Trojans weren't horsing around, but a 4th-quarter rally carries Farrell to win
Greenville's John Isacco eyes a pass that's headed towards Farrell's Tine Peagler as Steeler teammate Chris Kucik (25) looks on. (Gene Paulson/Herald)
By Ed Farrell Herald Sports Writer
GROVE CITY _ It seemed cruelly ironic that the finest season, arguably, in Greenville High boys' basketball history ended only as another footnote in Farrell's own fabled cage annals.
The Steelers, bolstered by a 7-time state-championship tradition, rallied from a pair of 9-point fourth-quarter deficits Saturday afternoon at Grove City College en route to a 54-52 PIAA Class AA opening-round triumph over the Trojans.
By virtue of the victory, Farrell (16-10) will meet WPIAL arch-rival Aliquippa (24-3) _ a 73-55 winner over Bellwood-Antis Saturday afternoon _ next Wednesday. Time and site will be announced.
``To come out with a win, is just ... I don't know what to say. It didn't look good there,'' admitted Farrell mentor Nick Cannone. ``But our kids found a way. A couple key plays at the end. ... I just can't say enough about the kids; they didn't fold it up.''
Farrell committed 17 turnovers, connected on only 42 percent (18 of 43) of its floor shots, and trailed by as many as 11 points late in the second stanza and from the 47-second mark of the opening period until 32 ticks remained in the fourth frame.
At that juncture, however, sophomore Jackson Jones' steal and subsequent score provided the Steelers with a 53-52 lead, then Melvin Gregory added a free throw with eight seconds left.
Greenville pushed the ball up the floor, but Ryan Oman's driving layup rolled tantalizingly off the rim and Jeff Lewis' follow-up attempt also caromed out at the buzzer.
You make the call. While battling for a board it appears Greenville's Ryan Oman (24) is being whistled for an over-the- back personal foul on Farrell's Melvin Gregory (43). (Gene Paulson/Herald)
``That's what it boiled down to, is execution,'' acknowledged Greenville head coach Kelly Jones. ``I gotta take my hat off to Farrell. He (Cannone) had young kids in foul trouble the whole game, but he substituted very well and had people in the ballgame that he needed to make the plays.''
Farrell's fourth-frame playmakers included Jones, unheralded Robert Wilson and Gregory. The latter did not start, but scored eight of his 11 markers in the game's final eight minutes while also grabbing a game-high 11 caroms.
A pivotal play occurred following a Farrell timeout with 1:32 remaining and Greenville clinging to a 50-45 edge.
Wilson converted a free throw, trimming the deficit to four, then rebounded his own missed second shot, which Jones immediately preyed upon for a trey from the left wing, drawing Farrell within 50-49 with 1:24 remaining.
Adam Karson responded with a short jumper for a 52-49 Trojans' margin at the 1:11 mark.
On the Steelers' ensuing possession, Merci Flint's missed jumper was contested for by Jones and Greenville's Joe Korcinsky with 50 seconds left, and the alternate possession arrow pointed in the Trojans' direction.
Eight seconds later, Oman misfired on the front end of a 1-and-1 bonus situation and Korcinsky fouled Gregory on the rebound attempt, sending the Steeler to the charity stripe. He responded by knocking down both ends of a 1-and-1 opportunity, drawing Farrell within 52-51 at the 41-second segment.
That led to the final, frantic 32 seconds which reaffirmed that Farrell's proud past remains a link to its improbable present, in which an underclassmen-laded club has reached the state's Sweet 16.
``They're all good now,'' Cannone said in response to how gratifying the win, given his mid-season personnel moves, was. ``I feel this is the best possible team we could put out here for Farrell, if it was at the beginning of the year, or not. These kids like to play basketball, they like to do things the right way and this is our team.''
Neither club played particularly well in the first frame, but Karson's trey with 47 seconds left enabled Greenville to assume a 10-7 edge.
The first of a pair of Urbie's Flint 3-pointers at the outset of the second stanza knotted the count at 10, but Greenville, with Lewis tallying eight of his game-high 21 points, forged to a 28-17 margin with 1:41 remaining until intermission. Only back-to-back baskets by Gregory and Merci Flint enabled Farrell to draw within 28-21 at halftime.
Greenville's John Isacco eyes a pass that's headed toward Farrell's Tine Peagler as Steeler teammate Chirks Kycik (25) looks on. (Gene Paulson/Herald)
When Oman scored from inside with 4:53 left in the third period, Greenville led 34-25. But Merci Flint's six markers kept the Steelers close, then Wilson ended the frame by scoring on a lob pass from Chris Kucik, drawing Farrell within 40-35 at the third-quarter turn.
``That's just the will to win, I would think; the will to win,'' Cannone said. ``They did not want to lose, and when we were in the huddle, you could see it in their eyes _ that they thought they still had a chance _ and we have a lot of kids in here that won't put their heads down and they hung in there. We always preach that the game is 32 minutes long and it's a tough loss for my buddy Kelly Jones. I respect him ... and it's just a shame one of the teams had to lose, that we had to meet them early. But my hat's off to them. They had a great year and it's just a shame it had to end like this.''
``You know, a call here or there, or a layup here or there, or a foul makes a big difference, and when you have a 2-point loss you can look at an awful lot of things,'' Jones said. ``But it's over, it's done. We've had a great season.
``My four seniors are four of the best kids you could ever have,'' Jones, his eyes moistening with emotion and his voice cracking, continued. ``I think (former Trojan) Mike Jones said it at our banquet: you start off with 32 teams and there's only gonna be one out of the 32 happy, and 31 of those people are gonna remember their last game as a defeat. So, somehow, we'll hope to turn that around and use it as a motivating factor so that we can return to the playoffs next year and put ourselves in a little better position, possibly.''
``What can you say?'' Cannone rhetorically asked. ``It was ugly, but we move on. Sweet 16, here we come. Every game and every practice I play with this group is a plus, it's a plus.''
Notes: Greenville (22-6) connected on 18 of 40 (45 percent) floor shots and 12 of 24 freebies, committed 14 turnovers and was led by Oman's seven rebounds. ... Farrell converted 11 of 16 free throws (68.8), including a 5-for-7 performance in final frame, and outrebounded Greenville, 30-26.
Published Sunday, March 9, 1997
