McCray-Pace and Conwell-Egan advance
SHILLINGTON, Pa. - It was a play that seemed to portend doom for Conwell-Egan's bid to repeat as Class 2A champions.
SHILLINGTON, Pa. - It was a play that seemed to portend doom for Conwell-Egan's bid to repeat as Class 2A champions.
With just seconds left in the third quarter of Wednesday's PIAA second-round matchup, Minersville junior Steele Fekette desperately flipped the ball behind his back while stumbling on the baseline near the Miners' bench.
The ball drifted toward Shane Hoffman, who grabbed and shot in one motion to beat the quarter's buzzer.
The basket gave Minersville a two-point edge after the Eagles, who trailed throughout, had finally tied the game.
Conwell-Egan, however, responded with alacrity en route to a frenetic 54-51, victory in Game 1 at Governor Mifflin Intermediate School.
"We did answer the bell," said a frustrated C-E coach Frank Sciolla. "We did make some plays and we got enough stops. We just hope that we respect the idea that we can't roll over people, talent-wise."
Senior forward LaPri McCray-Pace led District 12's top-seeded Eagles (17-9) with 30 points. He also moved to No. 2 on the school's all-time scoring list, passing Andrew Holland, who finished with 1,232 in 2002.
The District 11 Miners (22-5), however, gave C-E more problems than it wanted.
Led by senior guard Chris Leshko, Minersville trailed, 4-3, in the first quarter but didn't trail again until the final frame.
"I would love to use some corny cliché like 'survive and move on,' " Sciolla said, "but here's the deal: Minersville had a lot of seniors play really hard. They really outhustled us from tap to buzzer."
Eventually, the Eagles' defense, led by junior Kar'ron Johnson and sophomore Eric Esposito, picked up its intensity.
Leshko, who led the Miners with 16 points, made his last basket with about five minutes remaining in the third quarter.
"The name of the game was Kar'ron Johnson," Sciolla said. "He's our point guard, a much-maligned position for us. . . . In the second half, [he] was tremendous and just shut [Leshko] out."
Esposito finished the game with five steals, five rebounds, two blocks and three points. Vinny Dalessandro coupled 15 points with 11 rebounds.
C-E will face District 3's Camp Hill on Saturday.
Trailing by just three points with 2.8 seconds remaining, Kei'dre Taylor flung a baseball-style shot from the Miners' foul line that missed just left, grazing the rim as it bounced away. The Miners had also previously banked in two three-pointers.
"After the last banked-in three, you're thinking. '[they have' a charmed life,' " Sciolla said. "When he threw that baseball [shot], I thought, 'Why not?' "
Earlier, he said: "I'm happy when we win any game. This season has been a tremendous challenge for a variety of reasons and I'm happy the kids get another opportunity to come out and play."
In Game 2 Wednesday night, Parkway Center City (13-13) fell, 67-48, to District 3's Trinity (21-6). Amir Hill led the Bulldogs with 17. Austin Gilbertson led Trinity with 28.
Conwell-Egan 14 8 14 18 - 54
Minersville 17 10 11 13 - 51
C-E: LaPri McCray-Pace 30, Vinny Dalessandro 15, Eric Esposito 3, Kar'ron Johnson 4, James Leible 2.
M: Aaron Snyder 5, Chris Leshko 16, Shane Hoffman 14, Adam Stoppie 4, David Graham 4, Kei'dre Taylor 8.
Trinity 18 6 17 26 - 67
Parkway CC 10 14 13 11 - 48
T: Austin Gilbertson 28, Sean Good 7, Marcus Hall 4, Timothy Edwards 6, Jack Vukelich 13, Jack Bucher 9.
PCC: Maqi Watson 4, Jemal Sheppard 7, Tymir Cooper 14, Amir Hill 17, Kareem Robinson 2, Tyrell Tillman 2, William McNair 2.
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