CLARION, Pa. – For 3 ½ quarters it looked like the PIAA Class 1A second-round game between Elk County Catholic and Union (New Castle) would come down to whether Lance O’Neill or Lucas Stanley would have the ball last.
O’Neill had the final opportunity, but his 3-pointer at the buzzer went off the back of the rim and Union held on for a 64-62 victory.
“We didn’t guard the three very well, and they made shots,” ECC coach Aaron Straub said. “We didn’t get many shots down the stretch. And they made some off-balance shots and they deserved to win.”
With Union leading, 63-59, with less than 20 seconds to play, Chase Simbeck knocked down a three from the top of the key to pull the Crusaders within one, 63-62. ECC fouled Stanley who was 4-4 from the line to that point.
Stanley missed the first but hit the second to make it a 2-point game. O’Neill brought the ball up for ECC and a behind-the-back dribble gave him space to operate. O’Neill got an open shot from the top of the key, but it went off the back of the rim as time expired.
“We had a shot to win, and that would have been a nice story,” Straub said. “I’m proud of the kids, proud of the way they battled. I thought we played really hard.”
O’Neill stepped up offensively after Wil Wortman, who scored 34 points in the Crusaders’ win over Monessen, was injured in the first quarter. He had 17 points in the first half on his way to a career-high 33 points. O’Neill scored 26 points in a win over DuBois on Dec. 19, 2023.
The Crusaders also lost leading-scorer Jordan Wasko early in the third quarter to injury.
“I think, considering the circumstances, we played it really hard,” Straub said.”It’s tough to adjust when you lose two premier players.”
O’Neill knocked down the first of his three 3-pointers just past the midpoint of the first quarter to tie it at 8-8. The Scotties answered with a 10-2 run to close the quarter, capped by Grayson Blakely’s three at the buzzer, and led 18-10 going into the second.
The Crusaders went on an 11-4 run in the second to get within a point, 22-21, but Stanley responded with a pair of threes to push Union’s lead back to seven, 28-21. It was the biggest lead either team would have for the rest of the game.
ECC went on a 7-0 run to take a 29-28 lead and sent Stanley to the bench with his third personal foul with just under three minutes to play in the half. Simbeck knocked down a triple to put the Crusaders in front, 32-30. Mike Gunn’s reverse layup late in the half sent the teams to their locker rooms tied at 32-32.
O’Neill completed a traditional 3-point play to put ECC in front, 39-35, midway through the third quarter. Stanley hit a three, then went 2-2 from the line to put the Scotties back in front, 40-39, with just under three minutes to play in the third.
O’Neill matched Stanley’s 5-0 run with five straight of his own as the Crusaders regained a 4-point lead, 44-40.
Stanley knocked down a pair of free throws with five seconds left in the third to tie it at 44-44. O’Neill took the inbound and went coast to coast for a layup at the buzzer that gave ECC a 46-44 lead going to the fourth.
ECC scored the first bucket of the fourth, but Stanley’s step-back three tied it at 48-48 a little over a minute into the quarter. An O’Neill bucket put ECC in front, 54-52, at the midpoint of the quarter.
Braylon Thomas hit a 3-pointer with 3:41 to play to put the Scotties ahead, 55-54. Thomas connected on two more field goals down the stretch to put Union in front, 61-56.
Simbeck completed a 3-point play to trim the lead to 61-58 and set up the final dramatics.
Simbeck also had a career-high with 17 points, 10 coming in the fourth quarter.
Stanley led Union with 24 points. Thomas scored 13 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter.
Union will take on Bishop Carroll, a 71-70 overtime winner over Neighborhood Academy, in the quarterfinals on Friday at a site and time to be announced.
