CLARION, Pa. – Girard’s Kenny Godoy sent the game to overtime, and the Jackets took over from there.
Trailing 46-44, Godoy drove the lane and converted a layup with five seconds remaining in regulation and Girard outlasted Bishop Guilfoyle, 55-52 in overtime to advance to the PIAA Class 3A quarterfinals.
Guilfoyle (24-5), the third-place finisher out of District 6, had a chance to win at the buzzer, driving the length of the court, but the shot was off the mark from Tyson Lestochi.
Nate Edwards scored five points in the fourth quarter to help send the overtime, and in the extra period, the Yellow Jackets (25-2) came up clutch from the charity stripe, knocking down all six of their attempts, including four from Godoy.
Geremia Dell’omo scored 20 points and hit a big 3-pointer in overtime for the Jackets.
Trailing 55-52, Guilfoyle’s Danny Haigh had a chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer, but his shot was well off the mark.
Guilfoyle led 22-15 at halftime, but Girard went on a 20-13 run in the third quarter to tie the game 35 apiece going to the fourth.
Dell’omo was key in the rally, scoring 11 of his 20 points in the period.
Edwards (24 points), Dell’omo (20) and Godoy (11) scored all 55 of Girard’s points.
Trevor Rehm and Chase Kissell led Guilfoyle with 13 points each, while Haigh and Lestochi had 11 each.
With the win, Girard will meet Mohawk, a 55-50 winner over Ellwood City, in the quarterfinals. That game will be on Saturday, March 16 at a site and time to be determined.
READING 54, MCDOWELL 47, overtime
ALTOONA, Pa. – McDowell took defending PIAA Class 6A state champion Reading to the brink, ultimately dropping a heartbreaker in overtime, 54-47.
McDowell’s Quentin Orlando scored eight of his 13 points in the fourth quarter to help force overtime, but in the extra period it was all Reading.
Reading scored seven of its nine points in overtime from the free-throw line, with Weshly Rosario knocking down four.
Rosario scored 17 points, while Yadiel Cruz led Reading (19-9) with 21 points.
Tyler Grove actually scored first for McDowell (21-6) in overtime to give the Trojans a 47-45 lead, but those would be the only points McDowell scored over the final four minutes.
McDowell led 13-11 after the first quarter, but Reading rallied to take a 25-21 halftime lead.
McDowell cut it to one, 39-38 going to the fourth quarter, with Kamden Kramer also knocking down a big 3-pointer in the fourth in addition to Orlando’s strong play.
Grove led McDowell with 16 points.
With the win, Reading advances to play Coatesville, a 52-37 winner over Cumberland Valley, in the PIAA quarterfinals. That game will be on Saturday, March 16 at a site and time to be determined.
ALIQUIPPA 79, EISENHOWER 47
EDINBORO, Pa. – Aliquippa outscored Eisenhower, 28-4, in the second quarter and never looked back on its way to a 79-47 win in the second round of the PIAA Class 2A boys’ basketball playoffs.
Rewatch the game:
The Quips (23-5) led the Knights (21-6) by just three, 13-10, at the end of the first quarter. That’s when Josh Pratt took over.
Pratt scored 19 of his game-high 23 points in the second and third quarters. Pratt and QaLil Goode filled the void left by the suspension of Cameron Lindsey, who missed this game after picking up a pair of technical fouls in the Quips’ win over Otto-Eldred.
While the Quips’ offense was scoring points, the defense was suffocating the Knights. Quentin Goode gave Austin Hanson little room to operate and limited him to just four first-half points.
Kyler Black scored all four of Eisenhower’s second-quarter points.
The Knights offense regained its footing in the second half with 15 points in the third quarter and 18 in the fourth, but the Quips answered with 19 in each frame.
Demarkus Walker was also in double figures for the Quips with 10 points.
Black led the Knights with 15 points. Hanson finished with 10 points.
Aliquippa will face Redbank Valley, a 54-21 winner over West Shamokin, in the quarterfinals on Saturday at a time and location to be announced.
