Playoff bound
Mustangs reach postseason with gutsy win over Penn-Trafford
Luke Martin has saved his best for last lately.
Three days after grabbing the rebound of a missed shot and scoring the winning basket to help Laurel Highlands’ boys basketball team pull out a 56-54 win at Uniontown, Martin was at it again on Friday night against Penn-Trafford at Harold “Horse” Taylor Memorial Gymnasium.
Martin scored nine of his 13 points in the fourth quarter, including five straight to cap an eight-point run that put the Mustangs ahead to stay and a pair of free throws with seven seconds left to seal a 51-48 victory over the Warriors and send LH to the WPIAL playoffs out of Section 1-5A.
Kayden Smith again led the way for Laurel Highlands with a game-high 18 points, including two clutch foul shots with 2:01 left. Smith was coming off a career-high 27-point effort against Uniontown.
Laurel Highlands also got two 3-pointers and eight points along with four assists from Jude Packrone, five points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots from Tyrone Burton and five points, including a key three-point play, from Sevi Vecchiolla.
The postseason berth caps a three-year climb for Laurel Highlands which suffered through a pair of rebuilding seasons after the Rick Hauger-Rodney Gallagher III era ended. John Smith stepped in as coach and following records of 2-20 and 5-16 he guided LH to a 7-7 section record this season and a 13-8 overall mark.
“I was here with all the success with Rick and we knew that we were going to have a couple tough seasons building this program back up,” coach Smith said. “Luke was one of those guys, he was committed, he worked hard, he worked in the offseason, and all of these guys have, from top to bottom. We’ve went through this together.”
Martin, one of only two seniors on LH’s roster along with Vecchiolla, was thrilled to be able to end his high school career with a spot in the playoffs.
“It means a lot to me,” Martin said. “Our team stuck together, nobody was arguing, nobody was fighting. At the end of the day we’re brothers. We love each other. We’re all family. We had to win four in a row to make it to the playoffs and we did it.”
It took some tense moments before the Mustangs were sure they had actually qualified for the postseason.
Laurel Highlands, McKeesport, Latrobe and Uniontown all entered Friday tied for fourth place with 6-7 section marks. The Red Raiders fell at second-place Franklin Regional, but the Tigers knocked off first-place Gateway and Latrobe rolled past Albert Gallatin to join the Mustangs in finishing at 7-7.
Under WPIAL tiebreaker rules, McKeesport secured fourth place by virtue of its 3-1 record in games against LH (1-3) and Latrobe (2-2). That left the Mustangs and Wild Cats tied for the fifth and final playoff spot and since the two split their regular-season series, both are headed into the big dance.
Penn-Trafford (8-6, 11-11) needed a win to finish in a second-place tie with Franklin Regional (9-5, 13-8) but instead wound up in sole possession of third. Gateway (12-2, 14-7) had already locked up the section title before Friday.
Just like the game at Uniontown on Tuesday, the Mustangs were locked in a close, tense, hard-fought, defensive battle with the Warriors.
Laurel Highlands took a 34-29 lead into the fourth quarter but Penn-Trafford rode a seven-point run, capped by Zach Feldman’s basket, to a 39-38 advantage with 4:43 left.
Vecchiolla scored inside and was fouled just 24 seconds later and converted the free throw to complete the three-point play to put the Mustangs in front for good. Martin followed with a jump shot and then a 3-pointer with 2:55 remaining that drew a huge roar from the LH crowd as the lead grew to 46-39.
“I’ve been working on that shot all year, trying to get downhill and pull up,” Martin said of the first basket. “On the three my man left me wide open so I didn’t hesitate, I just shot it and knocked it down.
“I wasn’t hitting my shot much tonight, but when the moment came, I was ready for it.”
Trent Brown rallied Penn-Trafford by drilling a pair of 3-pointers around Smith’s two foul shots to get the visitors within 48-45 with 1:22 left. Ethan McDonald, who had a team-high 15 points, made one of two from the line to bring the Warriors within 48-46.
Vecchiolla then made two alert plays to help his team keep possession just seconds apart. As he reached to grab a pass near the baseline, Vecchiolla called a timeout with 38 seconds left just before falling out of bounds. On the ensuing inbounds play, Vecchiolla was bumped to the floor as the pass went in to him and he again wisely called a timeout before a traveling call was made.
“That’s something that we talked about in practice, if you get in trouble don’t just throw the ball over your head, when it gets into clutch situations and we’ve got timeouts left, use them,” coach Smith said. “Those were both heads-up plays.”
The possession ended with Burton being fouled and he made one of two foul shots to put LH ahead 49-46 with 24 seconds left.
McDonald made a layup with 13 seconds remaining to make it a one-point game at 49-48. Warriors coach Doug Kelly called timeout to set his defense but Martin inbounded to Smith who got it back to Martin who was fouled with seven seconds remaining.
Martin calmly sank both free throws to put the Mustangs’ lead at three.
“Everyday at practice our coaches are talking about focus,” Martin said. “I just said take a deep breath, I’m having fun, it’s my last game here, just focus and make these.”
Laurel Highlands converted 13 of 15 foul shots, including six of seven in the fourth quarter.
“Kaden and Luke have both been great going to the free throw line late in games,” coach Smith pointed out. “Those last two were big because, obviously, it forced Penn-Trafford to have to shoot a three.”
Peyton Mastro’s potential game-tying 3-pointer as time expired bounced off the front of the rim, resulting in a Mustang celebration.
“I didn’t want to lose tonight,” Martin said. “I was bringing that energy on both sides of the floor.”
Feldman tallied nine points for the Warriors, as did Brown, all coming on a trio of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.
There were four lead changes and two ties in the first quarter which ended with Penn-Trafford holding a 14-12 lead.
There were three lead changes in a low-scoring second quarter, the final one coming on Smith’s late 3-pointer which gave LH a 20-18 halftime advantage.
The Warriors tied it twice in the third quarter but the Mustangs closed with a five-point run that included four points by Smith and gave the hosts a 34-29 lead heading into the final frame.
Coach Smith praised his players afterwards.
“The guys have bought into what we’re doing,” Smith said. “They show up to practice everyday, they work hard, they believe in what we’re coaching them.
“Another thing is these guys have been in the weight room 10 months out of the year because I believe that’s what it takes to be successful. You’ve got to get strong, you’ve got to get physical. You can tell, you get down to the wire in some of these games, it comes down to a rebound here, a box out there, a tipped ball there.”
Laurel Highlands will find out where it will be seeded and who it will be playing in the postseason on Monday when the WPIAL releases its pairings.