ALIQUIPPA 62, BROCKWAY 54

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March 7, 2009 - PIAA Boys' Class AA First Round at Clarion University

PIAA Playoff Home Page

By Chris Rossetti

CLARION – Trailing by 25 at halftime, Brockway nearly pulled off a stunning upset before losing to Aliquippa 62-54 in the opening round of the PIAA Class AA boys’ playoffs Saturday afternoon at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym.

The Rovers (15-11) trailed 36-11 at the break but outscored Aliquippa (15-8) 43-26 in the second half.

Despite the comeback, Brockway wasn’t able to cut the Quips lead to single digits until the final 35 seconds getting as close as seven, 61-54, with 17 seconds to play.

While the Rovers played well in the second half shooting 61.9 percent (13 of 21) from the floor, 84.2 percent (16 of 19) from the free-throw line and turning the ball over just five times, they couldn’t overcome a disastrous first half.

In the opening 16 minutes, Brockway hit just three shots while shooting 16.7 percent (3 of 18) from the floor. The Rovers were also a miserable 5 of 17 (29.4 percent) from the free-throw line and turned the ball over 15 times leading to 17 Aliquippa points. That helped the Quips go on a 19-0 run to end the first quarter with a 20-3 lead, and then they outscored Brockway 16-8 in the second quarter. The Rovers, who survived a stretch of 11 minutes without a basket in the District 9 title game, went 11:31 between hoops in the first half Saturday.

Things really didn’t improve all that much in the third quarter, although Brockway was able to cut the Aliquippa lead to 18, 50-32, by the end of the quarter.

But the Quips still seemed in complete control of the game following a Chaquille Pratt layup 21 seconds into the fourth quarter that gave them a 52-32 advantage.

Brockway, however, went on a quick 6-0 run that cut the lead to 52-38 on a Mark Shannon layup with 5:32 to play. The Rovers then got within 12, the closest they had been since late in the first quarter, on two Nick Anderson free throws with 2:32 to play. But layups by Kevin Johnson and Troy Jeter helped Aliquippa maintain the double-digit lead until Cody Anderson’s free throw with 35 seconds left made it 61-52. Nick Anderson then hit a jumper with 17 seconds to play to make it 61-54, but that was the last points Brockway would score.

Mark Shannon led the Rovers with 14 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots despite sitting out five minutes mainly because of foul trouble. Nick Anderson added 13 points, while Craig Anderson had nine points and three assists and Cody Anderson eight points.

Pratt paced Aliquippa with 18 points, nine rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals. Jeter added 12 points but also turned the ball over seven times.

NOTES – Aliquippa dominated inside outscoring Brockway 52-28 in the paint … The Quips never seemed to be able to adjust to the District 9 officiating crew that was calling a tight game. Aliquippa was whistled for 29 fouls to Brockway’s 19 while taking only 15 free throws to the Rovers 36. Some of the fouls were due to the full-court press employed by the Quips, but many were due to the fact that game is called tighter in District 9 than it is in the WPIAL … Brockway outrebounded the much bigger Quips 35-34 but Aliquippa held a 14-11 advantage on the offensive boards, which in part helped the Quips outscored Brockway 14-4 in second-chance points … District 9 Class AA boys’ teams have now lost nine straight PIAA playoff games. The last time a District 9 Class AA boys’ team won a PIAA game was in 2004 when Keystone beat Westmont-Hilltop 47-35 in the second round. The Panthers had beaten Saegertown 55-52 in the opening round while also losing 80-67 to Beaver Falls in the quarterfinals.

ALIQUIPPA 62, BROCKWAY 54

Score by Quarters

Aliquippa 20 16 14 12 – 62

Brockway 3 8 21 22 – 54

Aliquippa – 62

Terry Patrick 3-4 1-3 7, Troy Jeter 5-8 2-6 12, Ravon Jackson 1-6 0-0 2, Jawan Gilliam 3-6 0-1 6, Chaquille Pratt 8-14 2-4 18, Haetaun Mathis 1-1 0-0 2, Davion Hall 3-5 0-1 7, Akil Tyson 0-3 0-0 0, Jaquan Humphries 0-02 0-0 0, Anthony Worthy 0-0 0-0 0, Juantez Hollins 1-5 0-0 2, Kevin Johnson 3-5 0-0 6. Totals 28-59 5-15 62.

Brockway – 54

Craig Anderson 2-9 4-9 9, Aaron Shaffer 2-5 0-2 4, Mark Shannon 6-10 2-3 14, Nick Anderson 2-4 9-13 13, Cody Anderson 2-4 4-6 8, Shane Horner 1-2 0-0 2, Derek Buganza 1-2 0-1 2, Ryan Shaffer 0-0 0-0 0, Mike Vervoort 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Allen 0-1 0-0 0, Mark Robinson 0-2 2-2 2, Brad Welsh 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-39 21-36 54.

Three-pointers – Aliquippa 1-11 (Hall 1-3, Humphries 0-2, Jackson 0-2, Patrick 0-1, Jeter 0-1, Gilliam 0-1, Tyson 0-1). Brockway 1-7 (Cr. Anderson 1-3, Shannon 0-2, Co. Anderson 0-1, Robinson 0-1).