Canon-McMillan outlasts USC for critical section victory
Canon-McMillan’s R.J. Bell gets a step on his defender while driving to the basket Friday night against Upper St. Clair. Bell scored a game-high 17 points against the Panthers.
Canon-McMillan’s Britton Beachy drives past Upper St. Clair’s Kyle Meinert. He scored six points in a 37-32 victory against the Panthers
Canon-McMillan’s Kenyon Lewis attempts a reverse layup Friday night against Upper St. Clair.
For Canon-McMillan, the wait between baskets against Upper St. Clair didn’t take as long as it took the Republicans to put a president back in the White House. It just seemed like it.
However, Rick Bell won’t argue with the results. The Big Macs weathered a 13-minute scoring drought and posted a 37-32 victory against Upper St. Clair in a key Section 2, 6-A boys basketball game.
“Trust me, that wasn’t by design,” Bell said of the lull, which started at the 4:10 mark of the second quarter and ended with 1:10 remaining in the third quarter.
“It does seem like an eternity when you don’t score but we won. That is the goal. That is the agenda.”
C-M improves to 4-2 in the section and 10-4 overall, while USC falls to 2-4 and 9-5.
The teams play again today at USC, and Bell expects another defensive struggle.
“Danny (Holzer) is a good coach,” Bell said. “His teams always play really, really good defense.”
The Big Macs had good shot selection and opportunities. They just couldn’t convert.
Neither did the Panthers, who were 3 of 14 from three-point range.
“Our defense is pretty solid,” said Holzer. “We just are having a hard time scoring. We got to find ways to score. We need to improve for sure. If we can start knocking down some shots, then we’ll be all right.”
The Big Macs were all right from long range, particularly when it mattered.
At the third-quarter buzzer, Jake Davey drained a 3-pointer and Kenyon Lewis buried the go-ahead-shot for good with 5:21 to play.
“Those were two huge plays,” Bell said. “Huge threes for sure.”
RJ Bell made the biggest plays. He scored 10 of his game-high 17 points in the first half as C-M stretched a 9-7 first-quarter advantage into a 10-point lead. His 3-pointer with 4:10 to go in the second quarter afforded the Big Macs an 18-8 edge.
However, USC used a 13-0 run, including 9-0 to start the third quarter, to take a 20-18 lead. But, Elliot Waller snapped the run with a basket with 1:10 remaining in the third quarter.
After Davey’s and Lewis’ shots, Bell took over the attack again, scoring his final seven points in the last three minutes. His 3-pointer gave C-M a 35-30 edge and his two free throws with 4.1 seconds to play iced the victory for the Big Macs.
“I’m proud of (R.J.) and happy for him but at this stage in his career I expect it,” Bell said of the performance of his son. “He’s been through the ringer. It’s not easy being a coach’s son. He’s a pretty mentally tough hombre because of that.”
Britton Beachy played tough for the Big Macs as well. The senior finished with nine points, six in the second quarter to help stake C-M to its large lead.
For the Panthers, Kyle Meinert led with 16 points.