OIL CITY, Pa. – For the second time in as many days a No. 1 seed in District 10 got pushed to the brink – but came out on top.
A day after No. 1 Warren outlasted No. 8 Slippery Rock in three overtimes in the Class 4A quarterfinals, No. 8 Mercyhurst Prep did the same to No. 1 Franklin in Class 3A, with the Knights ultimately coming out on top of a 71-68 overtime decision.
The defending D10 champion Knights showed their championship pedigree, withstanding a Mercyhurst Prep comeback that saw the Lakers (10-13) rally from a 36-21 halftime deficit. In fact, the Lakers trailed by as many as 21.
Damon Curry, who finished with 18 points, knocked down a big 3 in overtime for Franklin, while the Knights did just enough from the free-throw line, going 8-of-14 to close out the win. Curry, a junior, now has 999 career points.
Gino Barretta gave Mercyhurst a 56-55 lead on a shot with 30 seconds to go, with Curry knocking down 1-of-2 from the line with six seconds left to force OT.
Cole Buckley helped stake Franklin to the early lead, scoring 10 of his game-high 23 points in the first quarter, while Jalen Wood scored 10 of his 17 points in the first half.
Mercyhurst Prep knocked down four 3s in the third quarter, including a pair from Tanner Ashton to get back within 11.
The Lakers went on to outscore the Knights 18-7 in the fourth quarter to force overtime, including six points from David Bahm, another 3 from Ashton, and five points from Gino Barretta.
Justin Pasko led the Lakers with 13 points, while Ashton had 12 and Bahm and Maddox Brzuz 11 each.
With the win, Franklin moves on to play No. 4 Fairview, a 59-46 winner over Greenville, in the semifinals.
(3) OIL CITY 68, (6) NORTH EAST 37
MEADVILLE, Pa. – Oil City looked every bit the part of a D10 title contender, racing out to a 24-8 lead after the first quarter and never looking back in a 68-37 quarterfinal win over North East.
Cam VanWormer, Jake Hornbeck, and Ethen Knox combined for 53 of the Oilers’ 68 points, with VanWormer scoring 21 and Hornbeck and Knox 16 each.
“That was the game plan,” Hornbeck, who also pulled down 13 rebounds, said. “We wanted to push the ball up the floor and get it done. We made our layups in the first half. Second half we started off a little bit slow but we got it going.”
See Hornbeck’s full interview:
Knox got to the free-throw line 15 times, converting 10, while the Oilers (18-5) were 22-of-27 as a team.
Hornbeck knocked down a pair of 3s and VanWormer scored 11 of his points in the first half. A Gavin Stephens bucket gave Oil City its biggest lead of the half at 20, 30-10, before taking a 38-19 lead into the locker room.
“We wanted to get the ball up the floor,” Fulmer said. “We thought we could beat them in transition and we were able to do that and get some easy looks early on.”
The Oilers began the second half on a 10-2 run to essentially put the game to bed, as Sayyid Donald also added eight points.
Noah Crozier led North East (14-9) with 10 points, while Owen Kemp added seven.
“We knew that they had a lot of good scorers out there, some young guys too, we focus on starting on defense and turning it into offense,” Hornbeck said.
The Oilers, who were in the 4A title game a year ago, now get No. 7 seed Seneca, a 42-38 winner over No. 2 Girard, in the semifinals on Tuesday.
“It’s what we wanted,” Fulmer said. “We knew it was a one-game season going into tonight and now it becomes guaranteed at least two more. Our focus now is on Seneca.
(7) SENECA 42, (2) GIRARD 38
ERIE, Pa. – Logan Kibbe scored 19 points as No. 7 Seneca upset No. 2 Girard, 42-38.
Kibbe drained a 3 with five minutes to go to give Seneca a 38-33, and the Bobcats were able to hold off the Yellow Jackets from there.
Seneca led by as many as eight, 20-12 in the second quarter, but the game was mostly played within a tight window throughout.
Lucas Rupp had 14 points for Seneca, as he and Kibbe combined for 33 of Seneca’s 42 points.
Geremia Dell’omo led Girard with 11 points, while Nate Edwards had eight.
Seneca will meet Oil City in the semifinals on Tuesday.
(4) FAIRVIEW 59, (5) GREENVILLE 46
ERIE, Pa. – Jeremy Fazao poured in 21 points as Fairview earned a 59-46 quarterfinal win over Greenville.
Leading 25-22 at halftime, the Tigers (16-7) outscored the Trojans (14-9) 34-24 in the second half, thanks in large part to Frazao, who pumped in 11 points in the third quarter, including three triples.
John Seyboldt was hot in the first half for Fairview, scoring 12 of his 16 points, while Archie Murphey had 12 points for the defending D10 4A champions.
Mason Vannoy knocked down four 3s on his way to a team-high 16 points for Greenville.
Noah Philson had nine points and Logan Lentz eight for the Trojans.
Fairview advances to play top seed Franklin in the semifinals.
CLASS 1A QUARTERFINAL
(4) ROCKY GROVE 51, (5) COCHRANTON 48, OT
OIL CITY, Pa. – D’Andre Whitman scored 19 points as No. 4 Rocky Grove outlasted No. 5 Cochranton 51-48 in overtime in their quarterfinal matchup.
With the win, Rocky Grove (11-12) advances to play No. 1 Farrell in the semifinals.
Rocky Grove fell behind 9-0 early and trailed 18-11 at halftime before rallying to force overtime.
Whitman scored six of his 19 points in overtime to help power the Orioles and also made 3-of-4 free throws at the end of regulation to help force overtime.
Quinn Ritchey had 14 points for the Orioles, while Evan Wolfgong and Schiffer Anderson added seven each.
Walker Carroll had 14 points for Cochranton (9-14), while Chase Miller had 13 and Landon Homa 11.
CLASS 2A QUARTERFINALS
(4) EISENHOWER 71, (5) SAEGERTOWN 65
EDINBORO, Pa. – Three was the theme as Eisenhower and Saegertown met in a District 10 Class 2A quarterfinal.
It was the third time the teams met this season, and the teams combined to hit 22 3-pointers in the game. In the end, the Knights earned their third win over the Panthers, 71-65, to advance to the semifinals.
Watch the highlights:
Eisenhower’s Wyatt Lookenhouse saved his best for last, as he scored 15 of his game-high 37 points in the fourth quarter to help the Knights put the game away.
Saegertown’s Brady Greco got the 3-point party started, knocking down a pair in the opening minutes of the game to help the Panthers get out to an 8-4 lead. The Knights kept the score close throughout the frame, but a Colin Jones put back at the buzzer gave Saegertown a 16-13 edge after one.
Lookenhouse and Johnny Palmieri got hot in the second quarter. Palmieri hit back-to-back threes to give the Knights a 22-19 lead three minutes into the quarter.
“When I saw that they were running a zone I figured that it would probably be a three point shootout,” Palmieri said. “And we run it through three ourselves.”
See Palmieri’s full interview:
Lookenhouse hit his first with just under three minutes to play, then added two more in the next 90 seconds to extend the Knights’ lead to 31-26. Lookenhouse hit a 2-point field goal for good measure before the end of the half to make it 33-26.
“I got a couple to go in and I was on fire from there,” Lookenhouse said.
See Lookenhouse’s full interview:
Zach Yoder got in on the action in the third quarter with a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 38-34. He knocked down two more in the frame, while Palmieri hit his fifth of the game, to keep the Knights’ lead at four, 47-43, going into the fourth quarter.
Greco and Cody Huson hit back-to-back threes to start the fourth quarter and put Saegertown in front, 49-47. Lookenhouse and Palmieri answered with threes of their own to help the Knights retake the lead with 4:24 to play.
A Greco 3-pointer with 43 seconds left cut the lead to 67-63, but the Panthers got no closer as the Knights did just enough from the free throw line down the stretch to win and advance.
Greco had a team–high 20 points for Saegertown. Huson added 17 and Yoder finished with 14.
Palmieri was the only other Knight in double figures, finishing with 18 points all by way of 3-pointers. Kael Hunt added eight points in the win.
Saegertown connected on 10 total 3-pointers, four each from Greco and Yoder, puls two from Huson.
Lookenhouse and Palmieri each knocked down six from beyond the arc.
Eisenhower will face Mercer in the semifinals on Tuesday at a time and location to be announced.
(2) CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS 52, (7) LAKEVIEW 31
MEADVILLE, Pa. – Trailing at halftime, No. 2 Cambridge Springs put together a dominant third quarter on its way to a 52-31 quarterfinal win over Lakeview.
Trailing 19-16 at halftime, the Blue Devils (18-5) outscored the Sailors 25-6 in the third quarter to take a 41-25 lead.
Josh Reienauer and Ethan Counasse led the way for Cambridge Springs, scoring 20 and 17 points, respectively.
“She (head coach Becky Leandro) noticed that we were being a little tentative on the court and not going strong to the hole,” Counasse said. “We started taking it to them and really turned the game around.”
See Counasse’s full interview:
The run began with a Brady Campell 3, and featured a whole lof of steals that led to easy transition opportunities for Reisenauer and Counasse.
In fact, that’s how they got their next two buckeyes after Campell’s triple. Campbell then followed with another triple and two more buckets from Reisenauer and Counasse made it 32-21 before Lakeview’s Lucas Fagley stopped the bleeding with a free throw.
Lakeview’s Owen Dye got the lead back into single digits with a free-throw with 1:35 left in the quarter, but Counasse followed with an old-school 3-point play to make it 37-25.
The lead never dipped below double digits the rest of the game, as the Blue Devils limited the Sailors (12-11) to just 12 second-half points.
“I don’t think we made any adjustments,” Leandro said. “I think in the first half we were a bit nervous, a bit scared to make a mistake and nobody wanted to take that step. Our style of basketball is push, push, push and we were doing a lot of watching.
“They (Lakeview) slowed the game down, which is exactly what they needed to do to stop us. I told the kids that not our style of ball. We are up in their face, and that’s what happened in the second half.”
Reisenauer scored eight more points in the fourth quarter for good measure, including another easy transition bucket off a steal
“We are spurred by our defense,” Leandro said. “Once we get our defense going, our offense seems to follow suit.”
Parker Schmidt added seven points for Cambridge.
Cam Pence, who knocked down a pair of first-half 3s for Lakeview, led the Sailors with 11 points, while Fagley finished with 10.
With the win, Cambridge Springs advances to play No. 3 Erie First Christian, a 49-29 winner over Sharpsville, in the semifinals on Tuesday.
(1) MERCER 68, (8) WEST MIDDLESEX 33
FARRELL, Pa. – Jake Mattocks poured in 23 points as No. 1 Mercer took care of business, 68-33 against West Middlesex for its first playoff win since 2003.
With the game tied at 11 after the first quarter, the Mustangs went on an 18-5 run in the second quarter to take a 13-point halftime lead, which ballooned to 51-25 advantage after three quarters.
Daemyin Mattocks was also in double figures for Mercer (19-4) with 13 points, while Cole Cunningham added nine.
Richie Preston led West Middlesex (11-12) with 15 points.
Mercer will now face No. 4 Eisenhower in the semifinals on Tuesday.
(3) ERIE FIRST CHRISTIAN 49, (6) SHARPSVILLE 29
EDINBORO, Pa. – Erie First Christian raced out to a big lead and never let up in a 49-29 win over Sharpsville in their District 10 Class 2A quarterfinal.
Avery Collins and Jesse Jong combined to score 31 of the Eagles’ 49 points as the Blue Devils were unable to contain EFC’s explosive offense.
Collins scored nine of his game-high 16 points in the first quarter to help the Eagles get out to an 18-5 lead through the first eight minutes.
Sharpsville actually outscored Erie First in the second quarter, but only by two, 7-5, and the Eagles still led by double digits, 23-12 at the half.
Jong came alive in the third quarter as he poured in nine of his 15 points in the frame pushing the Eagles’ advantage to 41-22 heading to the fourth quarter.
Garen Levis led the Blue Devils with 12 points.
Erie First will face Cambridge Springs in the district semifinals on Tuesday at at time and location to be announced.
