NESHANNOCK 63, DUBOIS CENTRAL CATHOLIC 50

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March 12, 2010 - PIAA Class A Boys' First Round

PIAA Playoff Home Page

By Chris Rossetti

CLARION – Neshannock’s pressure defense in the fourth quarter was too much for District 9 champion DuBois Central Catholic to handle, and the Lancers, the fifth-place team out of the WPIAL, stunned District 9 champion Coudersport 63-50 in the opening round of the PIAA Class A boys’ basketball playoffs Friday night at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym.

Trailing 43-41 going to the fourth quarter, Neshannock (17-8) forced five DCC turnovers in the fourth quarter leading to eight points helpings the Lancers outscored the Cardinals (21-6) 22-7 in the quarter.

Neshannock started the final eight minutes with a 11-0 run to take a 52-43 lead with 4:01 left in the game before DCC got right back into the contest with a 7-1 run of its own that including a 3-pointer by Joe McNally that cut the lead to 52-48 with 3:37 left and a layup by Taylor Pentz that got the deficit down to three, 53-50, with 2:36 to play.

But the Lancers finished the game on a 10-0 run that started with back-to-back Eric Bruening layups at 2:25 and 1:54, the only two shots Bruening attempted in the game.

Neshannock led by as many as 10, 29-19, in the first half before DCC used an 11-2 run in the second quarter to get within four, 34-30, at halftime. The Cardinals were then able to tie the game at 36 three minutes into the second half before the Lancers used a quick 5-0 spurt to go up 41-36 with 3:20 left in the third quarter.

DCC then made a run of its own ending the third quarter by outscoring Neshannock 7-0 to take the 43-41 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Cardinals had a couple of opportunities to grow the lead early in the final frame but Dan Fitzpatrick missed a jumper and Chris Marshall a layup in the first 42 seconds of the quarter. The Lancers then took the lead for good on an old-school 3-point play by Robert Nittenger with 6:46 left that started the 11-0 run.

Nittenger led four Neshannock players in double figures with 16 points while adding four rebounds and three helpers. Joseph Fontana chipped in with 15 points, nine rebounds and three steals while Charles Van Eman contributed 14 points and four assists and John Sasone 10 points and seven rebounds.

Marshall led DCC with 17 points, eight rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals. Jake Krause added a career-best 16 points on 8 of 12 shootings.

NOTES – DCC played without Brad Gallagher who missed the game with an illness … Krause’s previous career high was 10 points earlier this year. It was the only other time he had scored in double digits on the season. He entered the game averaging 3.9 points per game and had scored 12 points in his last five games combined … Marshall finished the year with 512 points (19.0 ppg) and scored 15 or more points in each of his last 15 games averaging 21.6 ppg over that span. He failed to reach 20 for just the second time in 12 games … Neshannock shot 57.1 percent (12 of 21) in the first half and 53.5 percent (23 of 43) for the game … DCC shot 38.6 percent (22 of 57) for the game including just 3 of 18 (16.7 percent) from 3-point range … Neshannock was 14 of 21 from the free-throw line with DCC going just 3 of 7 … It is the first time in at least a decade that District 9’s Class A boys’ champion was eliminated in the opening round of the PIAA playoffs.

NESHANNOCK 63, DUBOIS CENTRAL CATHOLIC 50

Score by Quarters

Neshannock 14 20 7 22 – 63

DuBois CC 12 18 13 7 – 50

Neshannock – 63

Robert Nittenger 7-13 1-2 16, Joseph Fontana 4-7 7-9 15, Charles Van Eman 4-8 6-8 14, Joshn Sansone 4-8 0-1 10, Eric Bruening 2-2 0-0 4, Anthony Van Eman 0-0 0-0 0, Nicholas Graziani 0-0 0-0 0, Brandon Marinelli 2-5 0-1 4, Alexander Seltzer 0-0 0-0 0, Benjamin Swoffer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-43 14-21 63.

DCC – 50

Will Gangewere 0-4 0-0 0, Chris Marshall 8-13 1-2 17, Alex Welch 2-4 0-1 4, Joe McNally 2-11 0-0 6, Dan Fitzpatrick 1-6 0-0 3, Josh Zimmerly 0-1 0-0 0, Jake Krause 8-12 0-0 16, Seth Galluzzi 0-2 1-2 1, Peter Hopkins 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Pentz 1-3 1-2 3, David Gangewere 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-57 3-7 50.

Three-pointers – Neshannock 3-11 (Sansone 2-4, Nittenger 1-5, C. Van Eman 0-1, Marinelli 0-1). DCC 3-18 (McNally 2-10, Fitzpatrick 1-3, W. Gangewere 0-3, Zimmerly 0-1, D. Gangewere 0-1).