ALTOONA, Pa. – Cathedral Prep just ran out of time.
The Ramblers rallied from an 11-point deficit and had Exeter Township on the ropes, but the Eagles were able to make enough plays down the stretch to earn a trip to Hershey with a 51-47 win in the PIAA 5A semifinals.
“We’ve had a resilient group all year,” said Cathedral Prep coach Steve Piotrowicz. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. We missed too many easy opportunities.”
The Ramblers (24-4) trailed 30-20 with five minutes to go in the third quarter after a Reece Garvin three but used their defense to get back in the game.
Twice the Ramblers had the ball down three inside of 2:15 to play, but each time the Eagles (27-6) came up with steals that led to buckets, one by Alex Kelsey with 2:10 to go in the fourth quarter and the latter by Aidan Dauble with 1:05 to go.
Still, however, the Ramblers had a shot late, as Amaree Pickens got a steal and knocked down 1-of-2 from the line to make it 45-43 with 33.5 seconds to play.
Anthony Caccese got an open layup with the Ramblers pressing, however, and Prep turned the ball over on their next possession and Kelsey knocked down a pair of free throws (the Eagles were in the 1-and-1) with 7.2 seconds to go to steal the win.
“Our defense has won us 24 games this year,” Piotrowicz said. “I thought our defense did a really good job on them, we just didn’t get in a flow offensively. That started pretty much from the first play of the game and kind of spiraled out of control and it took us a little too long to get it back. That’s basketball sometimes, but a tip of the cap to them. They played well enough to win.”
After the Ramblers went down 10, Amaree Pickens had a pair of buckets, one off a steal, and Tavion Spencer had another to cut the lead to 30-26, and the Ramblers were right back in it.
The lead got cut to three initially in the fourth quarter on a Semontae Lofton bucket with 2:40 to play that made it 41-38, with the Ramblers just not quite able to finish off the rally.
“Our defense,” Lofton said of why the Ramblers were able to battle back. “We had pressure, but it was a little too late in the game. “If we would have done that earlier I think we would have won.”
Neither team led by more than five in the first half. The Ramblers, on the strength of 10 points from Jake Sambuchino, led 19-15 in the second quarter, but Exeter closed the half on a 7-0 run to take a 22-19 lead.
“A lot of people didn’t expect us to make it this far,” Lofton said. “We worked really hard in practice, are close off the court, and listened well to coach.”
Garvin led Exeter with 14 points, while Dauble had nine and Zyion Paschall eight.
Pickens had 16 points for Prep, while Sambuchino had 13 and Lofton 10.
With the win, Exeter advances to play Imhotep Charter, a 72-50 winner over Archbishop Ryan, in the state title game on Friday at 8 p.m. at the GIANT Center.
“I can’t really put it into words, how much I love this group, especially my seven seniors,” Piotrowicz. “They’re my first graduating class and a lot of them were on the state championship team two years ago. This is the first Prep team to win 24 games in the last 19 years. This crew accomplished a lot. Ultimately, we didn’t get where we wanted, but sometimes that’s life. You just try to appreciate the journey. I’m very appreciative for everything they’ve done for this program.”
EXETER 51, CATHEDRAL PREP 47
Score By Quarters
Cathedral Prep 7 12 9 19 – 47
Exeter 9 13 13 16 – 51
Cathedral Prep – 47
Zion Barksdale 1 0-1 3, Jake Sambuchino 4 5-6 13, Tavion Spencer 2 1-5 5, Amaree Pickens 6 3-4 16, Semontae Lofton 5 0-0 10, Sam Spence 0 0-0 0, Mohamed Rahama 0 0-0 0, RJ Roberts 0 0-0 0, Spencer Kanne 0 0-0 0, Totals 18 9-16 47
Exeter – 51
Zyion Paschall 4 0-0 8, Alex Kelsey 2 3-4 7, Kevin Saenz 1 4-6 6, Reece Garvin 5 1-4 14, Anthony Caccese 3 1-2 7, Aidan Dauble 4 1-1 9, Teddy Snyder 0 0-0 0, Totals 19 10-17 51
Three-pointers: Cathedral Prep 2 (Barksdale, Pickens); Exeter 3 (Garvin 3).
