butler went hard to the lane in the second half and flexed after a layup and foul.
There was no backing down for the Rams.
Oversized by the towering Bridgers at nearly every position, ninth-seeded Ringgold embraced the underdog role in a 73-62 victory over No. 8 Ambridge in a WPIAL Class 4A first-round game at Peters Township High School Wednesday night.
“I’ve coached a lot of games,” Pergola said. “That’s one of the biggest wins we’ve ever had, considering the circumstances. As big as they are. That’s a tremendous team victory.”
The win sends Ringgold (14-9) into a quarterfinal game against top-seeded Highlands at noon Saturday at North Hills.
It was the second game of a doubleheader at the PT gymnasium. In the opener, No. 10 Charleroi lost to seventh-seeded East Allegheny in a Class 3A girls first-round game, 51-24.
The finale turned out much closer, going down to the wire after a second-half comeback by Ambridge (11-9).
Trailing 33-24 at halftime, the Bridgers fell behind by as much as 16 points, 40-24, when Butler made a pair of free throws with 5:54 left in the third quarter. The Ringgold lead slowly began to narrow down the stretch. The Rams led by four twice and had their once double-digit lead shrink all the way to 62-60 when Bowens asserted his will in the paint for a layup to finish an 8-2 run with 2:46 left in regulation.
That’s when Butler and Ringgold stiffened, never surrendering the lead with a dominating performance at the foul line. The Rams went 9-for-10 from the free-throw line in the final two minutes. Led by Butler, Ringgold made 30 of its 35 foul shots, including a 15-for-16 night from the junior who finished with a game-high 24 points.
“I’ve never had a game like that,” a wide-eyed Butler said. “I just blocked everything out. I found my stroke and just went with it.
“We definitely were the underdog,” Butler continued. “There was a huge size differential, they had guys standing 6-6, 6-7 and 6-8, or whatever they were. We knew what we had to do. We came out and punched them in the mouth and kept it going.”
Wyvratt also scored in double figures for Ringgold, battling amongst the trees down low to finish with 17 points.
In addition to Bowens, the Bridgers had 6-7 forward Liam Buck and 6-6 guard Isaiah Thomas. The tallest player on the floor for Ringgold was Wyvratt at 6-4.
“(Our players) weren’t intimidated,” Pergola said. “They watched a lot of film. They were ready to go. They believed going in that we could battle, but that team is much bigger in person than they were on film.”
Astorino had no comment after the game.
Ringgold contained the size of Ambridge, limiting Buck to 13 points and Bowens to just 12. Thomas scored 17 to lead to Bridgers, who were immediately stunned by Ringgold and fell behind 11-2 in the first four minutes.
“The last few games we’ve been telling them that every team is going to have a couple runs,” Pergola said. “The first one is the most important. That’s what won us the game.”
East Allegheny 51, Charleroi 24
Using size, strength and speed, East Allegheny overpowered Charleroi from the start in a 51-24 victory.
East Allegheny (13-1) went on runs of six, seven and eight points in the opening half behind the scoring of Amaia Johnson and Abby Henderson.
The two combined for 29 points in the first half as the Wildcats convincingly led 37-12 at halftime.
“We knew we were going to struggle on the boards,” Charleroi coach Bill Wagner said. “We worked on it. Honestly, every game plan we seemed to have went out the window when we stepped on the court tonight. We just couldn’t box out or get anything going on offense. It was a tough game.”
Henderson scored 14 of her game-high 17 in the first half. Johnson, who finished with 16 points, didn’t score after halftime.
Bella Skobel was the lone player for Charleroi (14-8) in double figures with 12 points.