Highlands boys watch big fourth-quarter lead fade before holding off West A

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, February 23, 2018 | 11:36 PM

Previous Next

Previous Next

With his team holding a 21-point lead at the midpoint of the third quarter of its WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal Friday against West Allegheny, Highlands boys coach Tyler Stoczynski knew there still was plenty of time for the Indians to make a run.

West Allegheny, the No. 7 seed, did just that, closing the Golden Rams' advantage to nine on several occassions in the fourth quarter.

But No. 2 Highlands made enough plays down the stretch to close out a 66-58 victory at Fox Chapel.

“We had that big lead, but we needed to up our intensity level even more,” said Stoczynski, whose team took the floor in a game situation for the first time in nine days. “West Allegheny is a very good team. They weren't going to just lay down and die (in the second half). We have a lot of respect for them.

“They are well coached. Their kids are tough. We have to do a better job of managing the game, putting our foot on the throat and ending it.”

Highlands (18-4) did end it, and now it moves to Tuesday's semifinals and a third meeting with section rival Franklin Regional at a site and time to be determined Saturday.

“That score, I don't think, is indicative of what it could've been,” Stoczynski said. “But it is what it is, and we're moving on to the next round.”

Franklin Regional, the No. 3 seed, defeated Moon, 28-26, on Friday.

Highlands and Franklin Regional finished tied for the Section 3 title with 9-1 records.

“It's crazy,” Golden Rams senior forward Shawn Erceg said. “We each won a game and tied for the title. We get to see who the real champs are.”

Johnny Crise led Highlands with 16 points, Erceg added 15 and Romello Freeman scored 13. Erceg scored seven of his 15 in the fourth quarter.

The Golden Rams struggled from the free-throw line. They were 3 of 12 in the first half and 8 of 19 in the fourth quarter.

“It's a concentration thing,” Stoczynski said. “We have guys up there who we want to make those shots. They just didn't fall tonight the way we wanted them. That's something we're definitely going to focus on in practice.”

West Allegheny scored two more points (30) in the fourth quarter than it did through the first three. The Indians used a 16-4 run to trim a 40-19 deficit to nine with 6:02 remaining.

Jackson Faulk scored 15 of his game-best 23 in the final quarter. He hit a trio of 3-pointers and was 4 for 4 from the free-throw line over the final eight minutes.

Isaiah Crowe also had a strong fourth quarter with eight of his 18 points. Dre Baldwin added 10 points for the Indians, who still can qualify for the PIAA tournament.

West Allegheny (11-12) suddenly has become big Highlands fans. The Indians, under the follow-the-leader format, need the Golden Rams to win the WPIAL title for them to earn the fifth and final PIAA berth from Class 5A.

“We've been down like that a couple times this year, and we've been in situations where we've been up and teams come back on us,” West Allegheny coach Andrew Tsangaris said. “You have to keep playing. They missed some free throws, which kind of helped us. They just wore us out on the offensive boards. That was one of the few times this season where that happened. We got our fair share, but when it came down to getting that needed rebound and stop, the ball was right to them, and they put it in.”

The four Class 5A semifinalists — Highlands, Franklin Regional, No. 1 Mars and No. 5 Trinity — automatically are in the state playoffs.

“The state playoffs are in the back of our minds, but right now, our main focus is on a WPIAL title,” Erceg said. “That's what we came here to do, and that's what we're trying to accomplish.”

Highlands forced 11 West Allegheny turnovers in the first half and was successful on the boards, but the free-throw-shooting woes and several empty possessions on its end kept the lead at nine, 26-17, at halftime.

Halftime conversations between coaches and players paid dividends for the Golden Rams as they came out of the break on a 9-0 run. Christian Tanilli started the spurt with a layup, Luke Cochran hit a 3-pointer, Erceg converted a layup and Freeman dunkned. With less than two minutes gone in the second half, the Highlands lead swelled to 18.

“We talk about the key moments at the beginning and end of each half,” Stoczynski said. “We came out strong with a lot of intensity in the second half. We just have to do a better job of closing out a game like that.”

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Mlove_Trib.

Tags: Highlands, West Allegheny