Feb 10, 2008 By Stephen Flinn For The 3 min read

BRIDGEVILLE – Brownsville fell behind early and could not catch Seton LaSalle in Saturday’s WPIAL Class AA first round playoff game at Chartiers Valley. The Falcons (11-14, 7-7) were down by as much as 21 points in the first half. They did battle throughout and made runs in the second half and cut the deficit to 10 points but were not able to get under single digits and fell 59-44 to the Rebels (13-12, 11-3).

“Even though we came up short, I was pleased with our effort because we kept fighting,” second-year coach Paul Jones said. “We never stopped playing at all.”

It was a frenetic pace early-on with both teams running up and down the floor, but neither team scored until Brian Malle hit a 3-pointer 3 minutes into the game to give Seton LaSalle a 3-0 lead.

Midway through the first quarter, Matt Marasco stepped in front of and errant Brownsville pass and took it coast to coast to give the Rebels a 5-0 lead, and Jones called an early timeout to regroup.

“We didn’t make the playoffs last year, so I thought we were a little jittery at the beginning of the game,” Jones said. “We came back in the second half, but it wasn’t enough.”

Evan Chafin hit a jumper with less than 2 minutes left in the first quarter to put the Falcons on the scoreboard, down 5-2, but they did not score another point in the first quarter while three different Rebels hit a 3-pointer which fueled an 11-2 Seton LaSalle lead entering the second quarter.

Chafin finished with 9 points.

Greg Allamon led Brownsville with 13 points, including a 3-pointer in the second quarter and two in the third quarter, which helped the Falcons chip away and make a run at the Rebels in the second half.

Brownsville committed 8 turnovers in the first quarter, half of them Rebel steals from defenders stepping in front of errant passes.

The Falcons ran into some first half foul trouble as well with two starters, Gary Brooks and Andrew Roberts, both committing 3 fouls before the break.

Marasco scored 10 points in the second quarter to help push the Rebel lead to 34-13 at the break. Marasco scored 14 points overall and Peter Croke added 13 for the Rebels.

Brownsville settled down after the break. The Falcons held the Rebels scoreless in the first 3 minutes of the second half. They also chipped away on offense and cut the deficit to 10 points late in the game at 47-37 on the strength of Andrew Roberts, who scored 8 points in the fourth quarter.

Roberts fouled out midway through the fourth quarter though, and Croke sank 5 free throws on 6 attempts to keep the Falcons at bay as they could not get over the hump and get any closer.

“We only had 6 wins last year, so this year was an improvement,” Jones said. “I also thought our senior class really gave us leadership this year. We’ll have to replace them next year, but we have good kids coming back and I think we’ll continue to be okay.”