AG’s greatest team: 10 years ago the Colonials played for the WPIAL Quad-A basketball title
Albert Gallatin 2007 basketball
Submitted photo
Albert Gallatin’s 2006-07 boys basketball team is the only Colonials team since the 1987 consolidation of the old Albert Gallatin, Fairchance-Georges and German high schools to reach a WPIAL championship game in any sport.
Submitted photo
Albert Gallatin senior starters in 2006-07 were (from left) Marc Marshall, Jawaan Alston, Ricky Knox and Nate Turner.
Playing for a WPIAL title is the dream of every high school basketball team, but it’s been a long while since a school from the Fayette or Greene county area has been on that stage.
You have to go back a complete decade to find the last local team to get that far in the postseason, and the squad that did it might surprise you.
It was 2007 when coach Dan Andria’s Albert Gallatin boys team reached that pinnacle game in the highest classification. The Colonials fell to Bethel Park, 68-63, in a classic Quad-A championship game.
Since the consolidation of German, Fairchance-Georges and the old Albert Gallatin high schools in 1987 formed the current Albert Gallatin school district, that 2007 squad is the only one to play for a WPIAL title in any team sport.
Here’s a look back on what many consider AG’s greatest team of the black-and-silver era.
The Main Cast
The Colonials were led by 6-foot-8 senior center Jawaan Alston, who by the end of the season would hold the boys school record for points (1,507), rebounds (1,040), blocked shots (395) and even steals (150) and assists (200). Alston went on the play at the NCAA Division-I level at the University of Buffalo where he lettered for four years.
“Jawaan was a great player but he was an even better kid, and he still is,” Andria said. “He’s a good family man. Jawaan did everything with class. He was just a joy to coach. He went to Buffalo on a D-I scholarship, had a good career there, got to play on TV a couple times and the main thing is he got a degree. Jawaan had all those fantastic stats but he was all about team and winning.”
Alston confirmed Andria’s assessment.
“I never cared about how many points I scored,” Alston said. “I just wanted to do what was best for the team. I would always rather score 10 and win than score 30 and lose.”
While Alston was a great player, Nate Turner made him even better. The 6-4 forward started as a freshman but his career was riddled by injuries and he was out again at the beginning of the 2006-07 season and the Colonials lost a couple early games without him. Once he returned, the team flourished.
“Nate might’ve been the best freshman I ever saw,” Andria said. ‘This kid was so mature and so strong. He played his freshman year, missed half his sophomore year, missed his whole junior year and missed several games his senior year. If he would’ve stayed healthy, this kid could’ve been a major college basketball player.”
“I think about that all the time,” Turner said. “It was unfortunate. But I worked hard and I always loved to play sports and loved to compete.”
With Turner and Alston together, the Colonials were a dangerous team. But while those two grabbed plenty of headlines, another important starter for Andria that season was 6-1 senior forward Ricky Knox.
“Ricky was the heart and soul of that team,” Andria said. “He had that long hair, he played defense and he never took a bad shot. He was a scrapper.”
Knox knew his role and relished it.
“Defense was my forte and I enjoyed it,” Knox said. “I was the type of guy who didn’t have great ball-handling skills or a great shot but what I think I brought to the table was passion and speed. I was the guy always hyping everybody up and I think the guys fed off of that.
“On defense, we were really long. I was 6-1 and I was the smallest one. I was really fast and thought I was capable of guarding anybody.”
Filling out the starting lineup were two guard-forwards in 6-2 senior Marc Marshall and 6-4 junior Aaron Cromwell.
“Marshall was a great player,” Andria said. “People didn’t realize he was 6-2, but he played the front of that 1-3-1 zone we would sometimes use and he was the key to it.
“Cromwell hit some big shots for us. He was the final piece of the puzzle.”
Cromwell moved into the starting lineup early in the season after Jake Magerko, a 5-8 senior guard, was injured.
“We had put Cromwell in there and we were clicking so when Jake came back we just left it the way it was and had Jake coming off the bench.”
Magerko and 5-10 junior guard Anthony Stevenson filled out what was basically a seven-man rotation for Andria.
“Anthony, boy he was a wild card,” Andria said with a laugh. “You never really knew what you were going to get with him. But he and Jake had some big moments for us that year.
“They were really good kids. They were all about team, especially Jawaan. And that was probably the best defensive team I ever coached. We played man-to-man against the best, then we had that 1-3-1 zone that was perfect for us because of the size we had.”
“We had great chemistry on defense, great communication,” Alston said. “We worked hard and were intense and really cared about our defense. If someone missed a shot we wouldn’t worry about it but we’d get on each other pretty good if one of us didn’t guard our man. We had that kind of mentality.”
Andria was the perfect coach to run the show. He had taken Fairchance-Georges, led by West Virginia recruit Mike King, to the WPIAL championship game and the PIAA semifinals in 1980. He had already served one three-year stint with the Colonials, all winning seasons that culminated with an upset of defending Quad-A champion Upper St. Clair in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs in 1997. After a four-year hiatus he returned to the bench in 2001-02 and after a pair of sub-.500 seasons he guided the Colonials to a school-record four consecutive winning campaigns.
How successful was Andria’s career at AG? The Colonials have had nine winning seasons in 30 years and Andria is responsible for seven of them in his nine years at the helm.
In 2006-07 Andria’s assistant coaches were Bill Broda and Shawn Clemmer with Don Alston — Jawaan’s father — and Dan Andria Jr. also part of the staff.
Marshall and Broda have since passed away. Marshall died suddenly three years ago and Broda died in 2009.
“It was tragic what happened to Marc,” Andria said. “Broda was a fantastic guy. The kids loved him.”
The Regular Season
The Colonials began the season with lopsided non-section wins over rivals Laurel Highlands and Uniontown — which would both reach the Class AAA playoffs that season — but a 3-0 start was followed by three losses in four games, including their first two Section 1-AAAA contests.
“That year started out really bumpy,” Andria said. “We were without Nate and then Magerko got hurt and we were 0-2 in section play and had to go to Penn-Trafford which is a tough place to play.
“Nate came back that game but I didn’t play him much in the first half and we were down and he said to me, ‘Hey coach, I think I can play the whole second half.’ I said OK. Then he looked at me and said, ‘If I get a three is it OK if I take it?’ I said, ‘Well, if it’s a good shot, yeah.’ So he comes down late in the game and gets a three at the top of the circle, he drains it, and we end up getting out of there with a one-point win.”
Albert Gallatin would lose its next game but Andria and his players saw that as a turning point in their season.
“The next day we traveled to Cleveland to play Youngstown Ursuline at Quicken Loans Arena, where the Cavs played,” Andria said. “They were good, ranked third in the state. We jumped on them early, 17-6, and were up at halftime, but they shot 28 foul shots and we shot six so we ended up losing (55-49). But I think that game, playing with that team, gave our guys a confidence boost.”
Turner agreed.
“That game was when I realized we can compete with anyone,” Turner said. “They had a great player, DeAndre Brown, who we knew from AAU ball (who went on to play at Cleveland State). We knew we could’ve easily won that game and at that point I knew the rest of our season was going to be great.”
It was. The Colonials went 13-2 the rest of the regular season with two close losses to section champion Norwin.
The Playoffs
NORTH ALLEGHENY
Albert Gallatin was in the WPIAL playoffs for a school-record fourth year in a row, but it had lost in the first round in the previous three. The Colonials also got a lower seed than expected at No. 9 and had to play No. 8 North Allegheny in the first round with No. 1 Moon lurking in the quarterfinals.
“I told them you need this game,” Andria said. “It’s not for me, it’s for you. I just want to see you guys get a win in the playoffs.”
Andria started his team in its 1-3-1 zone and the move proved to be brilliant as AG jumped out to a 10-0 lead and went on to win, 74-59. Alston led the way with 24 points and 15 rebounds, Turner had 16 points, Knox added 12 and Magerko, who hit a couple key 3-pointers, chipped in with 10.
“After the game I had this piece of paper in my pocket and I said, ‘You know what guys, I had a speech just in case we didn’t make it,’ and I crumpled it up and threw it in the garbage,” Andria said. “They all started cheering.”
“That first game we were extremely prepared,” Knox said. “We wanted to win in the worst way and we came out swinging. I think it stunned them a little bit, we got control early and that was key.”
“That game finally pushed us over the hump,” Turner said. “It took a huge monkey off our backs.”
MOON
Next up was top-seeded Moon, led by 6-4 junior guard Brian Walsh, seeking its third straight WPIAL title.
“Everybody knew about Walsh,” Andria said. “He played the point and he had a scholarship from Sean Miller at Xavier.”
The Colonials weren’t as high a profile team as the Tigers and had to earn the respect of the officials, according to Andria.
“That game started and we weren’t getting any calls and, really, they could’ve blown us out early,” Andria said. “Going into halftime we were down and Jawaan was in a little foul trouble. Then during the third quarter Jawaan made this big-time block and then we went down the other end and scored. I could sense the whole officiating change. Those guys looked and I think said, ‘Wait a minute, these guys can play, too.’ Then it started turning a little bit. We got ahead. Stevenson came off the bench and hit a couple big threes in a row and then hit a twisting layup. We won by seven (80-73) and it should’ve been by a lot more. We missed seven straight foul shots in the fourth quarter.”
The Tigers, who had won 13 consecutive WPIAL playoff games, were stunned. Moon coach Jeff Ackerman said, “As tough as our section is, it didn’t prepare us for a team like this. If they continue playing like they did today, nobody will beat them.”
Walsh scored a game-high 29 points but AG more than offset that with 24 points from Alston and 17 apiece from Turner and Cromwell.
After the game, Alston, who had held up three fingers after the win over North Allegheny, held up two fingers this time. He would later explain that signified the number of wins left for a WPIAL title.
PINE-RICHLAND
The Colonials were expecting and wanted a third meeting with Norwin but Pine-Richland knocked off the Knights and faced AG in the semifinals for the right to play in the WPIAL final.
“Pine-Richland played their games in the 40s and I them you’ve got to get out, you’ve got to run because I don’t think we can win this game in the 40s,” Andria said. “If it is, they’re going to have a big advantage. Well, it was a low-scoring game. They got up on us by six in the third quarter and I took a timeout and I told the kids, ‘Listen, if they score another basket we’re going to be in trouble because being down eight to them is like being down 15 to somebody else.'”
The Colonials scored the next six points to get back in the game. AG trailed by one late in the fourth period when Alston hit a driving shot to put the Colonials ahead to stay. Magerko then dropped a tear-drop layup high off the glass on a tough drive from the left side to put his team up by three. Albert Gallatin was up by two when Magerko was fouled with 18.2 seconds left and calmly swished both shots to put the game away.
“Jake had a good game,” Andria said. “That’s what it was like that season, different kids would step up in different games.”
Alston, as usual, stood out with a game-high 19 points — he was the only Colonial to hit double figures — and 11 rebounds as well as four steals and two assists.
AG would be playing in a WPIAL championship game for the first, and to this date, only time.
When it was over, most of the Colonials rejoiced but Alston simply strode off the court and put his index finger up in the air.
One more win for a WPIAL title.
BETHEL PARK
“That was when it got scary,” Knox said. “I was thinking, wow, the big stage against Bethel Park, all the papers were talking about the Palumbo Center. I had never even been there. It was scary but really exciting at the same time.”
“They were confident going into the final,” Andria said. “Bethel was the two seed but they split with Moon. We played them the year before and they beat us pretty good, they were No. 1 and we were No. 16 and they had 10 juniors that were now 10 seniors. They had Tim Picard who was a great athlete, a strong kid. We held him scoreless in the first half but he scored 18 in the second half.”
The two teams put on a stellar performance in the championship game. Both played well, there were outstanding plays and runs by both teams. It was simply a spectacular final.
AG was the better team in the first half and led 37-33 but foul trouble and Bethel Park’s depth eventually turned the tide in the second half. The Black Hawks closed the third period with a 9-2 run to go up 48-47.
Turner tried to rally the Colonials. His three-point play with 5:33 left gave AG its last lead, 57-55, before Bethel Park surged back in front. Down by three with 2:40 left, Turner hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie it one last time for the Colonials, but he fouled out 29 seconds later, and Knox followed him to the bench with 1:06 left. Picard scored Bethel Park’s final six points from the foul line as the Black Hawks held on for 68-63 victory. Bethel Park had won its first three playoff games by an average of 19 points.
“When I hit the 3-pointer to tie it I thought we’re going to take this and I think the team felt the same way,” Turner said. “Then when I fouled out, I felt horrible, like I let the team down. I wish I could’ve finished the game on the court with my teammates.”
“I felt like we dominated early and could have been up by even more,” Alston said. “We were all really down after the game. That was our main goal, to win the WPIAL championship.”
The Colonials got contributions from everyone in the final and put four players in double figures. Alston wound up with a game-high 21 points, including a 3-pointer, and also had seven rebounds and eight blocked shots. Turner followed with 14 points, Marshall added 12 with two treys and Cromwell totaled 10 with one 3-pointer. Knox and Magerko rounded out the scoring with four and two points.
Knox recalled the atmosphere during the final.
“Playing in that game was intense, every play mattered,” Knox said. “But it was fun, too. Well, at least up until I fouled out and we lost. You feel like if you could have a couple plays back maybe it would’ve been a different outcome.”
Andria has never anguished over the loss, however.
“That’s one game where to me there were no regrets,” Andria said. “Some games you lose and you have regrets. There was nothing else they could’ve done really. I told the kids they just wore us down. That was a heck of a game.”
Even Bethel Park coach Mike Mastroianni was quoted as saying after the victory, “That was one of the greatest high school games I’ve been involved in.”
Andria was proud of the impact his team had on the area.
“It was a good time for the community,” Andria said. “People really came together for that team. The crowds at the games, the electricity, it was just a special season.
“After the game I told those kids, ‘I know you feel bad but it might be a couple years until you realize just what you did for this school and this community.'”
Ten Years Later
“It still stings thinking about that loss but at same time I’m pretty proud of what we accomplished,” Turner said.
Alston agrees.
“Even though we didn’t win, when I look back, it was definitely a great experience,” Alston said.
“The whole year was just a blast,” Knox said. “Me, Jawaan and Nate are still best friends. That’s the part I love about the whole thing, when the guys come over and reminisce.”
Andria, who would step down after the season, knew he had perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime group.
“I remember after the game, one of the newspaper guys told me our kids were taking the loss pretty hard,” Andria said. “I looked at him and said, ‘Hey buddy, let me tell you something. You see that team over there (Bethel Park)? Teams like that, Mount Lebanon, Central Catholic, Pine-Richland, they have a hope of getting here every year.’ I told him. ‘We’re not coming back. We’re not coming back next year and, I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t know if we’re ever coming back.’ You just don’t get players like this that often.
“Those kids were special. And that season was special because of them.”