MEADVILLE, Pa. – No. 4 seed Cambridge Springs held a double-digit lead the entire second half, pulling away for a 68-38 win over fifth-seeded Eisenhower to advance to the semifinals.
Parker Schmidt scored 12 of his game-high 21 points in the second half for the Blue Devils, and he talked about the win afterward.
Cambridge Springs’ defense played a big role in the win, as they held Eisenhower’s top two scorers, Wyatt Lookenhouse and Curt Darling to five points each.
“Defensively this time we changed a lot of things up,” said Cambridge Springs coach Becky Leandro. “Curt Darling and Wyatt Lookenhouse are great players and we went with a triangle-and-two on them and stopped them and did a nice job on them. That was a big difference.”
Eisenhower led just once in the game, 5-4, on a Kael Hunt 3-pointer early in the first quarter, which was followed by a 12-1 Cambridge Springs run capped by a three from Ethan Counasse.
Eisenhower got within six, 21-15 on a Curt Darling triple with 3:27 to before halftime, but the Blue Devils went on another run, this one a 10-3 spurt to close the half to make it 31-18.
Kris Bunk cut the lead to 10, 31-21, with a 3-point play to open the second half, but Cambridge Springs rattled off the next nine points to extend the lead to 21 on first-year coach Ryan Mangini’s squad.
“I think our guys were nervous, for sure,” Mangini said. “We went to a box-and-one and they were able to get too many offensive rebounds out of that. That was the difference in the first half.
“I thought this season was a stepping stone for the guys coming back. I told the seniors I was proud of them, the way they stepped up and the leaders that they were this year.”
Nathan Held and Ethan Counasse were also in double figures for Cambridge Springs with 16 and 13 points, while Josh Reisnauer added nine.
Hunt led Eisenhower with 11 points, while Bunk added nine and Kyler Black six.
“It was huge to get out to a nice little lead, because the longer you let a team hang around and stick with you the more confidence they can build and they believe they can beat you,” added Leandro.
Cambridge Springs assured itself of a state playoff berth with the win (Class 2A takes four teams to the PIAA tournament) and will face No. 1 seed Kennedy Catholic in the semifinals on Tuesday (March 1).
(1) KENNEDY CATHOLIC 77, (8) COCHRANTON 50
FARRELL, Pa. – Malik Lampkins-Rudolph erupted for 37 points as top-seeded Kennedy Catholic powered past Cochranton, 77-50.
Cochranton actually led late in the first quarter, 15-14, but that proved to be short-lived, as the Golden Eagles went on a 33-8 run to close the half.
Senior classmates Elijah Harden and Gio Magestro were also in double figures for the Golden Eagle with 16 and 11 points, respectively.
Cochranton put three players in double figures, led by Chase Miller’s 15 points. Landon Homa added 13 points and Wyatt Barzak 10 for the Cardinals.
(2) ROCKY GROVE 51, (7) MERCER 44
OIL CITY, Pa. – Rocky Grove went on a 17-2 run to rally past upset-minded Mercer.
D’Andre Whitman came up huge for the Orioles, scoring nine of his 12 points in the fourth quarter.
Mercer limited Rocky Grove 1,000-point scorer Isaac Clayton to just three points on the night, but Brett Stevenson (14 points) and Reece Henderson (12 points) both came up big for the Orioles as well.
Mercer led 42-34 with four minutes to go before the Rocky Grove rally.
Jake Mattocks scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half to lead Mercer, while Woody Nickel had nine of his 12 points in the first half.
With the win, Rocky Grove advances to play No. 6 seed West Middlesex in the semifinals.
(6) WEST MIDDLESEX 73, (3) SAEGERTOWN 58
FARRELL, Pa. – West Middlesex jumped out to an early double-digit lead and never looked back in a 73-58 win over No. 3 seed and Region 2 champion Saegertown.
Richie Preston had a big game for the Big Reds, pouring in a game-high 21 points
Saegertown got the lead down to eight in the second half, but Preston, Tanner Shick (17 points), Gio Rococi (14 points) and Luke Mild (11 points) didn’t allow the Panthers to make a serious push.
Brady Greco and Jaden Wilkins had 14 points each for Saegertown.
