Fantastic finish: Wallace’s last-second 3-pointer lifts Red Raiders into PIAA semifinals
Rob Burchianti | Herald-Standard
North Catholic’s Matt Ellery (hands up) can’t prevent Uniontown’s Bakari Wallace from launching a game-winning 3-pointer just before the final buzzer which gave the Red Raiders a dramatic 55-54 win in Friday night’s PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game at Charleroi High School.
Rob Burchianti | Herald-Standard
Uniontown’s Bakari Wallace is mobbed by teammates as the Red Raiders, including K’Adrian McLee (4), celebrate their stunning 55-54 victory over North Catholic in Friday night’s PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game at Charleroi High School. McLee inbounded the ball on the final play which led to a pass from Calvin Winfrey III to Wallace who sank a game-winning 3-pointer as time expired.
Rob Burchianti | Herald-Standard
Uniontown’s Jamire Braxton puts up a shot against North Catholic during Friday night’s PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game at Charleroi High School. Braxton scored a team-high 23 points in the Red Raiders’ 55-54 victory.
Rob Burchianti | Herald-Standard
Uniontown fans celebrate at Charleroi High School after watching Bakari Wallace hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Red Raiders a dramatic 55-54 win over North Catholic in their PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game Friday night.
Uniontown's Calvin Winfrey puts up a driving shot against North Catholic during Friday night's PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game at Charleroi High School.
Uniontown's Levi Garner (11) scores between three North Catholic players during Friday night's PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game at Charleroi High School.
North Catholic's Max Rottman (24) defends Uniontown's Notorious Grooms during Friday night's PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game at Charleroi High School.
Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky directs his players during Friday night's PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game against North Catholic at Charleroi High School.
Uniontown's Calvin Winfrey III (2) dribbles the ball up court as North Catholic's Matt Ellery (5) defends during Friday night's PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game at Charleroi High School.
Rob Burchianti | Herald-Standard
Uniontown’s Jamire Braxton hits a baseline jump shot over North Catholic’s Andrew Maddalon during Friday night’s PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game at Charleroi High School. Braxton scored a team-high 23 points in the Red Raiders’ 55-54 win.
Rob Burchianti | Herald-Standard
Uniontown’s Bakari Wallace sets up to take the final shot after receiving a pass from Calvin Winfrey III during Friday night’s PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game against North Catholic at Charleroi High School. Wallace’s 3-pointer went in to give the Red Raiders a dramatic 55-54 victory.
CHARLEROI — Bakari Wallace let go of the shot and everyone inside Charleroi High School followed its flight.
Uniontown trailed North Catholic by two points with 2.5 seconds left when K’Adrian McLee inbounded the ball to Calvin Winfrey III who took a couple dribbles and whipped a pass to the open Wallace who released an NBA-range 3-pointer.
“When it left his hands it was nice and high and it looked good,” Winfrey said.
“I thought, hey that’s got a good chance,” Red Raiders coach Rob Kezmarsky said. “It looked on target.”
Wallace, on the other hand, wasn’t as confident.
“It wasn’t like I knew it was going in, not really,” Wallace said. “I just grabbed it and shot it and watched it like everybody else.”
The ball descended through the hoop with a swish, giving the Red Raiders a dramatic 55-54 win in Friday night’s PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game, setting off an explosion from the large throng of Uniontown fans on hand.
Wallace simply stood still after the shot went in but was engulfed by his teammates seconds later.
The stunning win propelled the Red Raiders (23-5) into Monday’s PIAA semifinal game, also at Charleroi at 7 p.m., against Lincoln Park (28-1) with a berth in the state championship game on the line. The Leopards defeated Laure Highlands, 69-66.
Jamire Braxton sparked Uniontown with a team-high 23 points and Notorious Grooms followed with 10 points. Wallace wound up with seven points.
It looked like it would be North Catholic moving on to face Section 4 foe Lincoln Park in a rematch of the WPIAL final — won by the Leopards, 78-68 — after Andrew Maddalon was fouled with 2.5 seconds left and calmly sank two free throws to break a 52-52 tie.
After two consecutive timeouts, Uniontown set up for a final play.
“We had K’Adrian taking it out,” Kezmarsky explained. “We ran ’14 high.’ We had Jamire and Tori cutting to the basket and Bakari spotted up, Calvin saw him and gave him a perfect pass and the rest is history.”
“Coach told us don’t rush, it’s plenty of time, find the open man and knock the shot down,” Winfrey said. “I saw Bakari. They might’ve been thinking he hadn’t scored much and left him open. A lot of times a guy having a bad game hits a big shot at the end. That’s what I was thinking when I threw him the ball.”
Matt Ellery lunged at Wallace but couldn’t alter the senior’s clutch shot which spoiled what was a gutsy rally by the Trojans, who trailed by seven after a Braxton basket with about 5:30 left.
“They’re talented, resilient kids,” North Catholic coach Jim Rocco said of his squad.
North Catholic (21-8) whittled the gap to two on Maddalon’s layup and, after Braxton made one of two free throws with 2:49 remaining, Max Hurray tied it with the last of his six 3-pointers on the night 15 seconds later.
Braxton passed to Grooms for a layup to put Uniontown back up by two but Hurray, who ended up with a game-high 29 points, scored again to tie it with 1:48 remaining.
After securing the rebound from a missed Red Raiders shot with 1:28 left, North Catholic called timeout with 30 seconds on the clock to set up its offense. The Trojans took the clock under five seconds when Maddalon drove to the basket, was fouled and made the go-ahead free throws for the last of his 15 points.
“Our kids are really good at reading situations and Andrew read the situation and did what the situation dictated,” Rocco said.
“It’s not about running plays, it’s the ability to adjust and think and learn and see what’s going on and do what you think is best in that moment and that’s exactly what Drew did. He’s just a super player and a super kid.”
That only set the stage for the Red Raiders and Wallace, though.
“We did not play well at all, to Uniontown’s credit,” Rocco said. “They attacked really well and 34 (Braxton) had a really good game.
“We had a little miscue at the end there, somebody got loose and he threw in a pretty amazing shot.”
The game was drastically different than the first meeting between the two in the WPIAL quarterfinals when the Trojans rolled to a 20-point halftime lead on their way to a 73-58 victory.
“When we lost to them the first time I knew we didn’t play our best game,” Winfrey said. “We studied them all week and were more ready for what they do this time.”
“We changed some things around from the defense we played last time,” Kezmarsky said. “We picked them up more on the 3-point line and didn’t chase them.”
Grooms sank back-to-back 3-pointers to give Uniontown an early 6-0 lead. North Catholic answered with a 10-2 run to go up by two but Winfrey’s basket made it 10-10 after one quarter.
There were four lead changes and one tie in a back-and-forth second quarter but three late 3-pointers by Hurray helped the Trojans take a 32-28 halftime lead.
The Red Raiders amped up their defense in the third quarter, limiting North Catholic to five points. Braxton scored the final eight of Uniontown’s 12 points in the frame to give his team a 40-37 advantage.
Uniontown began the fourth quarter with a 7-3 run sparked by consecutive buckets by Levi Garner to go ahead 47-40 to set up the thrilling final minutes.
“For our kids to win a game like that with four underclassmen and Bakari starting is pretty special,” Kezmarsky said. “What I always do with this group is thank them. I thanked them for getting us here, for getting me here.
“It was an exciting win. The kids kept their composure. North Catholic made some plays at the end but our kids just made one more.”