Published Wednesday, Feb. 26, 1997
Greenville's Ryan Oman puts up an inside shot against Union City. Oman had a big second half to pace the Trojans. (Tim Cimperman/Herald)
DISTRICT 10 AA BOYS BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS
Trojans 49
Bears 39
Trojans roll to title tilt
By Jeff Greenburg
Herald Assistant Sports Editor
GROVE CITY _ Greenville coach Kelly Jones has said from Day 1 that the key to his team's success this season would hinge on whether his players could turn ``potential into performance.''
No doubt the Trojans have done just that following their 49-39 District 10 Class AA semifinal victory over Union City Tuesday at Grove City College Arena.
The win moved Greenville (21-5) into its first D-10 championship game since 1985.
The Trojans will face French Creek Valley Conference No. 2 seed Cambridge Springs, a 58-48 victor over George Junior on Tuesday. Site, date and time haven't been determined.
``We talked about potential, although potential's never won anything,'' said Jones. ``I think that's the big key; we've gotten over the hump. We've turned potential into performance.''
For a short time, specifically a 6-minute, 36-second span of the first and second quarters Tuesday night, however, it appeared the Trojans might not fulfill that potential.
Greenville, led by seven Jeff Lewis points, had jumped to a 13-8 edge after one quarter and appeared to be on their way to a relatively easy victory over the highly-touted Bears (24-2), the FCVC champions.
But the Trojans went ice-cold in the second frame, not making a shot until Joe Korcinsky's bucket at the 2:07 mark, while getting outscored 13-3 to fall behind 21-16 at the intermission.
Greenville finished the quarter 1-of-7 from the field and also committed 7 turnovers to aid the Bears' charge.
The third quarter, however, proved to be a reversal of fortune of sorts for both squads. The Trojans stormed out of the lockerroom by hitting 7-of-9 shots, outscoring Union City, 18-2, en route to securing a 34-23 edge entering the fourth quarter.
Greenville's Adam Karson is outmanned on this rebound. (Tim Cimperman/Herald)
Ryan Oman, Greenville's leading scorer who had been limited to 2 first-half points on 1-of-6 shooting, came alive, canning a pair of three-pointers within a minute of each other midway through the quarter. He hit all four of his second-half shots and finished the game with 14 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.
Meanwhile, the Trojan defense was also coming alive, coercing the Bears into 1-of-8 shooting and seven turnovers in the third quarter. Union City had committed only four first-half turnovers, but had more than doubled that to nine by the 4:40 mark of the third.
An Ashley Orris layup at 2:38 was his team's only points in the frame and over an 11-minute span, stretching from the 1:48 mark of the second quarter to the 6:48 mark of the fourth.
``We didn't take care of the ball, we didn't execute our offense very well and we were flat,'' Union City coach Ken Orris said of the drought. ``Away from the ball kids were not moving and we weren't getting good screens. We were watching the guy with the ball. Usually we're a great team away from the ball. Tonight we weren't.''
An Oman deuce 30 seconds into the final frame pushed Greenville's lead to 36-23 _ its biggest of the game _ and the Bears got no closer than five the 226A 2rest of the way. The Trojans iced the game in the fourth at the charity stripe by hitting 11-of-17 attempts, including 5-of-8 from Adam Karson.
Karson finished with 9 points and a team-high 8 boards, John Isacco tallied 13 points, including 9 in the all-important final two quarters, and Lewis had 10 points for the Trojans.
``Congratulations to the kids _ Jonathan Titzel, our little point guard, did a great job on them and Ryan Oman stepped up big offensively to get us back in it and ahead,'' Jones said. ``And our senior leadership (from Karson, Isacco and Lewis was great), but I guess that's what you expect out of seniors. And that's why we're smiling and going onto the District 10 championship game.''
Union City, which will face George Junior in the D-10 consolation final (both teams have already qualified for interdistrict play) was led by the school's career scoring leader and the coach's son Ashley Orris, who tallied a team-high 14 points, but was limited to only 4 on 1-of-6 shooting in the second half before fouling out with 38 seconds left.
In addition, the Trojans held Bill McKinney and Keith Anthony, who entered the game averaging a combined 22.3 points per game, to an aggregate 10.
``I give that team credit,'' said Coach Orris. ``They took some of our better offensive players out of the game.''
Notes: Jones believes it's been more than 60 years _ ``I think it was 1934 or somewhere along those lines'' _ since a Greenville cage squad has won a D-10 title. The '84-85 Trojan squad lost 66-44 to Girard in that D-10 title game before bowing out to Monessen, 53-45, in the first round of interdistrict play. The '75-76 Greenville squad also made it to the D-10 finals before losing to Sharpsville, 49-42, but that team advanced to the Western Finals before losing to Midland. ... Greenville finished 16-of-31 (.516) from the field, including 3-of-7 behind the arc, and 14-of-25 at the free throw line. ... Union City canned 6-of-25 (.240) shots in the second half to finish 13-of-39 (.333), including 5-of-19 (.263) behind the arc, and 8-of-14 at the free throw line.
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Updated Feb. 27, 1997
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