Leechburg ends Rockets’ season
HERMINIE — The Jefferson-Morgan boys basketball squad’s 2010-11 season come to an end Friday night, as the Rockets fell to Leechburg 46-30 in the preliminary round of the WPIAL Class A Playoffs.
Defense kept the Rockets (6-17) in the game early and, after a mid-range jumper by Milton Sibanda, J-M trimmed the deficit to 8-7 in the late stages of the opening quarter.
With a one-point edge, the Blue Devils (10-11) took firm control of the contest, scoring 26 consecutive points. Leechburg was able to build the lead with its pressure defense and shooting from beyond the arc, with seven bombs in the first 16 minutes.
“I have watched Leechburg play before and I knew it was going to be pressure, pressure, pressure,” J-M coach Chris Niemiec said.
“I told the kids that we all are going to be nervous at first, but we have to battle through it. We had to play our game. Besides that one bad quarter we had, we came to play and hung right with them.”
Leechburg carried a 38-14 lead into halftime.
“Their pressure and three-point shooting were the difference in the game,” Niemiec said. “We were a little out of control with the ball, and we were pressing (mentally). We were trying to do too much individual stuff, and it kind of snowballed in the second quarter.”
In the third stanza, the Rockets stymied the Blue Devils, allowing them a single bucket in the eight-minute frame.
Unfortunately for J-M, its offense was still trying to get a flow and only scored seven points for a 9-6 scoring advantage in the final quarter.
Brandon Faieta led the way for the Rockets with 10 points, while Dominique Cage tallied five points off the bench.
For the Blue Devils, Dom Strapac led all scorers with 16 points. Caleb Orendi and Austin Sipolino added nine points each.
“I’m proud of our kids for not giving up,” Niemiec said. “Some teams down by 25 might have given up, but we showed a lot of character tonight. We never quit the whole season. I told these guys in January that I thought our defense was strong, but we just have to work on our shooting and dribbling. We have to be more consistent on offense and keep working with each other in the off-season.”