WEST MIFFLIN 63, BRADFORD 42

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March 16, 2010 - PIAA Class AAA Boys' Second Round

PIAA Playoff Home Page

By Chris Rossetti

CLARION – Size matters in basketball, at least it did Tuesday night when West Mifflin used its size to beat Bradford 63-42 in the second round of the PIAA Class AAA boys’ playoffs at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym.

The Titans (16-8) used a front court that consisted of three players 6-foot-2 or taller, including one 6-4 and one 6-5, to control both the paint and the glass in stopping Bradford’s 18-game win streak while also brining a close to the Owls’ (22-3) season.

West Mifflin outrebounded Bradford 50-21 including 17-9 on the offensive glass while outscoring the Owls 38-14 in the paint and 16-8 on second-chance points.

Chris Hester was one of the main reasons for the inside dominance, as the 6-foot-4 inch junior scored 14 points while also grabbing an astonishing 26 rebounds. For good measure he added five assists and a blocked shot.

Hester was helped inside by 6-foot-5 junior Leondra Cobbs, who added 20 points and five rebounds and 6-foot-2 swingman Lonzell Coles, who had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Matt White led Bradford with nine points, while Pug Fuhrman chipped in with eight.

Bradford, which has no player taller than the 6-foot-2 Ryan Mackey, needed to shoot well to stay with the taller Titans, but that didn’t happen. The Owls hit only 26.9 percent of their shots (14 of 52) including just 3 of 20 (15 percent) from 3-point range. The second half, when Bradford was outscored 28-17 after trailing 35-25 at halftime, was even worse. Bradford hit 1 of 10 3-pointers and 5 of 26 shots (19.2 percent).

Meanwhile, not only was West Mifflin dominating inside, the Titans were shooting lights out in the second half nailing 57.9 percent (11 of 19) of their shots including 4 of 7 (57.1 percent) of their 3-pointers.

Bradford actually had the early edge, and the Owls seemed like they were going to play right with the Titans through the first 11 or so minutes taking a 17-11 lead 30 seconds into the second half and still being tied at 19 with 4:52 left in the half.

But West Mifflin went on a 13-2 run after getting behind by six, and then used an 11-2 run to close the first half up 35-25. The last three points of the half came on a shot to remember by Coles, who drained a three-quarters of the court 3-pointer at the horn.

Bradford had actually looked to gain the momentum right before halftime when Michael Roman foolishly fouled Fuhrman as he was trying a 26-foot 3-pointer with a half-second left. Fuhrman hit 2 of the 3 free throws to pull the Owls within seven, 32-25. But Roman inbounded the ball to Coles, who heaved up a shot that found nothing but net as the horn sounded giving West Mifflin the 10-point halftime lead.

Te Titans quickly added to that lead to start the second half by scoring the first six points of the half and eight of the first nine to go ahead 43-27 on a Cobbs’ layup with 3:20 left in the third quarter.

Bradford finally hit its first shot of the second half when Fuhrman drained a 3-pointer with 3:02 to play, but West Mifflin ended the quarter up 19, 50-31.

The Titans then got the lead to as many as 25, 56-31, early in the fourth quarter.

West Mifflin, the fourth-place team out of the WPIAL, will now take on WPIAL runner-up Hampton in the Elite 8 Friday at a time and place to be determined. Hampton beat West Mifflin 38-31 in the WPIAL semifinals.

WEST MIFFLIN 63, BRADFORD 42

Score by Quarters

Bradford 12 13 6 11 – 42

West Mifflin 11 24 15 13 – 63

Bradford – 42

Matt White 3-7 3-4 9, Mike White 2-4 2-4 6, Evan Kline 3-15 0-1 6, Pug Fuhrman 2-14 2-3 8, Jimmy Grove 1-4 0-1 3, Charles Fair 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Viola 0-0 0-0 0, Colton Holzwarth 1-3 0-0 2, Andy Eliason 0-0 0-0 0, Connor Borowski 1-1 1-1 3, Ryan Mackey 1-3 1-2 3, Cody Faucher 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 14-52 11-18 42.

West Mifflin – 63

Charles Thompson-Lawson 2-4 1-2 7, Michael Roman 305 902 6, Chris Hester 7-14 0-0 14, Lonzell Coles 2-5 5-6 10, Leondra Cobbs 9-13 2-2 20, Grant Shar 1-1 0-0 3, Imir Sanders 0-2 0-0 0, Jordan McClung 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor O’Brien 0-1 0-0 0, Robert Dillard 1-5 0-0 3, Greg Parker 0-1 0-0 0, Delvaughn Clark 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-51 8-12 50.

Three-pointers – Bradford 3-20 (Fuhrman 2-12, Grove 1-4, Ma. White 0-1, Mi. White 0-1, Kline 0-1, Holzwarth 0-1). West Mifflin 5-16 (Thompson-Lawson 2-4, Coles 1-1, Shar 1-1, Dillard 1-4, Sanders 0-2, Roman 0-1, Hester 0-1, O’Brien 0-1, Parker 0-1).