Mar 12, 2022
Easton Semelsberger drives to the basket and scores for Penn Cambria. Photo for the Mirror by Chuck Meyers
By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
GREENSBURG — Great teams sometimes have bad shooting nights, and that’s what Penn Cambria coach Jim Ronan was hoping might happen to WPIAL runner-up Montour Friday night at Hempfield Area High School.
Instead, the Spartans made their first eight shots and sprinted out to a 17-4 lead and never looked back in a 71-48 victory in the second round of the PIAA Class 4A boys basketball playoffs.
“We knew watching film what we were facing,” Ronan said. “Going in they had five losses. Two of the losses were to Quaker Valley, who is 26-0 and No. 1 in the state. Another loss was to North Hills, who is 26-1 and is No. 1 in the state in 6A. We knew we were going to have to play the best game we had in our bag tonight and hope they missed some shots. I thought we played really hard and never gave in, but they didn’t miss any shots.”
Despite Penn Cambria playing in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference, one of the most competitive leagues around, the Panthers were not used to the speed possessed by Montour.
“We thought that Penn Cambria hadn’t seen anyone as athletic and as fast as us,” Montour coach Bill Minear said. “We thought that would give them problems, and I think it did, for the most part.”
Vason Stevenson had his way in transition most of the night before exiting for most of the fourth quarter. He finished with 23 points. Jake Wolfe added 15 points, and Diaun Pinkett scored 14 points for the Spartans, who will play Archbishop Carroll in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
“We knew coming in they were going to be tough,” Penn Cambria junior Garrett Harrold said. “They play in the WPIAL, and they are good. That’s all you can really say about that. Going into the season, we had our goals and I think for the most part, we accomplished most of what we set out to do. It was a great step for our program.”
Harrold led the Panthers with 17 points and eight rebounds.
Penn Cambria trailed by 18 points at the half and opened the third quarter with a long jump shot from senior Mason McCarthy.
“Against Oil City (in the first round), we didn’t put them away,” Minear said. “Penn Cambria hit a shot to start the half, and I thought, ‘here we go again’ and told the guys to pick it up. Stevenson got some turnovers and got out on the break pretty well.”
Montour scored 15 of the next 17 points to make it 55-26. After a Penn Cambria basket by Cam Latterner, a three-point play by Pinkett started a running clock with 3:56 to play in the third quarter.
Penn Cambria finished its season 22-6 with a District 6 Class 4A championship.
“We checked pretty much all our boxes except winning the Laurel Highlands championship,” Ronan said. “I couldn’t be prouder. As a group, they love each other and are very unselfish. They are easy to coach. We did a lot of great things this year that I’ll never forget, they’ll never forget and the community really came out and supported us.”
The Panthers will lose a stellar senior class that includes Latterner, McCarthy, Kyle Reese, Trenten Murphy and Zach Eckenrode.
“I’m going to miss them tremendously,” Harrold said. “They are the heart and soul of this team, and they push me and the younger guys all the time.”
MONTOUR (71): Stevenson 10 3-4 23, Deltondo 5 1-1 12, Eleam 0 0-0 0, Wolfe 5 2-3 15, Pinkett 5 3-3 14, Platz 2 1-2 5, Mosley 1 0-0 2, Johnson-McClain 0 0-0 0, Ratliff 0 0-0 0, Reed 0 0-0 0, Giammarco 0 0-0 0, Kelley 0 0-0 0, Sonson 0 0-0 0, Williams 0 0-0 0. Totals — 28 10-13 71.
PENN CAMBRIA (48): Semelsberger 1 1-2 3, Grove 1 0-0 2, Gar. Harrold 5 5-9 17, McCarthy -4 0-0 9, Reese 1 0-0 2, Chirdon 2 1-2 6, Latterner 3 0-0 7, Murphy 1 0-0 2, Eckenrode 0 0-0 0, Logan 0 0-0 0, Marinak 0 0-0 0, Gav. Harrold 0 0-0 0, McDermott 0 0-0 0. Totals — 18 7-12 48.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Montour 23 17 24 7 — 71
Penn Cambria 12 10 11 15 — 48
3-point goals: Montour 5 (Wolfe 3, Deltondo, Pinkett); Penn Cambria 4 (Gar. Harrold 2, McCarthy, Chirdon).
Records: Montour (22-5); Penn Cambria (22-6).
Officials: Jake Miller, Ed Marko, David Hoone.
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