Remarkable Rockets
J-M notches team-record 24th win in PIAA rout of Redbank Valley
Redbank Valley 1,000-point scorer Braylon Wagner fittingly sank his team’s first basket in their PIAA Class 2A first-round boys basketball playoff game against Jefferson-Morgan on Saturday.
The trouble was, by time the host Bulldogs got on the scoreboard, the Rockets had already rang up 12 points and blocked three shots in seizing control of the game.
They would never relinquish it.
Jeremiah Robertson scored seven of his game-high 24 points and blocked a shot in the opening run as J-M rolled to a 50-26 victory in claiming just the program’s second state win and first in 26 years.
The Rockets also broke the team record for wins in a season as they improved to 24-3.
“It’s been a storybook year,” Jefferson-Morgan coach Brandon Lawless said. “It’s kind of surreal. I’m just so proud of our players and the work they put in and how hard they’ve played. They’ve all bought into their roles and they’re having fun doing it.”
J-M, the sixth seed out the WPIAL, advanced to Wednesday’s second round of the PIAA tournament where it will face WPIAL runner-up Jeannette at a site and time to be determined.
Robertson opened the game’s scoring with a steal and layup and Jefferson-Morgan would not trail again.
“Jeremiah was electric in the first half,” Lawless said.
Robertson added a tough layup, three of four free throws and a blocked shot during the 12-point burst, which also included five points with a 3-pointer by Brayden Ellsworth and two blocked shots and a steal by Dayten Marion.
Redbank Valley’s first points by Wagner came with just 2:03 left in the first quarter.
“We started with a lot of energy on defense and we were able to get out and run in transition and get some scores and got up on them early,” Lawless said. “I thought that was very crucial.
“I told our players this game comes down to the little things, who’s going to make free throws, who’s going to miss free throws, who’s going to make layups, who’s going to miss layups, and who’s going to go 110 percent every possession and who’s going to take a possession off. I felt we were on the positive side in all three of those.”
J-M ended the first quarter with a 14-4 lead and went into halftime ahead 25-14.
Lawless stressed to his team the importance of keeping the pressure on at halftime.
“I told them it’s still a 0-0 mindset, you still have 16 minutes of basketball,” Lawless said. “You have to put the game away while you have them down so keep your foot on them, don’t let them up, don’t let them hit a couple shots and give them hope.”
The Rockets dominated the second half, out-scoring the Bulldogs 14-6 in the third quarter to extend their lead to 39-20 and then pulling away with an 11-6 edge in the fourth.
Lawless was pleased to see his defense only allow a combined 12 points over the final two frames.
“Defense always travels and we’re a defensive-minded team,” he said. “They’re so bought into it and it shows. Defense is never my concern but the offensive side is where we struggle at times.”
J-M got enough contributions from the rest of its lineup against Redbank Valley to complement Robertson’s big offensive game. Ellsworth finished with eight points, Marion scored six points, John Woodward and Triton Farabee each tallied five points and Jaymison Robinson tacked on two points.
“We have five senior starters with a lot of chemistry and that’s what makes this team special, but Triton Farabee is a really good player, too, who could start for most teams,” Lawless said. “I thought he gave us some quality minutes off the bench today, as he has all season.”
The Rockets reduced the tempo in the second half.
“We played more of a slower style, played a controlled offense,” Lawless said. “We got stops and then would just run our sets and take time off the clock. I thought it was a very good, collective team effort. They were running man-to-man and we took advantage of mismatches. Most importantly we valued the basketball. We didn’t turn the ball over too much today.”
Wagner paced the District 6 champion Bulldogs (18-8) with just 13 points.
“I was pretty pleased with the all-around game we played,” Lawless said. “Our guys played really hard and played relatively mistake-free basketball.”
Jefferson-Morgan is now 3-2 in the postseason. It had already secured its first section championship and first playoff victory since 2000.
“I told our guys going into this game you’ve already accomplished pretty much every goal we’ve put out there for you so there’s really no pressure at this point,” Lawless said. “You’ve won 23 games for a reason so just go play with confidence and have fun.”