Peters Township boys reach PIAA quarterfinals
Peters Township (24-4) opened PIAA tournament action with wins against Milton Hershey (19-9) and Lampeter-Strasburg (20-8) to advance to the state quarterfinals for the first time since 1997.
(The Indians were scheduled to play Exeter (25-6) on March 17 at Bald Eagle. Results of that contest were unavailable to The Almanac at press time.)
The Indians defeated Hershey, 60-53, on March 10 at the AHN Arena in McMurray.
Brendan McCullough led the Indians with 21 tallies. While Nate Miller contributed 10 points, Mickey Vaccarello chipped in 14 and provide clutch play throughout the contest, earning praise from PT floor boss Joe Urmann.
“Mickey was awesome,” Urmann said. “He did all the dirty work needed to win. He’s been getting better and better all year and was lights out.”
The Indians forged a first frame lead of five points, 16-11, but the Spartans managed to tie the match, 27-27, by intermission. PT outscored the Spartans, 18-13 and 15-13, in the second half quarters to seal the victory.
“We defended better in the second half,” Urmann noted. “A lot of our problems on offense stemmed from us not getting enough stops, especially early. We just challenged guys to guard and changed up our match-ups.”
In the second round, Lampeter-Strasburg provided a challenge for the Indians before succumbing, 58-56, on March 14 at Altoona High School.
“Survive and advance,” said Urmann. “Survive is the key word. We’re happy to get the win.”
The Indians sealed the deal against the Pioneers by sinking free throws. They converted 19 of 26 attempts form the line, including three in the final 2:18. That offset a 5-for-23 showing from beyond the arc.
Vaccarello and McCullough provided the late-game heroics.
After sinking a free throw, Vaccarello converted off an offensive rebound to give the Indians a 54-41 lead.
The sophomore’s play continued to impress Urmann. “(Vaccarello) has been really good lately,” he said. “He’s not afraid of the moment or competition.”
McCullough made two from the charity stripe to make it 56-52 with 49 seconds to play.
The Pioneers closed within two on a basket by Chase Smucker with 29 seconds to play. They even had an opportunity to win but a three-point shot bounced off the rim as the buzzer blared.
Jack Dunbar, who was held to four points against Hershey, led the Peters Township attack, finishing with 14 points. Jake Ziegler followed with 11 markers, all coming in the second half.
After leading 11-10 after one frame, PT used an eight-point run to open up a 19-10 advantage before the Pioneers closed the gap to three by intermission, 25-22.
SF, USC fallSouth Fayette (16-11) and Upper St. Clair (16-10) lost their first-round playoff games in the PIAA basketball tournament.
The Lions dropped a heartbreaker to Cathedral Prep, 47-45, at the Hagerty Family Events Center in Erie while the Panthers succumbed to State College, 72-42.
SF led 22-17 at halftime and held that five-point advantage heading into the final frame before Prep waged the comeback.
”I thought we really controlled the tempo against them for three quarters considering we were playing on their home court and against a very athletic and talented well coached team,” said Lions’ floor boss Dave Mislan. “They made some very timely plays in the fourth quarter and their best players really were good in clutch moments.”
Yet, the Lions had a chance to tie the contest with a free throw with 19 seconds remaining. They also had the final shot to tie the game but failed to convert.
For the Lions, Elijah Hill topped all scorers, firing in 30 points. Michael Plasko finished with 15 tallies.
Despite the result Mislan said, “I was so proud of the effort by our guys in a tough environment.”
Mislan also added that in his 18 years of coaching that he has “never enjoyed a season or been more proud” of a group of players. The Lions, who had lost their top six players from 2022 to graduation, won five straight games to qualify for the post-season. SF then won three of four WPIAL playoff games to qualify for the PIAA tournament. The Lions lost five of their first section games by a total of 10 points and started the second half of section action with a double-overtime loss. Their largest margin of defeat during the season was eight points against Peters Township in the district quarterfinals.
”Unless you went through the season within the program it is really hard to explain how much these kids had to fight through to believe in each other and play for each other to recover from some devastating losses to beat some great teams to get into the playoffs,” Mislan explained. “So I cannot be more proud of this bunch of overachievers.”
USC achieved mush in 2023, too. The Panthers won a section banner, participated in the district playoffs and participated in the state playoffs.
In their brief PIAA appearance, Matt Gaither and Christian Wieczenski pitched in 12 points each for the Panthers, who trailed by 12 at halftime and were outscored, 25-7, in the third quarter.