Jan 20, 2007 By Adam Gretz For The 3 min read

MOUNT PLEASANT – Mount Pleasant used 19 second-half points from Chet Welc and a gutsy defensive effort to sink Uniontown, 54-53, in a thrilling Section 3-AAA match-up Friday night. Heading into the contest, the Vikings trailed Uniontown by two games in the section standings. Thanks to the win, Mount Pleasant managed to gain crucial ground as only one game now separates the two teams.

“Mount Pleasant played a great game in front of their home crowd,” said Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky. “You have to hand it to them, they’ve beat some tough teams here this season and we knew coming in this was going to be a challenge. I thought our kids battled hard for four quarters but in the end we just didn’t make enough plays.”

One area the Red Raiders struggled the most was the free-throw line as they only shot 4 of 12 for the game.

“We’ve talked about it all year,” said Kezmarsky of his team’s performance at the line. “I think we also have to get to the line more often. We need to make more, but we’d also like to be able to have more than 12 chances in a game.”

Both teams played a physical defensive game as the score remained close for the entire contest. Neither team was able to build a lead larger than seven points while the lead changed hands eight times throughout the course of the game – including five times in the 2nd half.

Uniontown opened the fourth quarter with a 39-38 lead and received two early 3-pointers from senior Kevin Sanders to build to build its biggest lead of the night at 45-38.

Mount Pleasant responded to the challenge as Welc made two consecutive baskets and Tyler Wadsworth hit a jumper from the baseline to pull the Vikings to within one point at 47-46.

Welc and senior forward Alex Urban continued the Vikings’ rally, and with a minute remaining in the game Mount Pleasant found itself with its biggest lead of the night 53-48.

“We played with amazing effort tonight,” said Mount Pleasant coach Tom Traynor. “I thought that there were a number of times in the game, especially in the first half, where it could have easily gotten away from us. I thought our guards did a great job dealing with their pressure and we made some tough baskets when it counted.”

As the final minute ticked away, Uniontown’s Lloyd Williams hit an off-balance 3-pointer from the corner to pull the Red Raiders to within two points. On the ensuing Mount Pleasant possession, Welc was fouled and sent to the free-throw line where he made one of the shots to keep Uniontown within one possession of tying the game.

Uniontown held possession for the final 20 seconds in an effort to tie the game on its final shot.

Sanders came up with a loose ball at the top of the circle and heaved a three-pointer that came up just short as it bounced off the front of rim. James Pratt was able to put the rebound in to cut the deficit to one as the final horn sounded.

Sanders led all Uniontown players with 14 points – including a game high three 3-pointers – while Pratt added 11 in the loss.

“It’s a tough loss but we’re still in 2nd place,” said Kezmarsky. “And right now we just have to keep ourselves focused on Yough and being ready to play them on our court. We’ve got two home games coming up next week and we’re extremely excited about that.”