Falcons hang tough, but fall to Knights
NORTH HUNTINGDON -Connellsville played its best game of the season but it wasn’t enough as Norwin prevailed at home, 63-53. What would’ve been a showdown last season, when the two teams finished as 11-3 co-champs, was expected to be a mismatch this season, but Connellsville gave Norwin all it wanted.
“Sometimes basketball just comes down to matchups,” said Norwin coach Lynn Washowich.
Connellsville matched up well with Norwin and pushed the Knights in the fourth quarter. Connellsville trailed by only five points with 5:00 left before fading.
Washowich explained why 3-9 Connellsville was a problem for 13-1 Norwin.
“Pressure has bothered them this year,” he said. “It’s forced so many turnovers and prevented them from getting the ball into [John] Dilworth because they couldn’t break pressure. The thing that scared me was we’re not a pressure basketball team. We play from 35 feet and in. We man you up.
“We’re big, strong and physical, while Dilworth is big, strong and physical. We play a halfcourt game and so do they, and that scared me about them. Not creating a lot of turnovers, like some other teams have against them, allowed Dilworth to get in the game. They gave us everything we wanted. They were tough.”
The 6-foot-7 Dilworth finished with a game-high 20 points, while Connellsville also got 15 points from point guard Lance Straughters. The two players combined for 12 of Connellsville’s 13 points late in the third quarter to turn a potential route into a five-point game at the start the fourth quarter.
The Norwin lead remained at five after back-to-back baskets by Connellsville’s Jarred Burton with 5:00 left, but Mike Shanahan’s three-point play sparked a 10-point Norwin run.
In the middle of the Norwin run came the game’s turning point. A poor Norwin pass was thrown out of bounds, but another official waved off the turnover and claimed the ball had been deflected out of bounds by Connellsville. This led to a technical foul called on Connellsville coach Nick Bosnic. Shanahan made the two free throws and with 2:40 left the Norwin lead peaked at 62-47.
“I thought that was going to be a big possession and probably got a little overexcited about it,” Bosnic said. “I got the T right after that. I was trying to ask him what happened and then when they were taking the ball out of bounds he called it.”
Connellsville cut the lead to 62-53 with 1:18 left, but allowed Norwin to run off most of the remaining time. Connellsville did foul once, but Norwin was allowed to dribble the final 30 seconds away.
“I don’t think our kids understood maybe we should’ve fouled there,” Bosnic said. “We were trying to get the signal out to them and the clock was running down.”
The loss dropped Connellsville to 1-4 in Section 1-AAAA, while Norwin improved to 5-0. Bosnic conceded that the section title may be out of reach, but not the playoffs.
“I feel like we can beat anybody if we don’t turn the ball over,” he said. “If you’d have seen our games we average 40 turnovers a game.
“We knew we were playing a real tough team and we wanted to make a better effort and check the ball a little better than we’ve been. That was our goal and I thought our kids did a great job of it. We gave ourselves a chance, even here at the end, to make a couple plays and win the game.”