By Jeff Richards

BOYS BASKETBALL

McConnellsburg 38, Sewickley Academy 49.  On March 14 at the University of Pitt-Johnstown Sports Center’s Rich Ragan Family Court, the top-ranked District 5 McConnellsburg Spartans—ranked #6 in Class 2A in PA by MaxPreps—competed in their third state playoff game of the season and made their first ever appearance in an Elite-8 quarter-final. They faced the top-ranked District 7 Sewickley Academy Panthers, a private, college-preparatory school—ranked #1 in 2A in PA by MaxPreps—in the PIAA 2A basketball championship playoffs.  

The matchup was a proverbial David vs Goliath type situation.  The Spartans led the first three quarters, but the Panthers narrowed the lead in the third by outscoring 16-12.  But midway in the fourth, Sewickley’s momentum switched and their strong defense continued to stifle the Spartan shooting and rebounding opportunities as they outscored the Spartans 18-5 overall to victory.  With five field goals (three from beyond the arc) and 5 of 8 free throws, the Panthers won by 11 points to advance.  Sewickley (28-1), last year’s PIAA 2A runner up, will play in the semi-final/final four round on March 17 against District 10 No. 1 seed Mercyhurst Prep (21-6) that beat District 7 No. 2 seed Jeannette 59-58.

Coach Josh Lowery reflected on the game and season, “Tonight we played our final game of the season against a powerhouse of a private school out of Pittsburgh, Sewickley Academy.  For a total of 29 minutes, we had them on the ropes, leading through most of the game. We had a game plan for this team that has several committed Division 1 commitments and several D-1 prospects. Many would say we were out of league but for us we were well prepared for this moment and opportunity, and it showed in our prep and play on the court. To say I’m proud of these young men is not merely enough.  These young men handled every aspect of the game exactly like we prepared them for, especially with their twin towers of 6’8’ athletic bigs and hounding guards. Unfortunately, we finished in the losing side of things, but this group will always be winners!  We established a lot of great history this season and raised the bar. But most importantly they know exactly who we are now and can no longer take us lightly. District 5, small town, and Fulton County Proud. Until next year, we’ll be ready again!”

The Spartans took first possession as the Sewickley Mamadou Kane interfered with Brayden Ramsey’s attempt at the center-court jump ball.  Next, the Spartans took the first lead when Ramsey found Jace Fletcher down low for two.  The Panthers eventual top scorer Drew Steals then hit a deep ball (of his five to the team’s nine) to take their first short lead.  Next, Hoyt Glenn leaped high and rejected Cayton Battles’ layup.  On the return, Shaffer Earley connected for two. The Spartans showed early they can break the (what was a near game-long) press.  Physicality is increasing off the bat as Kane threw two elbows on two Spartans, with no recognition by the district 9 officials, that drew a bloody nose on Earley.  Then Glenn hit two and the Spartans closed the quarter 8-3.  The Panthers shot just 1-14 from the field.

Starting the second quarter, Ramsey dropped a deep three-pointer.  Panther Conner Tull added a trey (his game total).  Then Panther Adam Ikamba got a breakaway dunk (two of his four game points).  But quickly the Spartans work the ball up court to Ramsey for a big three making it 14-8.  Kane hits two free throws.  Ramsey hit a fade-away jumper, it’s now 16-10.  Then Panther Drew Steals hit a three and on the Spartan throw-in they intercept the pass to Earley and Battles made two to bring the gap to one.  Under a few seconds, Earley rebounds a Ramsey three-point attempt, dishes it to Glenn who hits a three at the buzzer, with fan eruption, to make it 21-15 at the break.

To start quarter three, Kane hits two, then Lucas Grimsley’s trey draws the Spartan lead down to one (21-20). Glenn, Ramsey, and Fletcher add two apiece with Kane adding two, with the score 27-22.  Steals hits a three. The Spartans call a time out with three minutes remaining.  After, Kane adds two to tie it at 27, the first tie since early first quarter.  Under a minute, an Earley two-point drive regains the lead.  Then a Steel three gives the Panthers the lead 30-29.  Earley answers again down low with a two and the Spartans regain the lead 31-30.  Next, Panther Adam Ikimba down low was fouled by Hann and made one of two free throws to tie it at 31.  In the last play of the quarter, Jake Hann sinks a short jumper two at the buzzer to regain the lead 33-31.  The Spartans were outscored 16-12.

In the fourth’s first two minutes the Spartans held the lead, but a Battles’ three returned the lead 34-33 to the Panthers.  Then Jake Hann hit two to regain the Spartan lead.  Then Steals hit a three to regain the lead and the Panthers held the lead to the end.  The Spartans were simply cold this quarter, shooting just 2-12 from the field.  Defensively they did not shut down the Panther offense as well as before as they found a shot hitting rhythm, including Battles’ three to take an eight-point lead with 1:30 to go (44-36).  The Spartans were forced to foul and put the Panthers in bonus to foul shooting in attempt to gain quicker possession and close the gap, but the Panthers were largely successful in those attempts.  The buzzer rang and the Spartan long, illustrious season ended. 

The Spartans were led by Brayden Ramsey with 12 points, four assists, three rebounds, one block.  Hoyt Glenn added nine points, four rebounds, seven assists, four steals, two blocks. Shaffer Earley had six points and four rebounds. Jace Fletcher had seven points, four rebounds, two steals.  Jake Hann added four points and pulled six rebounds.

The Spartans finished the season with a stellar, proven record of excellence, composure, reverence, respect, humbleness, hard work, grit, determination, and resilience while achieving 27 wins, only 2 losses (0.931), and winning the District 5 Class 2A and the 20-team, eight-county Intra-County Conference, both for the second straight year.  They won 93 of 116 quarters played (80%) and led 108 quarters (93%).  They scored 1859 points and allowed 1044, averaging 64.1 ppg to opponent’s 36.0 ppg.  This was the Spartan boy’s fourth state basketball championship playoff appearance in program history.  The Spartans advancement to the quarterfinal, elite-eight round was a first in the program’s history.  The 1990-91 Lady Spartans girls basketball team achieved a perfect season under head coach Audrey Hall and assistant coach Dot Doyle, winning the PIAA Class A State Championship with a 66-60 victory over Nativity BVM. 

The Panthers were led by Drew Steals with 20 points and Mamadou Kane added 11.  Though the Panthers did enter the game outscoring Class 2A opponents by 45 ppg and had won their first two PIAA games by 40 and 47 points, the Spartans would be the most challenging by limiting the Panthers to 49 points, 28.5% below their 69 ppg season average.  With a strong Spartan defense, true to their solid season performance, they limited the Panthers to their lowest score this season.  Only four teams lost to Sewickley by 14 or fewer points: with the Spartans the second closest margin.  

MCCONNELLSBURG (38)

Hoyt Glenn 3 2-2 9, Brayden Ramsey 5 0-0 12, Shaffer Earley 3 0-1 6, Jake Hann 2 0-1 4, Jace Fletcher 3 1-2 7, Jett Sipes 0 0-0 0, Karson Washabaugh 0 0-0 0, Totals 16 3-6 38.  3-point goals = 3 (Ramsey 2, Glenn).  Other totals: 22 rebounds (8 off/14 def), 15 assists, 7 steals, 3 blocks, 13 turnovers, 8 fouls, 2FG% 42%, 3FG% 27%, FTM% 50%. 

SEWICKLEY ACAD. (49)

Eric Craciun 0 0-0 0, Mamadou Kane 4 3-4 11, Adam Ikamba 1 2-4 4, Caiden Battles 3 0-0 8, Drew Steals 6 3-4 20, Lucas Grimsley 1 0-0 3, Conner Tull 1 0-0 3, Ja’mere Guyton 0 0-0 0, Amare Spencer 0 0-0 0, Totals 16 8-12 49. 3-point goals: 9 (Steals 5, Battles 2, Grimsley, Tull).  Other ttls: 15 fl, FTM% 67%.

McConnellsburg ….  8    13    12      5   —   38

Sewickley Acad. ….   3    12    16    18   —   49

Notes:  The Spartans shot just six free throws in the game, compared to 16 in the previous outing and a season average of 13 attempts per game.  The Spartan shooting performance struggled in part due to the Sewickley “Twin Towers” of Kane and Ikamba. The Spartans had trouble scoring at the rim, as layups were contested and the Panthers refused to give up space.  Also, the Spartans attempted and made less than half of their average long ball shots: they made just three 3-pointers on 11 attempts vs an average 6.7 made on 21 attempts per game.  The Panthers held the Spartans to 38 points, a 40.7% drop from their 64 ppg season average.  One factor was their nearly game long full-court man defense that limited Glenn’s points by over 50% and Ramsey’s by 29% compared to the previous game.  There were 10 lead changes (6 McC, 4 Sew).