Heartbreak at Slippery Rock: Cathedral Prep, McDowell end basketball seasons in overtime
The Cathedral Prep and McDowell boys basketball teams are used to battling each other in thrilling rivalry games.
Those games sometimes end in overtime, including Prep's triple-overtime win at McDowell in early January.
The rivals both fell in heartbreaking fashion to end their seasons with overtime losses in the PIAA boys basketball quarterfinals at Slippery Rock University.
“We played hard on both sides of the ball, that's the McDowell way,” said McDowell coach Kevin O'Connor. “These guys have been around the program all four years and that's what it means to be at McDowell. You give everything and empty the tank.”
“I couldn't be more proud or more grateful to coach this team,” said Prep coach Jeremy Lynch. “These guys are Prep basketball players through and through and I'm proud to coach them.”
North Catholic (22-6) outlasted Prep (19-9) 78-75 in overtime in Class 4A on Friday, while Upper St. Clair (26-2) threw down a dunk in the final seconds of overtime to beat McDowell (23-5) 51-49 on Saturday.
Red-hot Trojans
North Catholic has been one of the top shooting teams in the state over the past two weeks. The Trojans averaged 68.3 points per game but they turned things up in the PIAA playoffs. North Catholic scored 72 points in the first round against Hickory and 84 in the second round against Beaver.
The Trojans wouldn't go away against Prep as the Ramblers led 32-26 at the half before North Catholic scored 20 points in the third and fourth quarters.
Prep led 66-63 with one minute left in regulation before Owen Maddalon scored and was fouled with 38 seconds left as he tied the game. The Ramblers ran the clock down for the last shot before missing a corner 3-pointer to force overtime.
North Catholic started the extra period with five straight points and never gave up the lead. The Trojans struggled at the free throw line in the final two minutes with four misses, but they still led 74-70 with 32 seconds left. Nando Mirarchi hit two free throws but Prep never had a chance to tie the game as North Catholic did enough at the free throw line. Mirarchi buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it a 3-point final.
Mirarchi led Prep with 28 points including 11-of-11 from the free throw line, while Michael Thompson had 15 points, Cormac Thunell had 13 and Ahmari Horton added nine. Jude Rottman led North Catholic with 28 points and was a big part of the Trojans erasing a 12-point deficit in the second half, while Maddalon had 20 and Jason Fredericks scored 16.
Last-second heartbreak
McDowell faced a monumental task on Saturday with the size of Upper St. Clair. Blayze Myers and Talen Geib are listed at 6 feet, 3 inches on the McDowell roster with everyone else 6-2 and below. Upper St. Clair features 6-10 Tyler Robbins, a Miami (Ohio) recruit, along with his brother Ryan Robbins, a 6-6 sophomore, senior Kaamil Jackson, who is 6-6 and 6-7 George Gombar. Add in 6-1 guard Nikolas Gidas who seemingly couldn't miss from the 3-point line Saturday and McDowell had to play a nearly perfect game to win.
The Trojans almost pulled off a shocking win.
Stephon Porter and Myers battled the bigger Panthers throughout the game and all five Trojans fearlessly attacked the rim despite it costing them a blocked shot now and then. McDowell raced out to a 15-6 lead in the first quarter and the game was tied at 21 at halftime.
Upper St. Clair's size started taking over in the third quarter as the Panthers led 38-33, but McDowell rallied in the fourth quarter.
Ryan Robbins scored inside to make it 47-45 USC with 2 minutes to go before Porter went through both Robbins brothers to tie the game. McDowell defended the final minute without allowing a good shot to force overtime.
The two teams played a tight overtime period with missed shots and key rebounds. Tyler Robbins and Porter traded buckets before McDowell grabbed a late steal with 35 seconds left to have a chance at winning the game. Jackson blocked a McDowell shot with 10 seconds left and the Panthers went on a game-winning fastbreak as Tyler Robbins put down the winning dunk with 1.2 seconds to play.
Myers had 17 points for McDowell followed by Porter with 11, Kamden Kramer with nine and Leo Finazzo with eight. Gidas led USC with 22 points on six 3-pointers, while Tyler Robbins had 14 points.
Ramblers fall to powerhouse
The Cathedral Prep girls basketball team pulled out every strategy possible to try and beat WPIAL powerhouse Peters Township in the PIAA Class 5A quarterfinals on Saturday at Slippery Rock University.
The Ramblers (18-8) used a variety of offensive sets to score points and even slowed down the pace as much as possible at times. Prep played its signature tough defense as well to be within four points midway through the fourth quarter down 27-23.
Miami recruit Natalie Wetzel, a 6-3 guard, followed with a 3-pointer and the Ramblers couldn't recover in a 35-25 loss.
“We haven't backed down from anybody all year long,” said Prep coach Doug Chuzie. “Whether they are bigger, faster or stronger, our strength is in the team and by playing team basketball. We share the ball and play our assignments on defense and came overcome size and speed. That was the case for a majority of the game but unfortunately, our opponent ended on a good run.”
Addie Biel, an Appalachian State recruit, finished with nine points and is second in Villa Maria/Cathedral Prep history with 1,423 career points. Seana Thrower added six points for the Ramblers. Wetzel had 14 points for Peters Township.
Contact Tom Reisenweber at treisenweber@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNreisenweber.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Cathedral Prep, McDowell end boys basketball seasons in overtime
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