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Technical Foul Helps Spark Brookville Comeback Win Over Chestnut Ridge in D5-9 Boys’ Subregional

Jace Miner of Brookville Photo by Jared Bakaysa of JB Graphics. See more of Bakaysa's work here

BROOKVILLE, Pa. – With Brookville’s season appearing to be slipping away late in the third quarter, a couple of technical fouls changed everything, and the Raiders went on to beat visiting Chestnut Ridge 68-58 in the District 5/9 Class 3A Subregional Championship game Wednesday night.

While Chestnut Ridge’s Matt Whysong was toeing the line for the second of two technical foul free throws that end up putting the Lions up 41-31 at the 1:53 mark of the third quarter, Brookville head coach Dalton Park pointed out to one of the officials that the Lions had four players on the court.

That’s not a penalty – you can play with less than five.

What was deemed illegal was the Lions Lucas Nicodemus entering the court without being beckoned on by an official meaning a technical foul was accessed to Nicodemus along with his fourth personal foul.

Now instead of getting the basketball up 10 with a chance to push the lead to 12 or 13, Chestnut Ridge watched Brookville’s Danny Lauer hit two free throws, the Raiders get possession of the basketball, and Jace Miner scored a layup to make it a six-point game, 41-35.

                                      

The double technical foul sequence was the much-talked-about part of the game afterward and with good reason considering momentum swung dramatically to the Raiders’ side after the call.

Brookville’s Miner was whistled for the first technical when he reacted to a no-call on a contested drive to the basket.

Between Whysong’s free throws, the Lions received the technical foul for Nicodemus re-entering the court.

Chesnut Ridge head coach Don Ellis was upset about the technical on Nicodemus.

“It changed the momentum of the game,” Ellis said. “It was a terrible call, a call that wasn’t needed. It was a call the other coach complained about and they were out there for 10 minutes. Both referees and the scorer’s table said both kids could go into the game. And that was the interpretation from our players.

                          

“We’re not sure what happened. (The officials) had a meeting out there and we had to live with it. I was very unhappy with it and that was the only thing I was unhappy about the whole game. It just knocked the wind right of us. … They should’ve had a referee at the scorer’s table, but there wasn’t. They told Matt (Whysong) to go in and Lucas (Nicodemus) to go in and then the next thing I know we’re going to get a technical.”

Video of the play shows Whysong and Nicodemus at the table waiting to check in as the referee made the technical foul call on Miner.

The referee can be seen telling both players to sit down so the scorer’s table could see the call.

At that point, the video, part of the live broadcast from D9and10Sports.com, pans away to another referee who appears to approach the first referee for some sort of clarification.

The third official then joined the discussion near the foul line.

While that discussion was going on, the video shows Whysong approaching the foul line to shoot the free throws and six Chestnut Ridge players on the court.

One of those players, Logan Pfister, wearing No. 32, is then seen walking off camera presumably to the bench.

At this point, Nicodemus starts to come on to the court and then back away towards the scorer’s table. While he was doing that, Christian Hinson, who was on the court for the Lions, takes a seat leaving Chestnut Ridge with four players on the court.

Whysong then hits the free throw – this is where the below video ends – and Nicodemus steps a foot onto the court promoting Park to alert the official. After another discussion, the technical foul is accessed on Nicodemus.

Watch the sequence unfold

                                   

The wind was definitely knocked out of Chestnut Ridge, while Brookville gained all kinds of momentum after the technical fouls going on a 17-3 run that put the Raiders up, 48-44, just under two minutes into the fourth quarter. It was a lead Brookville never relinquished.

While Miner wasn’t happy to have committed his technical foul, he believed it might have sparked his team.

“I don’t come in wanting a technical,” Miner said. “I really do feel that brought a lot of energy to us. It kind of woke us up in the second half afterward. Seeing them get a technical kind of brought a little oorah to us. I feel like the energy level after that was a huge helpful thing. Was that the way I wanted to get the energy? No. But, luckily that is how it went.”

Park, Miner’s coach, wasn’t real happy with the no-call on Miner’s drive to the basket that eventually led the Raiders’ senior getting hit with the technical.

“I’m not 100 percent sure what all went down and whatever happened there,” Park said of the technical foul call. “The kid went on the floor without being called, if that was what the technical was for.”

While Miner thought it brought energy to Brookville, Park focused more on what the Raiders did after the technical fouls praising his team’s ability to turn up the defensive pressure when it was needed most. His adjustment late to a man-to-man press was a key move.

“All night long I was trying to press full court, through a 1-2-2 three-quarter or a 1-2 half (court), a full-court diamond-and-one, and a full-court 1-3 that was very aggressive,” Park said. “Nothing seemed to work, and just when it seemed to work (Matt Whysong) would split us.

“After the technical, we started going full man and got the turnovers quick. That ignited them.”

While the defense was ratcheting up the pressure, Miner took over on offense and was unstoppable, slashing and driving his way to 16 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter.

That included a span that saw him score 10 straight points for Brookville taking a 42-41 lead and turning into a 52-46 advantage.

“I started seeing things a lot better than I was the whole game and noticed my team needed me,” Miner said. “At that point, I went into a different mindset and decided we are going to ride or die by this. This is going to be my last game and I don’t want it to be my last game.”

Watch Miner’s postgame interview

                                  

After Miner’s personal run gave the Raiders the six-point lead, Robert Keth had an exclamation point on what was now a 24-6 run when he nailed a wide-open 3-pointer from the right side with 4:59 to play that had the bench, especially junior reserve Jamison Rhoades, pumped up, to say the least.

Watch the 3-pointer from Keth, the gave Brookville a 55-47 lead, and the reaction from Rhoades, No. 20 on the bench.

After freshman Nate Whysong answered with a triple of his own to get Chestnut Ridge back within five, 55-50, Brookville scored 11 of the next 15 points to go ahead 12, 66-54, after Griffin Ruhlman hit two free throws.

The foul that sent Ruhlman to the line with 2:04 to play, also saw Ellis docked with a technical foul.

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“I feel good because we did play our best basketball (and won) and we probably played a little down,” Park said. “But the heart, I thought the kids had the heart that was needed and we made a couple of adjustments late in the game I thought were very beneficial to helping us move ahead.

“So when you don’t play your best basketball and you’re down nine or 10 points and find a way to come back with heart, you have a good team, a bunch of kids of kids who want to play and play together and give you what it takes. I’m really happy with that. You can’t ask for anything more.”

Watch part of Park’s postgame interview

Miner added 11 rebounds while also going over 900 career points and now standing at 921. He was 12-for-19 from the floor, making his final nine shots from the floor to end the game. After he was called for his technical, Miner scored 15 of his team’s next 21 points including the stretch of 10 straight in the fourth that gave the Raiders the 52-46 lead with 5:25 left.

“I thought we were good the whole game and (the technical) changed the momentum of the game and the defense got the spark they needed and we have to live with it,” the Lions’ Ellis said. “They got the momentum, picked their defense up and we started playing more one-on-one, didn’t pass and cut and sort of went into a daze after the technicals.

“I’m proud of our kids. They fought their rear-ends off and that’s a tough team over there. (Miner), once he started to get into the paint, he was just too quick for us. He’s a super athlete, one of the quickest kids I’ve seen on a basketball court so he deserves a lot of credit and their team deserves credit.”

Ruhlman and Keth scored 13 and 12 points respectively with Keth pulling down eight rebounds.

Whysong, a junior, played well for Chestnut Ridge, scoring a team-high 24 points while his freshman brother Nate finished with 14 points. Luke Mickle scored 10 points.

Next up for the 21-2 Raiders is a trip to the PIAA quarterfinals at WPIAL champion Ellwood City on Saturday at 1 p.m. The winner hosts a state semifinal game next Tuesday against Saturday’s winner between Franklin and Bishop Guilfoyle.

A-C Valley, Brockway, Brookville, Clarion, Clarion-Limestone, DuBois, DCC, Keystone, North Clarion, Redbank Valley, and Union recaps are powered by Computer Support in Clarion.

BROOKVILLE 68, CHESTNUT RIDGE 58

Score By Quarters

Chestnut Ridge 13 15 13 17 – 58
Brookville 11 17 12 28 – 68

Chestnut Ridge – 58

Lucas Nicodemus 1 0-0 2, Matt Whysong 7 8-12, Nate Whysong 4 5-7 14, Luke Mickle 4 2-2 10, Logan Pfister 3 0-0 6, Christian Hinson 0 0-0 0, Hayden Little 0 2-2 2. Totals: 19 17-23 58.

Brookville – 68

Ian Pete 0 0-0 0, Hunter Geer 4 0-0 8, Danny Lauer 2 2-2 8, Griffin Ruhlman 3 7-10 13, Jace Miner 12 3-11 27, Robert Keth 3 5-7 12, Garner McMaster 0 0-0 0. Totals: 24 16-29 68.

Three-pointers: Chestnut Ridge 3 (M. Whysong 2, N. Whysong), Brookville 4 (Keth 2, Lauer 2).

                       

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