Fouls costly as Falcons fall to Indians in WPIAL semifinals
MONROEVILLE – Nick Bosnic can live with losing, even if it happens in the WPIAL semifinals. It’s the way his team lost, however, that has Bosnic shaking his head.
Connellsville lost starting guard Chad Burton to foul trouble for prolonged stretches Wednesday night, and at the same time, also lost a chance of advancing to the WPIAL finals after a 59-50 loss in Quad-A action at Gateway High School.
The Indians, who won the Quad-A title three years ago, will meet Upper St. Clair Saturday in the final. Upper St. Clair nipped Hempfield Wednesday night in to reach the title game.
Connellsville’s James Hairston finished with a game-high 30 points, including three three-point plays, but it was Burton’s absence that wound up being more noticeable. The 5-foot-10 senior guard was whistled for his third personal foul 1:37 into the second quarter, then picked up foul No. 4 just 42 seconds into the second half.
As Burton sat on the bench, Penn Hills (23-4) took the lead for good midway through the second quarter and eventually built it to a high of 16 points twice in the third period. The Falcons committed a total of 23 turnovers, all but eight without Burton in the lineup.
With Burton back in the game, the Falcons pulled to within five points with just over a minute to play, but could not get any closer.
“Foul trouble killed us, not only offensively, but defensively,” Bosnic said. “We could have got after them more on defense if Burton’s in the game. He’s a tremendous defensive player and very fundamentally sound offensively when it comes to handling pressure.
“I’m not as disappointed in us losing as much as I’m disappointed with the way we lost. We weren’t able to play our type of game because of the situation with the fouls. We’re up two or three points in the second quarter, than before you know, we’re down nine at the half.”
Hairston converted a pair of three-point plays and Burton added four points as Connellsville (24-3) led 13-11 after one quarter. Hairston split two defenders and scored on a lay-up 1:21 into the second period, but shortly after, Burton was called for his third personal foul.
Matt Ioanadi’s lay-in then gave Penn Hills the lead for good at the 4:05 mark. The Indians closed the first half with a 14-6 run to lead 30-21 at halftime.
The Indians took their first 16-point lead when Byron Knight hit a pair of foul shots after being fouled by Burton with 7:18 left in the quarter.
“Everyone looks at us and thinks we’re just James Hairston,” Bosnic said. “But we have other talented players. We just couldn’t get them into the situations they needed to be in tonight to help us.”
Trailing 47-32 to start the final quarter, Connellsville turned up its defensive pressure with Burton back in the game. After Kevin Bell and Hairston connected on back-to-back three-pointers, the Falcons were down 49-41 with 4:18 to play.
Down 10 points, Hairston and Burton scored consecutive baskets to cut the gap to six points with 2:10 remaining, and a pair of Burton free throws again pulled Connellsville to within six points with 1:34 to play.
After a Devin Knight basket pushed the lead to eight, Hairston nailed a three-pointer to make it 55-50 with 1:05 remaining, but it would up being the Falcons’ last points of the game.
“Hopefully we’ll meet somebody like this team (Penn Hills) or an Upper St. Clair, which are both very talented teams, in the state playoffs,” Bosnic said. “I would like for us to be able to play a team on their level when we’re on top of our game. We didn’t have an opportunity to do a lot of things we would have liked to have done tonight.”
Hairston was the lone Falcon in double figures. Burton finished with eight points, while Bell chipped in six.
Byron Knight led Penn Hills with 19 points, including nine during the third quarter. Matt Ionadi added 16 pints, while Akida McClain chipped in nine points and Ryne Liggins eight.
“Our turnovers were too high tonight, but that’s a credit to them,” said Penn Hills coach Jim Rocco. “We tried to get the ball into the open court and then get it to the rim. Defensively, we got some gaps and got our hands on the ball a little.”