Panthers get by Connellsville, 57-54
Lori C. Padilla
Connellsville’s Treyvon Clayton (23) spins to dodge a steal attempt by Upper St. Clair’s Kyle Meinhert (11) during Friday’s Section 2-AAAAAA game at Connellsville Area High School.
Connellsville's Seth Younkin (32) dunks the ball during the Falcons' Section 2-AAAAAA game against Upper St. Clair Friday at Connellsville Area High School.
Connellsville's Alek Detwiler (14) fights for possession of the ball with Upper St. Clair's Jack Handsberry (5) during Friday's Section 2-AAAAAA game at Connellsville Area High School.
CONNELLSVILLE — Upper St. Clair rode a 20-7 second-quarter scoring advantage to a 57-54 win at Connellsville in Section 2-AAAAAA boys basketball action Friday.
“Upper St. Clair is not the kind of team that you can come back quickly against,” Connellsville coach Andy Hedrick said. “They are just so methodical and take such good care of the basketball.”
Indeed, the Panthers turned it over only nine times, while the Falcons committed seven turnovers in each of the first two quarters and ended with 18 give-aways.
But the Falcons did manage to get back in the game, even after USC turned a 15-9 deficit into a 26-15 lead with a 17-0 run that became a 20-2 run and a 29-17 halftime lead.
“Our guys worked really hard to get back into it, but then they hit a 3-pointer from the corner to turn a one-point lead into a four-point lead,” Hedrick said. “Then, they made all of their free throws down the stretch.”
While it was Jack Handsberry who hit the three with 55.3 seconds remaining and Kyle Meinert leading the way at the foul line, it seemed as though the Falcons spent so much time and energy getting back into the game that they kind of ran out of magic down the stretch.
As for its second quarter run, the Panthers can credit a defensive change, according to coach Dan Holzer.
“We went to a 1-2-1-1 trap to get us going,” Holzer said. “I think Connellsville had some trouble with it and we were able to benefit from that. This was a really important game for us and I think that defense got us going in the right direction.”
The win keeps USC (11-6, 4-4) in the playoff conversation in Section 2-AAAAAA, while the loss makes it difficult for Connellsville (7-10, 2-7).
Seth Younkin led all scorers with 26 points for Connellsville, while Meinert paced USC with 20, while Colin McLinden added 10.
“We knew this was a tough place to play,” Holzer said. “No doubt, we had our hands full tonight. I think Andy Hedrick is the coach of the year in our section. That is the most improved team I’ve seen all year. He just gets the most out of his kids and they are getting better every game.”
“I really don’t care about any of that,” Hedrick said. “It’s nice of him to say, but we need to start winning these close games. We’ve lost three section games by a total of eight points, which is nice, but we need to win some of them.”
And this was one of those games that the Falcons could have pulled out, but for all the things they did right, the Panthers were also doing things right, like making eight of 10 fourth-quarter free throws and getting a pair of three-pointers from their bench.
“I thought Seth Younkin played a great game,” Hedrick said. “I think all of our players played very well and that made it a great game, but we just didn’t play well enough to win it.”
Section 2-AAAAAA
Upper St. Clair 9-20-12-16 — 57
Connellsville 10-7-20-17 — 54
Upper St. Clair: Kyle Meinert 20, Colin McLinden 10. Connellsville: Seth Younkin 26. Records: Upper St. Clair (11-6, 4-4), Connellsville (7-10, 2-7). JV score: Upper St. Clair 74 (Ben Sandusky 18), Connellsville 30 (Drew Nickelson 10).