Shenango battles, but falls
Greensburg Central Catholic (68) Vs. Shenango (53)
Feb 23, 2012
By Joe Sager
New Castle News

BRIDGEVILLE — It was a great start and almost an even better finish last night for the Shenango High boys basketball team.

The Wildcats raced to a 10-1 lead to start the game. Yet, they saw Greensburg Central Catholic methodically claw its way back and gain control. They made a strong push to erase the deficit, but fell short, 68-53, in a WPIAL Class AA first-round game at Chartiers Valley.

The Centurions (18-5), the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s fifth-ranked WPIAL Class AA squad, advance to meet Northgate, a 90-86 winner over Summit Academy, in Saturday’s quarterfinals.

“The first one is always the toughest one and I don’t think any of the other ones are going to be real easy, either,” Greensburg Central Catholic coach Greg Bisignani said. “It’s always nice in the playoffs just to win and move on.”

Shenango (15-9) carried momentum from Saturday’s 69-44 win over West Shamokin into this game. The Wildcats got off to a strong start as they built the quick 10-1 lead. Coming off an impressive long-distance shooting performance on Saturday, Shenango sharpshooter Brett Chieze swished a pair of 3-pointers in the opening 1:46 to help fuel the team’s spree.

However, Greensburg Central Catholic answered and cut the deficit to 14-12 at the buzzer. The Centurions rallied for a 21-point second quarter as their long-range bombers got hot. Brian Graytok connected twice from downtown, while Zach Herman and Ben Klimchock added triplicates as the team surged for a 33-23 halftime advantage.

“It was a very good game. My hat’s off to Shenango. They are a very well-coached team and they have some experienced players. They shoot the ball well and play really hard,” Bisignani said. “We’re lucky they got a little cold after the first couple minutes. If they stayed hot like that, I think they would have beaten us. We tried to keep our composure. We have a lot of kids out there with playoff experience and they didn’t lose their cool. We kept playing defense and were able to turn the tide a little bit.”

Shenango coach Bob McQuiston was thrilled with the fast start, but knew the Centurions would answer.

“They are a good team. They are ranked fifth in the WPIAL for obvious reasons. They are solid. I think they might have come out a little rusty at first. They hadn’t played in 11 or 12 days or whatever it was,” he said. “I knew they weren’t going to lay down and die. You don’t win your section and get a high ranking by being a soft team. My guys, I’d take them anywhere — I wouldn’t trade my guys for anything. There were a couple times we could have quit, but we kept hanging around. They knew they were in a game, that’s for sure.”

The Centurions pushed their lead to 13 points, 42-29, with 4:10 remaining in the third quarter. However, the ’Cats stormed back for a 12-4 spree to close the frame with a 46-41 disadvantage. Once again, Chieze helped lead the charge as he swished two more 3-pointers in that spurt. All told, he finished with a team-high 17 points and five 3-pointers.

“Our guys knew it was a long game,” Bisignani said. “We knew Shenango was going to be a tough team and play to the final buzzer.”

Greensburg Central Catholic appeared poised to pull away at the start of the fourth. A pair of quick buckets pushed their lead to nine, 50-41, but Chieze answered again with his final triple of the night to make it a 50-44 contest with 6:58 to play.

However, Shenango could not sustain the march and the Centurions slowly built separation until they finished with the 15-point triumph.

“I am proud of the effort. They didn’t quit,” McQuiston said. “It’s been a great year for us. My heart goes out to the players because they are not feeling too good right now and neither am I.”

Jordan O’Hara added 15 points for the ’Cats, who graduate seven seniors.

Dan Sinwell tallied a game-high 21 points for the Centurions. Klimchock had 15, while Graytok finished with 14.


*******


CLASS AA BOYS MATCHUPS
SATURDAY, FEB. 18
Shady Side Academy 59, California 38
Northgate 57, Freeport 45
Aliquippa 76, Ford City 42
Seton-La Salle 71, NESHANNOCK 25
Riverside 39, Chartiers-Houston 27
Frazier 47, Riverview 37
Brentwood 53, South Side Beaver 41
SHENANGO 69, West Shamokin 44
Wilkinsburg 73, Brownsville 53
Jeannette 81, Fort Cherry 49
Monessen, Summit Academy, Greensburg Central Catholic, Beaver Falls, Sto-Rox and Quaker Valley have a bye.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 22
Monessen 64, Riverside 48
Shady Side Academy 71, Frazier 64
Northgate 90, Summit Academy 86
Greensburg Central Catholic 68, SHENANGO 53
Beaver Falls 64, Brentwood 39
Jeannette 74, Wilkinsburg 72
Sto-Rox 78, Aliquippa 54
Quaker Valley 70, Seton-La Salle 44
SATURDAY, FEB. 25
QUARTERFINALS
Times and sites to be determined
Monessen vs. Shady Side Academy
Northgate vs. Greensburg Central Catholic
Beaver Falls vs. Jeannette
Sto-Rox vs. Quaker Valley
Nightly Roundup
Feb 23, 2012 Nightly Roundups
Game Scoreboard
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT SCORE
Greensburg Central Catholic 12 21 13 22 0 68
Shenango 14 9 18 12 0 53
Box Scores
SHENANGO (53)
Brett Chieze 5 2-2 17
Jordan O’Hara 4 5-7 15
Jeff Williams 1 6-6 8
Mike Linz 4 0-2 8
Greg DePorzio 0 0-0 0
Vinny Fiorilli 1 0-0 3
Pat Lunn 1 0-0 2
Dane Gecina 0 0-0 0
Nico Pagley 0 0-2 0.
Totals: 16 13-19 53.

GREENSBURG CENTRAL CATHOLIC (68)
Brian Graytok 4 4-6 14
Zach Herman 2 2-4 7
Dan Sinwell 7 7-8 21
Ben Klimchock 5 4-6 15
P.J. McLaughlin 2 5-6 9
Tim Johnson 0 0-0 0
Jonah Yunker 1 0-0 2
Tyler Swan 0 0-2 0.
Totals: 21 22-32 68.

SHENANGO 14 9 18 12 — 53
GREENSBURG C.C. 12 21 13 22 — 68

3-point goals — Shenango 8 (Chieze 5, O’Hara 2, Fiorilli 1), Greensburg Central Catholic 4 (Graytok 2, Herman 1, Klimchock 1).

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