California ousted by Beaver Falls
BRIDGEVILLE – After Beaver Falls defeated California, 74-34, in a WPIAL boys Class AA playoff game at Chartiers Valley on Thursday night, Trojans coach Phil Pergola had just one request from his Beaver Falls counterpart:
“Could he attend some of his practices?”
Pergola felt it was nearly impossible to prepare for a team like the second-seeded Tigers.
“You can’t prepare for this,” said Pergola. “This team has only two seniors and you saw what they did. Your only hope is if their bus doesn’t start to come here.”
On the opening tip-off Sheldon Jeter passed the ball to teammate Royce Watson, who in turned lobbed the ball back to Jeter for a dunk.
After Trojans’ high-scorer John Tyler tied the game at 2, the Tigers went on a 10-0 run to take a 12-2 lead with 3:35 left in the first quarter.
Thanks to 11 points from Jeter, the Tigers enjoyed a 24-8 advantage after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Tigers held the Trojans (15-9) without a basket until the 3:07 mark when Jalen Holder scored a lay-up
Courtesy of 11 more points from Jeter, the Tigers (18-5) surged to a 43-16 lead at halftime.
Tyler posted eight points for the Trojans in the second half to finish with 14 points, while Skylar Dickinson tacked on six.
Though the result was not in doubt in the final 16 minutes, Pergola was proud of his team’s efforts in the second half.
“They keep fighting,” said Pergola. “That’s what we wanted from them. I felt in the second half of our season before the second half of the Fort Cherry game we kind of lost our effort. We got that back tonight.”
Jeter finished with 27 points, while Watson added 15.
Tigers coach Doug Biega remarked how much of an impact Jeter was for the Tigers this season despite being out with a broken hand for the first half of the season.
“Jeter is a Division I athlete,” said Biega. “He’s received offers from several Big Ten schools and now West Virginia is in the mix. You can’t say enough about this kid and what he means to the team.”
Biega also felt it was important for his team to start off strong after two weeks off.
“It was a concern,” said Biega. “Anytime you’re off for a while, the other team could take advantage of that. I felt we might have to wear them down with our athleticism, but our baskets fell and we were able to get the job done.”