The Herald, Sharon,
PA Published Tuesday, Feb. 18, 1997

WINTER SPORTS Boys basketball

Eagles 60
Hornets 58

Grove City nips Hickory on late hoop

* * *

Jenny's basket gives Eagles top seed in playoffs

By Ed Farrell
Herald Sports Writer

Two-point-nine seconds. Think about it: One, one thousand ... two, one thousand ... three, one thou...

In less time than it takes to catch one's breath, dreams can be realized or shattered.

With 2.9 seconds remaining Monday evening, the Hickory boys' basketball team was on the verge of clinching the Mercer County Athletic Conference's Class AAA top seed for the upcoming District 10 playoffs. But in basketball, 2.9 seconds, sometimes, can last a lifetime.

Grove City's Seth Jenny drilled a 3-point field goal from the left wing as time expired, enabling the Eagles to edge Hickory, 60-58, at Sharon High School.

By virtue of the victory, Grove City (21-4) will meet Titusville, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Sharon. Hickory, however, will draw defending PIAA Western Regional finalist Franklin (20-4), at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, at Oil City.

``I thought some big plays were made at both ends of the court,'' Grove City head coach Don Fee assessed. ``Give Hickory a lot of credit, they made some big plays. We were lucky enough to make the last one.''

Ironcially, Jenny, who tossed in a trio of treys during the decisive fourth frame, was not the first option on the final inbounds play.

``We were lookin' for a lob inside (to 6-foot-6 Amos Upshaw),'' Fee explained. ``We wanted to send Jenny to the corner, cause we thought, maybe, his man would help down (low), and that's what happened. (Hickory's Brad) Bell helped down on our big guys inside, trying to take away the lob, and that broke Seth. And it was a good read on Matt Nikoloff's part, to catch him in the corner, and (Jenny) delivered the shot.

``You gotta have kids that make plays. They can make you look awful good, sometimes on paper, but the kids make the plays, and that was a huge one.''

Huge both ways.

``Our kids played hard. It's just a shame it had to come down to that,'' Hickory head coach Bill Dzuricsko lamented. ``It's a credit to Jenny to be able to hit that shot.''

A series of spurts by both clubs led to the final seconds.

With Geoff Evans turning in 4-for-5 marksmanship, including a trio of treys, and Bell contributing 3-for-5 shooting, including a 3, Hickory sprinted to an 18-9 lead after the first frame.

A Justin Dancak drive at the outset of the second stanza increased the Hornets' lead to 20-9, and Mike Tookey's put-back with 2:53 remaining until halftime enabled Hickory to maintain a 27-20 margin. Grove City, however, embarked on an 11-6 spree, keyed by Upshaw's six points, to draw within 33-31 at intermission.

Grove City commenced the second half outscoring Hickory 10-3, culminating in Rob Hill's lay-in at the 4:35 mark, which provided the Eagles with a 41-36 lead. Hill's 4-for-4 shooting during the period offset seven Dancak points, including a trey with 53 seconds left in the quarter, and Grove City remained on top, 47-44, entering the final frame.

A pair of Evans' baskets _ beating a triple-team down low and draining a 3 _ sandwiched a Jenny trifecta with 5:07 to play; then Dancak's drive and subsequent free throw afforded Hickory a 54-50 bulge at the 4:03 mark. But Upshaw stuck a jumper from the wing and rebounded his own miss to knot the count at 54 with 2:46 left. Dancak's drive 18 seconds later, however, gave Hickory a 56-54 lead.

Following a Grove City timeout with 1:50 remaining, Jenny connected on a trey for a 57-56 Eagles' edge. Dancak, however, banked in a layup over Upshaw's outstretched arm to regain Hickory's lead (58-57) with 53.8 seconds left.

The Hornets regained possession with approximately 18 seconds to play but failed to take care of the ball, as an outlet pass skimmed through two pairs of hands, enabling Grove City to regain possession with 15.5 seconds remaining. After a timeout, Nikoloff attempted to drive the baseline, but was stripped of the ball by Evans, prompting another Grove City timeout.

Dzuricsko and his assistants implored the Hornets _ who had fouls to give before Grove City reached the bonus free-throw situation _ to commit a foul away from the ball to cut into the remaining 2.9 seconds, but the strategy never materialized.

``We knew they were gonna lob to Upshaw,'' Dzuricsko explained, ``so we put Geoff Evans on Upshaw and put Aaren Smoot on the ball to try to distract the lob. I'm not sure if there was a pick and we just miscommunicated, didn't switch, or if we were helping on the lob and were just a little slow to react. But, somehow, we left Jenny open and, to his credit, he was able to knock it down.''

Hickory's resiliency will be tested with a daunting, first-round opponent.

``We played Franklin earlier in the season, but that was on our home court, and we were able to beat 'em there,'' Dzuricsko recalled. ``It's gonna be just as tough, if not tougher, up at Oil City. It's gonna be a challenge.

``Our kids should have the confidence, at this point, to realize that we can do it. If we're upset by the fact that Grove City beat us and want to try and get a rematch, then that's in our hands, our destiny's in our hands to try to get, hopefully, back to a District 10 final.''

``I think we have a better draw, but I think Titusville's playing much better,'' Fee began, though admitting, ``But I'd much rather play them, than Franklin. Franklin's a good ballclub ... and I'd much rather play Titusville here, than Franklin at Oil City.

``And we want momentum,'' Fee continued. ``They (the Hornets) gotta be pretty low over there. It's gonna be tough to bounce back from a big game like that, when you lose like that at the buzzer; it's gonna be tough to bounce back and play well. It's takes a lot of character for kids, so it's gonna be tougher for them, probably, to do it, than us, I mean, psychologically.

``But we've gotta take care of business, too,'' Fee emphasized. ``We can't let up and think it's gonna be easy on Thursday, 'cause it won't.''


Notes: Grove City connected on 26 of 46 (56.5 percent) floor shots and 4 of 10 free throws, compared with respective totals of 22 of 50 (44 percent) and 6 of 7 (85.7) for Hickory ... the Hornets outrebounded Grove City, 28-25, led by Marc Tiberia's eight caroms, while Upshaw hauled in nine rebounds ... each team was guilty of nine turnovers ... Evans' 21 points boosted his career mark to 1,940, 42 behind the county's all-time leader, Sharpsville's Brian Brush.
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