Published Sunday, March 7, 1999 
Shady Side Academy's Jarius Acie tallied a game-high 18 points and dished off to teammate Quincy Curry for the eventual go-ahead bucket, as the Indians edged Farrell, 49-46, in the WPIAL Class AA Championship basketball game.
Approximately 3 1/2 months ago, Acie burned Sharon's football team for two long touchdown receptions and added a pass interception for good measure, as Shady Side trimmed the Tigers, 21-14, in the PIAA western regional finale.
Saturday night at Duquesne University's A.J. Palumbo Center, Acie again did the damage, this time costing the Steelers what would have been the school's 14th WPIAL crown in the program's storied history.
"Coming into the game, he's been our MVP," said Shady Side Head coach Will Saunders of Acie, a 6-foot quicksilver point guard. "He's been our leading scorer the last couple of games in the playoffs ... so we expected him to play well. Actually, I didn't think they (Farrell) would allow him to do as much as he did tonight. I'm sure they scouted us, saw us on film, and I thought they would keep the ball out of his hands a little more than they did."
Farrell first-year coach Bill Michaels concurred, commenting, "All the games that we've seen, and even the last game that we played them at home (a 70-62 Farrell win), he was the guy that, down the stretch, was their go-to guy. He was the guy that wanted the ball in his hands and would take over. He's a great player and we did everything we could to contain him. But when he wasn't scoring, he was creating."
Acie's 13 points staked Shady Side to a 28-25 halftime lead. But he was limited to a scant point and attempted only two shots, during the third period as Farrell drew within 39-38, entering the fourth frame. However, during the game's final 1:56, Acie single-handedly stoked Shady Side's title hopes.
J.J. Wilson's right-wing trey and an Urbie Flint free throw afforded Farrell a 44-41 lead with 2:11 left. But Acie's put-back drew the Indians within 44-43. Then, following a Richard Young bucket, courtesy of a Wilson pass that extended the Steelers' lead to 46-43 with 1:30 remaining, Acie answered again.
His jumper from the right elbow, sheared Shady Side's deficit to 46-45 with 1:18 to play.
A Steelers' turnover 10 seconds later proved pivotal, and Acie made Farrell pay dearly for the transgression. Penetrating through a menagerie of bodies, he dumped the ball down low to 6-6 Curry, who slammed the Steelers' title aspirations with two hands, lifting Shady Side to a 47-46 edge it would not relinquish with 53.2 ticks to play.
An off-balance Wilson jumper approximately 20 seconds later resulted in an Acie rebound. Forced to foul, Farrell send Shady Side sophomore Mark Lovett to the line for a crucial 1-and-1 bonus free throw situation with 17.6 seconds remaining.
In spite of a Farrell timeout designed to unnerve him, Lovett - 1-for-10 from the floor to that point - drained both freebies dead-center perfect, extending the Indians' edge to 49-46.
On the Steelers' ensuing trip down the floor, Jackson Jones - who came off the bench to fire in 15 points on 5-for-10 long-range shooting - had a good look at a trey from the right wing, but his shot glanced off the rim, with Shady Side's Maurio Medley rebounding with seven seconds remaining.
Medley completely missed the basket on the first of his 1-and-1 free-throw opportunity, returning possession to the Steelers without any loss of time. However, Billy Dungee and Wilson became entangled at the top of the key as the seconds wound down, and Farrell was not able to so much as get off a potential game-tying shot at the buzzer.
Farrell's 7-for-24 first-half shooting and seven turnovers, coupled with Shady Side's 10-for-26 marksmanship which included two treys apiece from Acie and Medley, enabled the Indians to build that 3-point margin at intermission. Jones' eight points, complemented by Young's 9-point, 5-rebound effort, kept the Steelers in contention.
Jones' 3-for-4 shooting performance, including the last of his trio of treys, offset another six Steelers' turnovers, as Farrell drew within one by the third-quarter turn.
However, the Steelers were guilty of 16 miscues and 11-for-20 shooting from the line, twice missing the front ends of 1-and-1 fourth-quarter opportunities.
"I thought we rebounded a little bit better and, probably, shot a little bit better in the game at home,'' Michaels, in assessing the difference between the regular-season win and Saturday's setback began. "Here, we had some trouble, early on, scoring, and our free throws, early on, hurt us (6 for 10 in the first half) and we came out slow, offensively, and dug a hole for ourselves and then we used up a lot of energy to try to work our way back into it. But I give our kids a lot of credit,'' Michaels emphasized. "They didn't fold and they didn't go into the tank, they kept battling and kept working their way back into it, but we had some key turnovers that hurt us.''
"We played better defense,'' Saunders, in analyzing the difference between his club's performances against Farrell, began. "Our transition defense was better; we were able to get back. They scored 70 points on us up at their place. To hold them to 46, our defense was better. We didn't shoot the ball well at their place, we didn't shoot the ball well here tonight, but one thing that was different was our defense. We didn't let Flint and Jones get too many open looks - when they got them, they knocked them down - but we made sure we located them in our man, our zone (2-3 match-up) and our triangle-and-two.''
It's not inconceivable that the Steelers and Shady Side could meet again when the state-wide playoffs commence next week, and Michaels wants to make sure his club is primed for the round of 32.
"Hopefully we'll be able to make them aware of the fact that, hey, we did lose this one, but we're still rolling here and the season's not over and we can continue to win games and, hopefully, get into the state finals game and get to Hershey.''
Notes:Farrell (24-4) connected on only 13 of 53 floor shots, compared with 18-of-58 shooting for Shady Side (26-2). ... in addition to Jones, Richard Young's 15-point, 12-rebound double-double led the Steelers. ... Curry's 16-point, 13-rebound double-double and Medley's 10 markers, in addition to Acie's 18, led the Indians, who outrebounded Farrell, 43-42. ... Shady Side committed 15 miscues.
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WPIAL CLASS AA CHAMPIONSHIP
SHADY SIDE ACAD. 17 11 11 10 49
FARRELL 11 14 13 8 46
SHADY SIDE ACADEMY - Acie 7-2-2-18; Lovett 1-2-2-5; Curry 6-4-8-16; Medley 4-0-2-10; Booker 0-0-0-0; Frederick 0-0-0-0; Friedman 0-0-0-0; Paul 0-0-0-0.; Alexander 0-0-0-0. 3-pt. goals: Acie 2, Medley 2, Lovett 1. Totals: 18-8-14-49.
FARRELL - Flint 1-2-6-5; Wilson 2-1-2-7; R. Young 4-6-10-15; Bell 2-0-0-4; Dungee 0-0-0-0; Jones 5-2-2-15; Barlow 0-0-0-0; B. Young 0-0-0-0; Gordon 0-0-0-0. 3-pt. goals: Jones 3, Wilson 2, Flint 1, R. Young 1. Totals: 13-11-20-46.4
