Pratt comes through in the clutch
James Pratt is only a sophomore, but the Uniontown point guard looked like a seasoned senior in the closing, pressure-packed moments of Tuesday night’s Section 3-AAA boys basketball clash with Belle Vernon. Pratt came up with two key steals, nailed a clutch, tie-breaking 3-pointer, and calmly drained six foul shots, all in the final 2:12 of the game, to help the Red Raiders pull out a 61-59 victory at A.J. Everhart Memorial Gymnasium.
Pratt wound up with a team-high 20 points as the Red Raiders improved to 8-5 overall and 6-1 in the section. Belle Vernon fell to 4-8 and 2-4.
The Leopards held a 53-48 advantage with 4:45 left in the game after back-to-back baskets by Jacob Dudzinski, but Ryne Turner hit a 3-pointer from the corner with four minutes left to ignite Uniontown’s late rally.
“We made a lot of mistakes, but the kids played well at the end,” Red Raiders coach Rob Kezmarsky said. “The kept their composure and executed well down the stretch, especially James.”
Belle Vernon’s Tyler Shutterly and Uniontown’s Kevin Sanders both made one of two free throws, leaving the Leopards up 54-52 to set the stage for Pratt, who came up with a steal and was fouled with 2:12 left. He made both ends of the one-and-one to tie the game.
Belle Vernon’s Jacob Dudzinski, missed the front end of a one-and-one with 2:08 left, but Jacob Cramer grabbed the rebound. The Leopards were called for over-and-back soon after, however, giving the Red Raiders possession.
“I told them to run our man offense and get the best shot available, and not to force anything,” Kezmarsky said.
Doogie Sanner, another sophomore, whipped a pass to Pratt, who found himself open at the 3-point arc and let fly with a shot that found nothing but net to put Uniontown ahead 57-54.
“It’s good to see him come through like that, because he such a great kid,” Kezmarsky said of Pratt. “He has the best attitude in the world. He’ll come to practice early to watch tape with the coaches. For a sophomore the step up in that situation and make that shot, you have to give him a lot of credit.”
The game wasn’t sealed yet.
Cramer made two foul shots to pull Belle Vernon within one and the Red Raiders turned the ball over with 56 seconds left. Pratt came up with another steal, though, was fouled again and again hit both ends of a one-and-one to make it 59-56.
Pratt converted both ends of another one-and-one with 6.8 seconds left to put Uniontown ahead 61-56.
Dudzinski hit a 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds remaining, but Sanner inbounded the ball to Kevin Sanders to run off the last tick of the clock and wrap up the win.
“We played well,” Belle Vernon coach John Dudzinski said. “They’re hurting in there right now, and that tells me how much they care.
“Uniontown just forced us into a few key turnovers at the end and that was the ball game. We just didn’t get the ball into the hands of the right people at the end.”
The Leopards were dangerous all night when Jacob Dudzinski had the ball in his hands. The junior guard hit nine field goals, including a trio of treys, and was 6 of 9 from the foul line in pouring in a game-high 27 points.
“Jacob is a very good player,” Kezmarsky said. “It’s hard to tell if he’s right-handed or left-handed, and he did a good job of getting his teammates involved.”
“He plays at a very high energy level that helps bring the whole team up,” coach Dudzinski said. “I hope we’re not emotionally drained after this game. I see a lot of positives for us in this game, playing them so well on this floor. Give Uniontown a lot of credit. They’re a good team, they’re well coached and they go nine deep. They run a lot of guys at you.”
Shutterly followed Dudzinski in the Belle Vernon scoring column with 15 points.
“They’re going to be heard from in our section,” Kezmarsky said of the Leopards. “That’s a good team.”
The Red Raiders also got double-digit scoring from seniors Sanders and Turner, who dropped in 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Belle Vernon jumped out to an early 9-2 lead, but Uniontown recovered a was up 20-14 after one period.
The Red Raiders took the biggest lead of the game, 28-18, when Sanders hit a 3-pointer with five minutes left in the second period. The Leopards stormed back to tie it at 30-30 before Uniontown reeled off the final six points of the quarter to make it 36-30.
There were three lead changes and two ties in the third period, which ended with Belle Vernon holding a 49-46 advantage heading into the final frame.