Trojans let title slip away
PITTSBURGH – California had its first WPIAL title in its hands, only to have it swiped from its grasp in the closing seconds on Friday night. Leechburg’s Nick Matviko capped a sensational performance in the Class A championship game by sinking two free throws with 4.2 seconds remaining to give the fifth-seeded Blue Devils a 60-59 victory at Duquesne University’s A.J. Palumbo Center.
Matviko finished with a game-high 23 points in leading Leechburg to its first WPIAL championship, and Stephen Predebon was right behind with 22.
The defeat was crushing for a Trojans team that battled foul trouble the entire game and lost an 11-point lead in watching their 20-game winning streak go up in smoke.
“I was just speechless,” California senior Chris McVicker said of his feelings at the end of the game. “It’s hard on us, to come all this way and lose by a point.”
In a wild sequence of events during the final seconds, Stephen Meidus hit a baseline jumper to pull Leechburg within one point with 11 seconds left, and the Trojans, after calling time out with 7.2 seconds remaining, threw the inbound pass deep down the sideline, and Donte Valentino tried to tip the ball in bounds.
The officials originally ruled Valentino had stepped out of bounds after tipping the ball and gave Leechburg the ball at that spot. After conferring, however, the officials ruled that Valentino had stepped out of bounds before tipping the ball, thus giving the Blue Devils the ball under California’s basket with still 7.2 seconds left.
Leechburg inbounded to Matviko, who put up a shot that was blocked by Travis VanOlst, but the Trojan junior was called for his fifth foul on the play, sending the Blue Devil senior to the free throw line, where he had made only three of 12 shots.
With only 4.2 seconds left, Matviko hit both shots to put Leechburg up by one.
California turned the ball over on the ensuing inbound play in attempting another pass over half court and the Blue Devils (16-10) had the victory.
“I took a second and took a deep breath,” said Matviko in recalling the two foul shots. “I’ve been struggling at the free throw line, and Coach has been telling me to believe in myself, so that’s what I was saying to myself.”
Matviko realized how important the first shot was, especially with Trojan big men VanOlst and Michael Hrivnak having both already fouled out.
“All I wanted to do was make the first one,” Matviko said. “Then you figure the worst you can do is go to overtime. After I made that one, there was a lot less pressure for the second one.”
The loss spoiled an outstanding showing by Valentino, who led California (24-3) with 21 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. McVicker hit one trey in adding 15 points.
“Somebody has to win, somebody has to lose,” California coach Phil Pergola said. “Would you rather lose this way, or lose in the first game? I told the kids that there are only two California teams to ever come here and get a medal.”
The Trojans seemed to have control most of the game, despite much adversity. They used an eight-point run to take an early 11-4 lead and were up 16-14 after one period.
California used an 11-3 burst to go up 30-24 in the second frame and led 30-27 at halftime.
The Trojans took their biggest lead of 47-36 on the second of two long jumpers by VanOlst late in the third period, his only points of the game.
Predebon and Matviko both scored to pull the Blue Devils to within 47-40 at the end of the third period, and they chipped away at the Trojans’ lead throughout the final quarter by using an effective press.
“We just did not do a good job against their press, and they know what they’re supposed to do against a press,” Pergola said. “Defensively, we did not do a good job of boxing out after free throws, and we did a poor job of taking away the baseline.”
Hrivnak, who scored all five of his points in the first period, fouled out with 2:20 left and California foul trouble put Leechburg in the double bonus from the foul line down the stretch.
With the 6-foot-7 Hrivnak and the 6-5 VanOlst both in foul trouble, Pergola couldn’t put both on the floor at the same time.
“That was big,” Leechburg coach Damian Davies said. “We definitely got after it when they weren’t both in there.”
Leechburg took its first lead since early in the second period on a driving basket by Predebon with 1:54 left.
McVicker grabbed a tipped pass at the other end and nailed a clutch jump shot to put California back on top, 57-56, with 1:09 remaining.
“I thought they might have been the winning shot, but obviously it wasn’t,” McVicker said.
Ben Carson and Valentino both his one of two foul shot to give California a 59-56 advantage, but that just set the stage for the Blue Devils’ late heroics.
Carson came off the bench to hit a 3-pointer and score six points for the Trojans. John McVicker scored four points, all in the opening frame.
California will play Saltsburg in the first round of the PIAA tournament on Friday.