SHARON, Pa. – Fairview has shown all season it is a great defensive team, and nowhere was that more apparent than at Sharon High School on Friday against Lincoln Park in the PIAA Class 4A second round.
Trailing 39-35, the Tigers went on a 10-0 run that began at the very end of the third quarter and extended until under the three-minute mark of the fourth in what was ultimately a 54-51 win over the Leopards.
“These kids compete at the defensive end,” said Fairview coach Pat Flaherty. “They don’t back down from anyone. I mean those three players they (Lincoln Park) have are as good as any three around and our guys were able to lock in, keep them in front, help and make them take tough shots. We knew they had the ability to make tough shots, but I thought defensively and rebounding we did a great job tonight.”
Zach Scott buried a jumper just before the third-quarter horn to start the run, and a key stretch came early in the fourth quarter, beginning with a three-point play from Logan Frazao that put the District 10 champion Tigers (25-2) ahead 40-39. After a stop on the other end, James Sitter came down and buried a corner three to make it a four-point game with 6:08 to play. The Tigers never trailed again.
Sitter talked about the win afterward.
And even when the WPIAL third-place Leopards (18-8) responded with a three-pointer from Brandin Cummings, Fairview had an answer of its own courtesy of Zach Scott’s three-point play with 2:33 to go.
Jeremy Frazao, Sitter, and Zach Scott combined to go 6-of-6 from the free-throw line over the final 23.5 seconds, with Scott nailing the final two after to make it 54-51 with 2.6 seconds to go.
Meleek Thomas’ half-court heave was off the mark, and the celebration was on for the Tigers.
“Zach Scott, I mean really gutty at the end to make those two, which were huge,” Flaherty said. “This group is confident, we’re competitive and they really wanted to win this game.”
The big three Flaherty alluded to were Cummings, LA Pratt, and Maleek Thomas. Pratt, a senior, will be going to Duquesne next year, while Cummings, a sophomore already has offers from the likes of South Carolina, and Thomas, a freshman, has already been offered by Pitt.
Cummings scored a game-high 28 points, but the Tigers held the other two to a combined 10 points.
Cummings was going right from the get-go, burying a first-quarter three to make the score 13-8, but Fairview settled in as the game went on.
A DeAndre Moye layup made it 23-17 Leopards with 33 seconds to go in the half, but the Tigers scored the final four points of the opening 16 minutes to cut it to two, 23-21 at halftime.
“They put so much pressure on us early, it was really hard to run stuff,” Flaherty said. “They were really getting into us with their length and athleticism. But I think once we adjusted to that we were able to get the ball moving a little bit, take care of the ball and get the shots we wanted to get instead of having to speed us up”
Lincoln Park never led by more in the third quarter as the two teams traded buckets until Logan Frazo’s three put the Tigers up 35-34, their first lead of the game with 1:45 to go in the third.
Lincoln Park responded with back-to-back buckets from Moye and Thomas to make it a 39-35, but that’s when the Fairview run began.
“I thought our guard play was great tonight,” Flaherty said. “I thought they handled the pressure. I don’t know how many turnovers we had, but I don’t feel like we turned the ball over at a high rate. I think that was a big key for us.”
With the win, Fairview advances to play WPIAL champion Quaker Valley in the quarterfinals on Tuesday at a site and time to be determined. Quaker Valley (25-0) easily took care of Belle Vernon, the WPIAL fourth-place team, 86-45.
Logan Frazao finished with 23 points, Scott 11, and Sitter 10.
The Tigers went from playoff disappointment a year ago in a D10 quarterfinal loss to Warren to one of the final eight teams in the state this year.
“I can’t put into words what this means for these seniors,” Flaherty said. “They lost last year in the first game of districts. They came in this year wanting to put their mark on the program and be one of the best Fairview teams. I am so happy for them because they’ve gelled into a really good team.”
FAIRVIEW 54, LINCOLN PARK 51
By Quarters
Fairview 11 10 16 17 – 54
Lincoln Park 13 10 16 12 – 41
FAIRVIEW – 54
Jeremy Frazao 0-2-3-2, Logan Frazao 9-4-9-23, Zach Scott 3-5-5-11, Tyler Shultz 3-0-2-6, James Sitter 2-4-4-10, John Seyboldt 1-0-0-2, Totals 18-15-23-54.
LINCOLN PARK – 51
Dontay Green 1-0-0-2, DeAndre Moye 5-0-1-11, LA Pratt 2-0-0-4, Meleek Thomas 3-0-0-6, Brandin Cummings 10-4-6-28, Vinny DePaula 0-0-0-0, Dorian McGhee 0-0-0-0, Totals 21-4-7-51.
Three-pointers: Fairview 3 (Sitter 2, L. Frazao); Lincoln Park 5 (Cummings 4, Moye).
