Slam dunk: Mustangs advance to semis with 52-44 victory
Jim Downey | Herald-Standard
The Mustangs’ Keondre DeShields slams the ball through the basket in the first quarter of Thursday’s WPIAL Class AAAAA quarterfinal playoff game against Hampton at Laurel Highlands. DeShields scored a game-high 18 points to lead Laurel Highlands to a 52-44 victory.
Jim Downey | Herald-Standard
The Mustangs’ Joe Chambers banks a shot off the glass for a basket in the third quarter of Thursday’s WPIAL Class AAAAA quarterfinal playoff game against Talbot at Laurel Highlands.
Jim Downey | Herald-Standard
The Mustangs’ Rodney Gallagher (2) soars to the basket past Hampton’s Robert Coll (33) in the third quarter for two of his 12 points during Thursday’s WPIAL Class AAAAA quarterfinal playoff game against Hampton at Laurel Highlands.
Hampton's Joe Lafko patrols the sideline during the first half of Thursday's WPIAL Class AAAAA quarterfinal playoff game at Laurel Highlands. The Frazier graduate fell short of winning his 500th game with the Talbots losing to the Mustangs, 52-44.
Laurel Highlands' Brandon Davis maintains his balance under the defensive pressure of Hampton's Eric Weeks in the second quarter of Thursday's WPIAL Class AAAAA quarterfinal playoff game at Laurel Highlands.
The Mustangs' Keondre DeShields (1) dunks an alley-oop pass from teammate Brandon Davis in the fourth quarter of Thursday's WPIAL Class AAAAA quarterfinal playoff game against Hampton at Laurel Highlands.
The Mustangs' Rodney Gallagher (2) powers through the defense of Hampton's Eric Weeks in the fourth quarter of Thursday's WPIAL Class AAAAA quarterfinal playoff game at Laurel Highlands.
The Mustangs' Tahji Hooper breaks away from the Hampton defense for a layup in the second quarter of Thursday's WPIAL Class AAAAA quarterfinal playoff game at Laurel Highlands.
There was a lot on the line when Laurel Highlands hosted Hampton Thursday night in the WPIAL Class AAAAA quarterfinals.
Hampton coach Joe Lafko was seeking his 500th career victory. The Mustangs were looking to remain undefeated and both teams sought a berth into the semifinals and a guaranteed spot in the PIAA playoffs.
The Mustangs remained undefeated and advanced into next Monday’s semifinals with a 52-44 victory over the Talbots.
Laurel Highlands (23-0) will face Highlands, who edged fourth-seeded Penn Hills, 51-49. Highlands (18-6) trailed 39-31 after three quarters, but rallied with a 20-10 advantage in the fourth quarter for the win.
As for Lafko, the 1984 Frazier graduate will need Laurel Highlands to keep winning for a shot at his 500th win this season in the PIAA playoffs. The Mustangs can drag the Talbots (13-11) into the state tournament with a semifinal victory.
“We’re LH fans. That’s easy for me. I’m from Fayette County,” said Lafko. “I enjoy coming back.”
Laurel Highlands led 37-33 entering the fourth quarter. Hampton had two prime shots in the lane to cut the deficit or take the lead, but both were missed.
Jayden Pratt didn’t waste his opportunity to hit a key basket. Pratt made a short jumper to give the Mustangs a 38-33 lead with 7:06 remaining.
Laurel Highlands maintained the slim balance for the remainder of the fourth quarter, leading Laurel Highlands head coach Rick Hauger to slow down, and spread out, the offense.
“I didn’t want to slow the game down until I thought it really needed to be slowed down. Too often we were settling for shots instead of attacking the zone. I just figured with Rodney, Keondre and Brandon, I’d spread them out,” explained Hauger.
Hampton ran into a problem as the clock wound down with only one team foul committed in the second half. The Talbots set to quickly foul to force Laurel Highlands to the foul line.
The Mustangs came through in the final 103 seconds with Gallagher making 2-of-3 from the line and Davis hitting all four of his attempts.
Hampton’s Matt DeMatteo sliced through the lane with 25.7 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to 50-44.
The Talbots pressed after the timeout. However, Gallagher broke free from the pressure for a breakaway layup, clinching the victory and allowing Hauger to relax.
“Yeah, there was. There was about 10 seconds left on the clock with a laugh,” responded Hauger when asked when he felt the Mustangs were in control of the game.
“I give our kids a lot of credit tonight. We battled. We had a couple lapses, at times, and they made some transition baskets. I thought that was the difference,” said Lafko. “Close games often times come down to a couple possessions and a couple free throws.”
The Talbots ran a disciplined, motion offense against Laurel Highlands’ man-to-man defense, hoping the slow the tempo and work for a good shot.
DeMatteo led the Talbots with 13 points. Liam Mignogna finished with 10 points and Eric Weeks added nine.
“We knew coming in we had to limit some of their possessions, so we had to do some tempo control. Which, I thought, overall we did,” said Lafko. “I thought tonight we had to limit their possessions.
“Laurel Highlands is so talented. They can spread out their offense and score in transition.”
“They did (limit our possessions). Coach Lafko had his guys playing,” said Hauger. “I had no doubt they were going to try to milk the clock a little bit. I don’t think they took a bad shot all night.”
DeShields paced the Mustangs with a game-high 18 points. Gallagher finished with 12, and Pratt came off the bench to add 14 points.
“Brandon (Davis) always plays hard. The longest period of time Rodney, Brandon and Keondre had to go. None of those three came out of the game,” said Hauger. “Jayden came in and provided us with a big lift.”
Pratt was able to find openings in the Talbots defense, including the couple times they ran a triangle-and-2.
“Jayden’s pretty much a knock-down shooter from there (the opening in the triangle-and-2),” said Hauger.
Hauger switched up his defense in the second half, moving into a pressure zone.
“I wanted them not to continue running their patterns and running us around. I knew our guys had a bigger workload than they were used to,” said Hauger. “Plus, I felt it took them out of their rhythm.”
Although the Talbots didn’t enter the game with a gaudy win-loss record, Hauger understood the visitors wouldn’t be a walkover.
“I know we stressed to them this was going to be a competitive game. I felt confident they would run their patterns. They have a lot more patience than my guys do,” explained Hauger. “The good thing is we were able to battle through it playing at a tempo we do not want to do.”
Hauger continued, adding, “We had a pretty good following and they came in here and didn’t flinch. They didn’t rattle. We didn’t flinch either. Most of the time when we needed to make a play, we kinda did.
“It’s the playoffs. Anything can happen. We won it two years ago and we were an eight seed.”