Feb 17, 2005 By Stephen Flinn For The 2 min read

MT. LEBANON, Pa. – Plagued by first-half foul trouble, Carmichaels couldn’t match Western Beaver Wednesday night, and thus, its stay in the WPIAL playoffs was short-lived. Demar Hosey scored a game-high 19 points as the Beavers slowly pulled away after a tight first quarter for a 63-45 Class A first-round victory at Keystone Oaks High School.

The Mikes (17-5) saw three starters – Matt Barnhart, Tyrone Pinson and Bobby Virgili – each pick up four first-half fouls. The game was tied at 10 after one quarter, before Western Beaver (11-9) started to slowly pull away.

“The fouls in the first half really strapped us,” said Carmichaels coach Don Williams.

“We had trouble setting screens for our shooters because our big guys were on the bench.”

Jeff Lapkowicz was the lone Mikes’ player in double figures with 19 points, including five three-pointers.

The game was originally scheduled to be played at West Allegheny High School, but plumbing problems forced the move to Keystone Oaks.

Along with Hosey, Warren Taylor scored 12 points and Ryan Ricketts added 10.

Barnhart committed an over-the-back foul two minutes into the second quarter, then picked up his third and fourth infractions two minutes later.

Pinson soon picked up his fourth as well, and Virgili was whistled for his fourth foul 40 seconds before intermission.

Carmichaels managed only a pair of second-quarter field goals, one a Lapkowicz three-pointer and the other a Virgili put-back.

Meanwhile, Posey had the hot hand for the Beavers, scoring seven points in both the first and second quarters.

Leading 30-23 at halftime, Western Beaver scored seven of the third quarter’s first 11 points to take a double-digit lead. The Mikes they went on a 7-2 run of their own, and pulled to within 39-33 when Lapkowicz nailed a three-pointer and forced the Beavers to call a timeout.

The brief stoppage in play apparently worked, as Western Beaver came out of the timeout and ran off a 10-0 run to take control of the game and lead, 49-35, after three quarters.

“We knew they [Western Beaver] were athletic and they hit on all cylinders tonight,” Williams said.

“We live by the three and die by the three, tonight we didn’t shoot as well as we would have liked.

“Jeff shot well tonight. We could have made a few more, but they rolled off the rim.”