Forging ahead: Red Raiders advance to WPIAL semifinals with 59-37 victory
NORTH HUNTINGDON – The Uniontown boys started slow, but once the Red Raiders got rolling they hit the accelerator for a 59-37 victory over North Catholic Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class AAAA basketball playoffs at Norwin.
Uniontown played without K’Adrian McLee, who sat with a leg injury.
“When your 6-6 kid doesn’t play, and your other kids step up, I couldn’t be more pleased,” said Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky, adding, “(K’Adrian) is day-to-day.”
Uniontown (21-3) advances to Saturday’s semifinal against Lincoln Park. The defending WPIAL champion Leopards (21-3) cruised past Knoch, 81-58, behind Maleek Thomas’ 32 points and Brandin Cummings’ 21.
The two teams met in the PIAA semifinals last year at Charleroi with Lincoln Park defeating the Red Raiders, 85-64.
“We’re just excited to be playing in the semifinals,” said Kezmasky. “(His players have) played 10 playoff games now. They’re pretty experienced. All these big games against Lincoln Park and North Catholic really helped us.
“They work really hard and they’re great kids.”
“Our kids are going there to play,” added Kezmarsky. “Our kids learned a lot from that game last year. We’re playing a great team and are excited for the opportunity.”
Uniontown appeared to be relegated to the consolation bracket after the Trojans pulled out to an 8-2 lead midway through the first quarter.
But, with Notorious Grooms hitting from long range and Jamire Braxton and Cavin Winfrey converting on slashing drives through the lane, Uniontown put together a 13-2 spurt to close the quarter for a 15-10 lead.
Braxton made three field goals, Grooms scored five points and Winfrey added four points in the first quarter.
The lead grew to 27-17 at the half when Braxton found a wide open Eric Townsend slashing through the lane for an easy layup late in the quarter. Grooms led the way with eight points on two 3-pointers and a field goal. Winfrey scored the remaining two points of the quarter.
Neither team put up much offense in the third quarter, with Uniontown holding an 11-8 advantage for a 38-25 lead.
North Catholic’s last gasp to cut the deficit early in the fourth quarter fizzled out as the Red Raiders slowed the tempo offensively, methodically moving the ball for easy layups.
Kelan Milsom and Jeremiah Hager benefited from the deliberate ball movement with easy shots under the basket, with both players scoring six points.
Hager, who has been battling an illness, also was a presence in the lane in McLee’s absence with a couple blocked shots and a solid defensive rebounding effort.
Winfrey scored six more points to share team-scoring honors with Grooms at 16 points apiece. Braxton finished with nine points and Milsom added eight.
The Trojans’ Max Hurry scored a game-high 23 points, although the Uniontown defense made him work for every field goal. Hurry totaled 12 in the first half and 11 in the second, but just three in the final eight minutes.
The Red Raiders played North Catholic in the WPIAL and PIAA playoffs last year. Uniontown lost in the district quarterfinals, 73-58, and avenged the defeat in the state quarterfinals, 55-54.
Kezmarsky and his staff learned a lot from those games in preparation for the quarterfinal matchup.
“We watched all their games. They’re such a great program. They do all that subbing. After that first rotation they subbed, I thought we matched up pretty well,” explained Kezmarsky.
“Our kids kept playing. We played two great games with them last year and we split.”
Kezmarsky altered his general defensive game plan and noted the impact Milsom and Isaac Ellsworth had within the scheme.
“Max is a great player.Kelan Milsom did a great job. (Hurry) is one of the best shooters in the WPIAL and he did a good job battling him. And, Isaac Ellsworth came in and gave us minutes,” said Kezmarsky. “We didn’t want to chase their big players. We didn’t press. We played high-court man-to-man. We rebounded well.”