Published Tuesday, Feb. 18, 1997
Steelers 61
Yellowjackets 59
Farrell tops Freeport on Jones' bucket
* * *
Steelers face New Brighton in WPIAL quarters
By Jeff Greenburg
Herald Assistant Sports Editor
ZELIENOPLE _ It wasn't a state championship, a WPIAL championship or even a section championship.
But after all the adversity Farrell coach Nick Cannone and his Steelers have suffered through this season, Monday night's 61-59 playoff victory over Freeport certainly had to taste as sweet as any of the above.
``Yeah, it was a roller-coaster year for us,'' said Cannone, agreeing with that assessment. ``We had some kids that didn't want to get it done the Farrell way and that's always hard as a coach. And I feel sorry for those kids because that's the last thing you want to do is get rid of a kid or have a kid quit on you.''
Fortunately for Cannone, he had some young players ready to step up. And those Young Guns, led by sophomore sensation Jackson Jones, played as cool as the other side of their pillows Monday, lifting the Steelers (15-9) in the WPIAL Class AA first-round nailbiter at Seneca Valley High School before some 2,000 fans.
Jones, who started the season on the junior varsity squad, nailed a 15-foot baseline jumper as the buzzer sounded to register the game-winning points. Jones pumped in a team-high 14 points and also hit a key 3-pointer to tie the game at 57 with 1:54 remaining, but was only one of three sophomores who stepped up when needed.
Urbie Flint, a sophomore guard, finished with only 7 points, but had a key blocked shot when Freeport (17-5) had a chance to go up by five points late in the fourth quarter and also canned a 22-footer as the first half ended to give Farrell a 34-26 edge.
Another sophomore, guard Brandon Smith, also came up big in the second half, collecting all eight of his points and dishing out the all-important assist to Jones at the end of the game.
``I said at the beginning of the year we had a real good sophomore group and they came through,'' Cannone said. ``I think sophomores don't feel things. The young Flint (Urbie) missed a couple of threes, didn't even hit the rim, then right before the half, BOOM. And then he hit another key basket (at the end of the third quarter).
``And Jackson Jones, he hit the big three to tie it _ we set that play up and he hit it _ you know, Jackson Jones is going to be a big-time player.''
If he isn't already. Jones has averaged nearly 16 points per game during a seven-game stretch in which the Steelers have gone 6-1, the only loss coming at Freeport by a 50-48 margin a week ago.
Also aiding the Steelers' cause were juniors Melvin Gregory and Chris Kucik. Gregory, who tied the game at 59 on a tip-in with 35 ticks remaining, canned 13 points and hauled in 7 rebounds, while Kucik played a steady game, contributing 9 points.
``It's a shame, with our record, that we got matched up with Freeport, because they're a good ballclub,'' Cannone said. ``And it was like a boxing match, with both counterpunching.''
It was the Steelers who landed the first punch Monday night.
218B 2 A stifling fullcourt man-to-man press helped Farrell race out to a 7-0 lead just 1:21 into the game. The press was so effective, in fact, that the Yellow Jackets didn't even get the ball across midcourt until a Rob Stauffer layup at the 6:28 mark broke the ice for Freeport.
``We didn't show press against them the first time,'' Cannone said. ``I wanted to do that to get them out of their halfcourt sets.''
Keyed by the 6-foot-7 Stauffer, who had coaches from four colleges, including Westminster's Ron Galbreath, salivating over him, however, the Yellow Jackets stormed back to tie the game at 7. Stauffer finished with 27 points, 6 rebounds, 5 blocked shots, 4 steals and 3 assists.
But led by Kucik, who scored 5 points, and the only senior starter, Merci Flint, who had 4 of his 8 points, the Steelers went on an 11-0 run and eventually led 20-11 after one quarter.
``They did real well,'' Freeport coach Garrie Davies said of Farrell's defensive pressure. ``They were trapping us and were quicker to the ball than us. And I thought that was a real important point for them.''
Stauffer, however, stayed hot early in the second quarter as the Yellow Jackets closed the gap to 22-19 before a Gregory basket and a thunderous one-handed Jones dunk enabled the Steelers to close the quarter with a 12-7 run _ capped by Flint's buzzer-beater _ to take a 34-26 edge at the intermission.
A Gregory 3-point play at the 6:20 mark of the third quarter pushed Farrell's lead to 40-28 _ its biggest of the game _ but Freeport made another run, eventually taking its first lead at 46-44 on a Casey Crytzer bucket with 1:36 left in the frame. An Urbie Flint deuce at the :58 mark sent the teams into the final frame tied at 46.
The Yellow Jackets, paced by Ken Crytzer, who scored 9 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, eventually moved ahead 55-52 at the 2:59 mark and 57-54 at the 2:13 mark, setting up Farrell's fantastic finish.
Following Gregory's game-tying basket with 35 seconds left, Freeport ran the clock down to :26 before calling a timeout to set up the final shot. But a Farrell trap forced a Freeport player into an ill-timed cross-court pass that sailed off the fingers of a teammate out of bounds with 16.5 seconds left.
``We wanted to trap at the end, because I'll be damned if I was going to sit there and let them get it in to (Stauffer) and us foul him,'' said Cannone. ``So it was a gamble on our part.''
One that certainly paid off.
After a couple of fouls, Farrell took the ball out near Freeport's basket with just under :08 left. Smith pushed it up court to the Steeler free throw line where he found a wide-open Jones on the left baseline for the winner.
``We tried to control the tempo, but they weren't letting us,'' said Davies. ``To their credit they really got out in the passing lanes and played that Farrell defense that I remember back from 1965 when I played at Aliquippa.''
Notes:: Farrell will take on Section 3-AA-A runner-up New Brighton (20-5), which routed Burgettstown 86-52 on Friday, in the WPIAL AA quarterfinals. Site, time and day haven't been determined. ... To make the state playoffs, Farrell has to either win one more game or, should they lose, have New Brighton reach the WPIAL finals. ... Ironically, both Farrell and Freeport were eliminated in the state playoffs by George Junior a year ago _ the Steelers in the Western Finals and the Yellow Jackets in the second round.
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Updated Feb. 20, 1997
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