The Herald, Sharon,
PA Published Feb. 23, 1997

WINTER SPORTS Boys basketball

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS

New Brighton 72
Farrell 54

Farrell is ousted in WPIAL quarters

By Brad Isles
Herald Sports Writer

NEW CASTLE _ For more than a half-century Farrell has had its way in the WPIAL playoffs, posting a remarkable 74-16 record since first qualifying for the tournament in 1943.

Saturday afternoon, the New Brighton Lions exacted some revenge for those teams Farrell left in the dust by beating the Steelers in the second round of the WPIAL Class AA playoffs, 72-54, at New Castle High School.

In fact, the Lions (21-5) avenged a 62-41 loss to Farrell (15-10) in last season's PIAA-AA second round. What's more, it was the Lions' first win in six games against the Steelers over a three-year span.

``It's kind of ironic,'' New Brighton coach Bill Mahan said. ``This time last year they knocked us out of states. They were the veteran team, we were the young team. It was just a role reversal here.''

Another point of irony is that for the Steelers to advance to interdistrict play, they need the Lions to beat Shady Side Academy, 68-59 overtime winners over South Allegheny, Wednesday.

``I told Nick I owed him one,'' Mahan said. ``Hopefully we can bring them back in it.''

Farrell kept the game close in the first quarter, trailing 11-10 heading into the second quarter. But the Steelers had trouble keeping up with New Brighton's fast break attack and couldn't match the Lions' inside game.

``I was disappointed because we just didn't have that bounce today for some reason,'' Farrell coach Nick Cannone said.

New Brighton benefitted from that lack of bounce, breaking out to a 29-17 lead by halftime.

Leading the charge for the Lions was 6-foot-4 senior Joe Kirschner. He scored 19 of his game-high 23 points in the first half, including all 11 of the Lions' points in the first quarter.

``We saw that we could enter it into the post and he came out and exploded,'' Mahan said. ``He has that potential to just go like that.''

Kirschner was 10-for-14 from the field in the game, with two of the misses coming on dunk attempts. As a team, New Brighton shot a scorching 70 percent from the field (28-for-40), including 7-for-9 in the second quarter.

The Lions opened the second with a 9-3 run which Christian Burgess capped off with a three-point play to make it 20-13. After two foul shots by Melvin Gregory, New Brighton went on a 9-2 run which Kirschner ended with a hoop inside.

While the Lions were hot from the field, the Steelers were not, especially in the second quarter.

They managed just one field goal in the frame (1-for-10) and finished the half shooting 26 percent (6-for-23).

``They made us work,'' Cannone said. ``They didn't give us too many easy looks at the basket. Our defense didn't help create any either.''

Farrell's big scorers, Jackson Jones and Gregory, were a part of the struggle. Gregory finished with 14 points, and Jones had seven, well below his average of 16 points over the past seven games.

Gregory, try as he might, couldn't get past Kirschner on the inside and made just four of his 14 field goal attempts. Jones, the Steelers' big threat from the outside in recent weeks, was 3-for-11.

``We try to play hard inside,'' Mahan said. ``We were more worried about Jones catching fire. We weren't sure if Melvin could really beat us. We knew he was going to score but we weren't concerned that he was going to get 30 off on us.''

Kirschner calmed down in the second half, getting his teammates more involved in the play, and it helped the Lions build an 18-point lead with 31/2 minutes left in the third quarter.

Jeremy Sheffield scored on a inbounds pass to put New Brighton up 43-25. Sheffield joined Kirschner in double figures with 12, all in the second half.

Also having a big half was Sheffield, who scored 13 of his 17 points down the stretch while dishing out seven assists, and Marcess Williams, who finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Merci Flint attempted to bring the Steelers back into the game in the fourth quarter, scoring 13 of his 17 points in the frame. His hoop after a steal brought Farrell within eight, 52-44, with 51/2 minutes left. But after that the Lions went on a 20-10 run to end the game.

``To counteract their strength inside we had to swarm and claw and scrap for everything,'' Cannone said. ``And we gave them too many easy ones.''
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Updated Feb. 23, 1997
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