Aliquippa dethrones Seton-La Salle
Aliquippa overcame a six-point halftime deficit to dethrone defending champion Seton-La Salle, 68-57, in the WPIAL Class AA boys’ championship basketball game played at the Petersen Events Center.
With the victory, the Quips ran their record to 25-0. They enter the PIAA state tournament as the No. 1 seed out of District 7. Meanwhile, the Rebels dropped to 23-3. They embark on state playoff action March 7.
During this week of practice, SLS head coach Mark (Knobby) Walsh guarantees one thing. “We are going to be working on a lot of free throws and blocking out,” he added.
Inefficiencies in both departments contributed to SLS’s district loss. The Quips connected on 19 of 24 shots from the charity stripe, 19 of 22 in the second half, while the Rebels made 10 of 19 of their free throws.
“Absolutely,” said Walsh, “(free-throw shooting definitely was a contributing factor.
“There have been times this year where we’ve really knocked down free throws,” he added, noting in a recent playoff game the Rebels were 12-of-16 from the line. “When you don’t make them it hurts on possessions, especially when the game it tight. It probably affected the early part of the game when we would have had a bigger lead at halftime. That made a big difference, especially since we missed the front end of one-and-ones.”
After SLS jumped ahead, 20-14, in the first frame and 26-20 at halftime, Stephon McGinnis and Kaezon Pugh went to work on bringing the Quips back. McGinnis knocked down a three-pointer to knot the contest at 34 before Pugh lifted the Quips into the lead with a pair of free throws and a basket off an offensive rebound.
McGinnis pumped in 22 points. Pugh finished with 11 tallies and 12 rebounds.
“(McGinnis) is a very talented player. A lightning quick point guard,” said Walsh. “He really took over the game. Early on I thought our kids did as best a job as they could on him but all credit to him. He stays under control and distributes the ball.
On Pugh, Walsh noted his size and his potential as a Division I football recruit. “He has a body on him. He hit about four or five shots and the reason he gets those offensive rebounds is because defenses usually have to help out.” Plus, when those rebounds come off of missed free throws, Walsh added, that makes a difference too.
“They made a pretty big run in the third quarter,” Walsh continued of the stretch that saw SLS’s advantage evaporate and the Quips charge ahead, 42-38. “Momentum changed at that point and we weren’t able to get it back.”
The reason was simple said Christian Del Greco. “We weren’t hitting shots and they were making their free throws,” said the senior. “We weren’t and stuff was falling for them. Basically, that was that.”
In the first half, everything Ryan Norkus shot fell in. He dominated the first quarter, scoring 16 points. He finished with a game-high 25 tallies and 14 rebounds. Paris Ford followed with 14 points and nine rebounds. Cletus Helton and Del Greco followed with eight and seven tallies.
That the Quips came back on the Rebels did not surprise Walsh. Over the years, he has witnessed their recoveries.
“You knew they were going to make their run. At halftime, I told my players that this team is 24-0 for a reason. To be down six and come back the way they did was an impressive performance.
“When they made that run, (McGinnis) seemed to step it up a little bit and in the third quarter, there were four straight possessions where we didn’t score. Instead of being up four, they tied it and go ahead. That was a factor. It’s a game of runs. We knew they would make a strong stand and we weren’t able to answer.”
Seton-La Salle hopes to answer with a strong showing the PIAA tournament. Last year, the Rebels played in the championship game. To get back to the PIAA finals, however, may mean a rematch with the Quips.
Walsh is hoping history is on the side of the Rebels. In 1988, Aliquippa beat SLS in the WPIAL semifinals but the Rebels rebounded to beat the Quips in the state semifinals on their way to claiming the PIAA title.
“I’m not saying that is going to happen but maybe we’ll get another crack at them,” Walsh said. “But, we have to improve and get better.”
During the WPIAL tournament, SLS played well, Walsh noted. In the championship game, however, he said, “we played okay against a very good team that stepped it up when they had to. I think the fans got their $10’s worth though.”
This season, Walsh has gotten the maximum out of his talent. Norkus and Del Greco represented the majority of the experience returning from last year’s championship club. In addition to Helton and Ford, the Rebels received solid efforts, particularly in the playoffs from Andrew Rodgers and William O’Malley.
“We exceeded people’s expectations,” said Walsh, “but these buys believed all year that they were going to come here and win.
“In the spring they said, ‘coach, we are going back’ and I looked at them and I was waiting for them to start giggling. I thought, ‘wow, these guys really believe’ and as a coaching staff we thought we’d be able to get back here (to the WPIAL championship game.)”
The Rebels open PIAA tournament play March 7 at a site and time to be determined.
“It’s different than last year. Last year, we went into this with a win and on such a high note. We are going to have an opponent coming in that is thinking we got a change to go against the runner-up so we have to get back to working hard.
“I think our senior leadership will step up,” Walsh continued. “Once you can get that first game, that’s an important one. And things get rolling again. Who knows what can happen, but you have to find a way to motivate them and get back up and ready to play.”