STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — When the dam finally broke for Chester, the points flowed in a hurry.
The Clippers, ranked 19th in the nation in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 Boys Basketball Rankings, used a 12-0 run in a span of 1:36 in overtime to erase a one-point deficit and claim the PIAA Class AAAA boys basketball championship with a 72-60 win over Mt. Lebanon (Pittsburgh).
Photo by Paul Burdick
Chester's Lamon Church.
"Mission accomplished," Chester head coach Larry Yarbray Sr. said. "That's what we set out to do, win the state championship, and now we can enjoy it."
Chester (31-1) trailed 58-57 following a free throw by Mt. Lebanon's Luke Hagy with 2:50 left in the extra session. But the Clippers took the lead on an old-school 3-point play by Lamon Church with 2:21 left and then made it 61-58 when Church hit one of two free throws with 1:50 to play. Hagy missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the game with 1:37 to play, and Chester proceeded to score eight points in the next 44 seconds to put the game away.
"I think they finally got a little tired at end and our guys imposed their will," Yarbray said. "Fortunately, we were able to make a run. That was a good team that played hard from beginning to end. My hat is off to those guys. It's a shame one team has to lose and one team has to win, but that's just how it goes."
No one gave Mt. Lebanon (27-4), the fourth-place team out of the WPIAL (District 7), any chance against one of the nation's best teams whose only loss was to Sanford (Del.) six games into the year.
“I’m so proud of that group in there,” Mt. Lebanon head coach Joey David said. “No one thought we could play with Chester, period. We did. This group is seasoned. We knew coming in it would be a basketball game, and we knew it would come down to the very end making some plays. Unfortunately, things happened there at the end.”
The Blue Devils withstood a fast start by Chester that saw the Clippers hit seven of their first 12 shots to take an early 19-10 lead.
Mt. Lebanon got back within three, 34-31, at halftime thanks to back-to-back Hagy 3-pointers the last one coming at the horn. The Blue Devils then tied the game at 35 early in the third quarter before Chester appeared to take control of the game with an 8-0 run that put them up 43-35.
But Mt. Lebanon ended the third quarter on an 11-2 run that was punctuated by Michigan State football recruit Paul Lang's dunk with 23.4 seconds left in the quarter that gave the Blue Devils a 46-45 lead.
"Not at all," Yarbray said when asked if he was surprised Mt. Lebanon rallied. "I watched a couple of tapes on them and talked to a couple of different people about them. They refuse to lose. They are a real scrappy team. They do all the little things. They executed their offense and made a lot of foul shots. You do stuff like that, you can hang around the game and stay in the game."
The game then remained within three points for the entire fourth quarter before Mt. Lebanon sophomore Tyler Roth tied the contest at 55 with a 3-pointer with 1:08 to play in regulation, one of five 3-pointers for the Blue Devils compared to 1 of 19 for Chester. Mt. Lebanon then got the ball back, but Maurice Nelson came up with a steal and a breakaway layup with 34 seconds to play in regulation that put the Clippers ahead 57-55.
Evan Eaton, however, hit two free throws after being fouled going for an offensive rebound with 23.6 to play in regulation to tie the game at 57.
Mt. Lebanon got the ball back when Church was called for a charge with 13.3 to play. But Roth turned the ball back over when he moved on the inbounds play when he was supposed to remain stationary, giving Chester the last-shot opportunity. Church, though, missed the layup and Nelson missed an off-balanced 3-pointer just before the horn sending the game to overtime.
Erikk Wright led Chester, which won its seventh PIAA title, with 22 points including 12 in the first half, while Church had 14 points and eight rebounds and Dequann Walker 13 points.
Lang led Mt. Lebanon with 17 points and eight rebounds with Hagy adding 16 points, Eaton 12 points and Roth 11 points and nine rebounds.
Chester 72, Mt. Lebanon 60, overtime
CHESTER (31-1)
Lamon Church 4-9 6-9 14, Erikk Wright 9-13 4-6 22, Richard Granberry 1-1 3-4 5, Maurice Nelson 2-15 2-3 6, Dequann Walker 5-16 3-8 13, Kareem Robinson 0-1 0-0 0, Darius Robinson 0-3 0-0 0, Tymier Butler 2-3 0-0 6, Rondae Jefferson 3-10 1-2 7, Tavaune Griffin 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-73 19-32 72.
MT. LEBANON (27-4)
George Hensler 0-0 0-0 0, Paul Lang 6-13 5-8 17, Evan Eaton 2-16 8-9 12, Luke Hagy -9 6-8 16, Tyler Roth 4-10 0-0 11, Christopher Bendel 0-0 0-1 0, Timothy White 2-2 0-2 4. Totals 18-50 19-28 60.
Chester 19 15 11 12 15 - 72
Mt. Lebanon 12 19 15 11 3 - 60
3-point goals: Chester 1-19 (Butler). Mt. Lebanon 5-18 (Roth 3, Hagy 2). Rebounds: Chester 54 (Jefferson 14), Mt. Lebanon 32 (Lang 8). Assists: Chester 11 (Nelson 4). Mt. Lebanon 8 (Hagy 3). Turnovers: Chester 13, Mt. Lebanon 17.
IMPRESSIVE FOURTH QUARTER BRINGS ARCHBISHOP WOOD GIRLS 2ND STRAIGHT AAA TITLE
Archbishop Wood (Warminster) used a 13-0 run that started with 0.3 seconds left in the third quarter and carried over into the late stages of the fourth quarter to claim its second straight PIAA Class AAA girls title with a 53-41 win over Mercyhurst Prep (Erie) Saturday at Penn State.
District 10 champion Mercyhurst Prep (27-3) led 33-31 late in the third quarter before the District 12 champion Lady Vikings (27-4) went on the big run that helped them outscore the Lakers 21-8 in the fourth quarter.
Christine Verrelle led Archbishop Wood with 16 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals with Steph Keyes adding 13 points and Tori Arnao 10 points and 11 rebounds. Keyes hit the go-ahead 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter that put the Lady Vikings ahead for good while scoring five points during the 13-0 run.
Ally Burke and Kayla Wilwohl each had 17 points for Mercyhurst Prep with Wilwohl adding six boards. The Lakers' leading scorer Lindsay Stamp, who was coming off a 26-point performance in the semifinals, was held to three points, 10 below her season average.
IMHOTEP CHARTER BOYS TAKE SECOND TITLE IN 3 YEARS
Balance was the key for Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia) out of the Philadelphia Public League (District 12), as eight Panthers scored at least five points to lead Imhotep (31-3) to its second PIAA Class AA title in three years thanks to a 67-34 win over WPIAL (District 7) runner-up Greensburg Central Catholic (27-4) Saturday afternoon at Penn State.
The 33-point margin of victory is tied for the fifth-largest in PIAA history with Uniontown's 90-57 win over Norristown in 1962 and the largest since Kennedy Christian beat Fairfield by 42, 87-45, in 2001.
Khyree Wooten led the Panthers with 12 points, Brandon Auston and Earl Brown each had 10 tallies with David Appolon adding seven points and 10 rebounds and Erik Copes five points and 13 boards.
Jesse Reed paced GCC with 13 points and six rebounds and P.J. McLaughlin added 10 points.
STEELTON-HIGHSPIRE'S OFFENSE TOO MUCH FOR BISHOP GUILFOYLE GIRLS
Malia Tate-DeFreitas, Jessika Williams, Jazmine Blanding and Janelle Hill combined to score 58 points to lead Steelton-Highspire (Steelton) to its first PIAA girls basketball title with a 73-60 win over two-time defending champion Bishop Guilfoyle (Altoona) Saturday afternoon in the PIAA Class A girls title game at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center.
Tate-DeFreitas, a sophomore, had 19 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and five steals, Williams, a senior, added 14 points and six rebounds, and Blanding, a sophomore, chipped in 13 points, three boards and two helpers and Hill, a senior, had 12 points and eight rebounds for the District 3 champion Rollers (27-4), who also got seven points and 12 boards from Cinnamon Brown.
District 6 champion Bishop Guilfoyle (Altoona) (29-2), which was trying to become the third girls team during the weekend to win three straight PIAA titles, got a game-high 25 points to go with seven rebounds from sophomore Halee Adams with fellow sophomore Elyssa Ehredt adding 12 points and 10 rebounds. The Lady Marauders were making their fourth appearance in the Class A title game since 2007 and suffered their first title-game loss since losing the 2004 Class AA title to Delone Catholic.
Steel-High's 73 points were the most in a PIAA girls championship game since Nativity BVM scored 74 in a 74-67 win over Bishop Guilfoyle in Class A in 1999.
What made the Rollers' offensive explosion even more impressive was that Bishop Guilfoyle had allowed a total of 56 points in winning the previous two PIAA Class A titles and had not allowed more than 61 points all season. In fact, Steel-High's 40 halftime points - they led 40-29 at the break - were more points than the Lady Marauders had given up in 18 of their 32 games this season.
Second-chance points played a big role for Steel-High, as it had 29 points off 23 offensive rebounds.
Steel-High
became the first District 3 girls team to take home a PIAA title since
Lebanon Catholic in 1995, and the Rollers are the just the fourth
District 3 school to win a Class A title. Lebanon Catholic won titles in
1995 and 1992, York Catholic won the Class A title in 1979 and
Lancaster Catholic won in 1974, the second year the PIAA sponsored a
girls championship.
IMHOTEP'S WIN CONTINUES DISTRICT 12 SUCCESS
Imhotep Charter became the fourth District 12 (Philadelphia Public and Catholic Leagues) team to win the PIAA Class AA boys title in the last six years. The Panthers also won the championship in 2009 with Prep Charter taking home the championship in 2006 and 2007. District 12's Strawberry Mansion lost in the other two AA championship games falling to Terrell Pryor and Jeannette in 2008 and to South Fayette last season.
District 12 first joined the PIAA for the 2005 championships and the last AA boys title game not to feature a District 12 team was that season when Beaver Falls from the WPIAL (District 7) beat York Catholic out of District 3.