Rebels breeze to 86-39 win over Frazier
Christine Pocratsky
Frazier’s Caleb Cox attempts to get up a shot against Seton-LaSalle’s Jakob Richardson during Saturday’s WPIAL Class AA preliminary round playoff game at Baldwin High School.
Frazier's Bradley Poling goes up for two as Seton-LaSalle's Matt Banbury attempts to block his shot during Saturday's WPIAL Class AA preliminary round playoff game at Baldwin High School.
Frazier's Joshua Cox dribble past Seton-La Salle's Nolan Abbiatici during Saturday's WPIAL Class AA preliminary round playoff game at Baldwin High School.
WHITEHALL — The scouting reports received from other coaches told Frazier coach Ed Keebler to guard the lane against Seton-La Salle in Saturday’s WPIAL Class AA preliminary game.
So, what did the Rebels do but come out firing 3-point field goals on the way to an 86-39 win at Baldwin High School.
Seton-La Salle (14-9) sank five treys in the first quarter and 10 in the game while moving on to the next round of the playoffs.
“We were told to guard the paint,” Keebler said of the scouting reports. “And, they came out today lights out from beyond the 3-point line. Everything they did worked for them.”
The Rebels had a lethal combination of speed and physical presence that worked to perfection in the first half.
A trey by Cletus Helton gave the Revels a lead they’d never relinquish. Josh Cox scored for Frazier to cut the lead to one point before a trey by Nolan Abbiatici gave Seton-La Salle a 6-2 lead.
Chris Massey’s basket for Frazier cut the lead to 6-4. But the Revels went on a 13-point run, led by eight points from Billy O’Malley and treys from Helton and Nick Deanes for a 20-4 advantage.
Two free throws by Brad Poling and a single foul shot by Justin Novak around another trey from Deanes ended the quarter with Seton LaSalle leading 23-7.
Frazier (10-11) was unable to put any kind of run together until Caleb Cox sank a 3-pointer and two free throws and Massey added a free throw, but by then the Rebels led 40-18.
Seton LaSalle scored the last six points of the half and the first four points of the third quarter to keep the momentum alive.
O’Malley led Seton LaSalle with 21 points, Helton scored 20, and Conor Pederson added 13.
Caleb Cox was the only double figure scorer for Frazier with 12 points, that included three treys.
Keebler saw some positives in the Commodores’ season in several young players getting experience and being part of the playoff atmosphere.
“We have a lot of kids returning. They’ve gotten some quality time and some freshmen have experienced this atmosphere,” Keebler said.
“We had a lot of games we left out there that we should have won, but that’s something we have to work on down the road.”