Community reacts to Trojans’ 60-59 loss in championships
It didn’t take long for word of the last-second loss – “the game that got away” – to reach the High Point Restaurant in California. And while it was a busy Friday night at the restaurant, owner Bob Sepesy still had time to hear plenty about the high school basketball team’s last-second loss to Leechburg in the WPIAL Class A championship game.
“I heard quite a bit about the game,” he said. “More than a few people after the game were discouraged. Everyone was pulling for them.”
And there was a lot to talk about. California, which had its first WPIAL title within its grasp, had just lost to Leechburg 60-59. After watching an 11-point lead vanish, California’s first loss in 20 games came in heartbreaking fashion: with 4.2 seconds left, Leechburg’s Nick Matviko sunk two free throws to take a one-point lead and the title.
So even after talk of lack of usual offensive muscle and poor to criminal officiating, things were pretty upbeat for a community whose school just lost a championship game.
After all, with the team already having secured a berth in the PIAA playoffs, California – both the team and the community – are looking ahead.
Sepesy said the best way to sum up the common thread among his customers dissecting the loss Friday night was easy: “What a disappointing way to lose, but…” with an emphasis on the “but.”
And since the team takes the court in only a few days for the PIAA playoffs, Sepesy said he doesn’t expect talk of them to diminish anytime soon.
“It’s just been the biggest topic and it is still going to be,” he said. “Win or loss, our people stay behind our teams.”
And while California’s thrilling 24-3 season took a bitter turn at Duquesne University’s A.J. Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh Friday night, the next day the community still was plenty proud of them.
California Mayor Casey Durdines was among those pulling for the team. He said while the loss was unfortunate; the journey to the championship game – the first for the school in 37 years – was impressive.
“As I told one of the players, everyone in the community is very proud of what they achieved. I know they’re very disappointed. It was a tough loss, losing by one point, but for what they achieved and how far they went, and their record, there’s no reason to be upset,” Durdines said. “And they’re going on to the playoffs. They’ll get a another chance to bring home a championship.”
Longtime California-area fixture Artie Harris said it was a “shame” for the team to lose on a foul shot in the waning seconds, especially in a game where he said the officiating left something to be desired. But he gave the team plenty of credit.
“They should be very proud of what they did and where they went,” Harris said. “They should be proud for the effort they put forth – they should be really pleased with each other. It just shows what you can do when you work together.”
Harris, a former borough council member who is active in the school and community, said the team’s run to the championship comes up with everybody he talks to, and with recent success by the school’s football and baseball teams, he’s glad for the basketball team’s moment in the spotlight.
“It’s great to see the basketball team getting like this,” he said. “All they hear about is football and baseball and I think it meant a lot for them to say, ‘we did it too,’ you know what I mean?”
While just making it to the championship game is a feat in and of itself, California coach Phil Pergola said his players were “down” after the loss and won’t take any solace out of coming so close to the school’s first championship only to have it slip away.
“It’s an honor to be in the game. It’s still something to win silver, but, for the moment and especially at that age, it’s a loss,” Pergola said Saturday. “The silver is nothing; it’s gold or nothing at all. But as time passes on and you get older you realize what you accomplished. They’re not going to realize that until they get a little bit older. When you get there you just want to win it.”
Though he knew how disappointed they were, Pergola said he had stressed to his players just how far they had come.
“I think it was a great game. It’s what high school basketball is all about,” he said. “I keep telling the kids: ‘It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey.'”
And it’s a journey that isn’t over. Pergola is looking forward to their match up with District 6 third-place finisher Saltsburg and a chance to put the heartbreaking loss to Leechburg behind them. He is glad, however, to have a few days before they take the court.
“I think by Friday we’ll be ready to go,” he said. “If we had to play Tuesday, it’d be tough, but by Friday, we’ll be ready to go.”
That isn’t to say, though, that Pergola wouldn’t mind another crack at Leechburg.
“I think it would be really nice to play them again,” he said, adding that they could compete to represent the West in the conference final.
“It’s a possibility,” he said.