By Andrew Petyak
New Castle News

McMURRAY — It’s the end of the road for the Mohawk High boys basketball team.

The Warriors first playoff run in four years was halted in a 62-39 defeat to Seton-La Salle in the first round of the WPIAL Class AA playoffs at Peters Township High School last night.

“It’s tough to see them go,” Mohawk coach Rob Fadden said of his senior class, “But at the same time, it’s something to be proud of. Our goal was to get back into the postseason, and they accomplished that. We, as a team, accomplished that. The thing I just told them was that it was a good section we played in. Our record might have been a little bit misleading, because when you throw Beaver Falls, Aliquippa and New Brighton into a section with Riverside and Neshannock, it’s a really good section.”

Six seniors will be moving on after the season for Fadden’s squad — Lucas Grim, John Hartzell, Boyd Laughner, Vince Menichino, Ryan Sager and Saivon Watt.

The Rebels now look ahead to a battle against Quaker Valley on Saturday in the quarterfinals at a time and site to be announced.

The 14th-seeded Warriors (10-14) stuck with third-seeded Seton-La Salle (21-2) in the first quarter, trailing by just two at the end of the frame, 12-10.

“They came in pretty fired up for us. They were able to control the early tempo of the game,” Rebels coach Mark Walsh said. “It really hurt us with their man-to-man offense beating us backdoor for a couple easy baskets.”

Seton-La Salle, ranked No. 3 in the WPIAL in Class AA by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, cranked up the defensive pressure in the second quarter to stifle the Mohawk offense.

“They turned it up. We knew it was coming at some point,” Fadden said. “The style we play versus the style they play, I figured they were going to want to pressure us. They’re a very good team.”

A switch in defensive strategy paid off for the Rebels, as they limited the Warriors to nine points and forced 12 turnovers in the half. Seton-La Salle brought an eight-point lead into halftime, 27-19.

“We went through problems with turning the ball over all season. Most of the time all season though, it was unforced turnovers,” Fadden said.

“(Tonight) it was forced turnovers — them getting deflections. It seemed like they were a half step quicker than us getting to loose balls and getting the second shot.

“I don’t think it was for a lack of effort. Especially in the first half, I think we battled and we competed. If you would have told me coming into the game we’d be down by eight at the half, I would have been pleased with that.”

Another defensive adjustment keyed the Rebels to a 9-0 run to start the third quarter, putting the game out of reach.

“We decided to go zone in the second,” Walsh said. “I think that was the difference in the game. They missed a few shots and we were able to get up in transition. Then we started finally knocking down some threes. I think we missed eight of our first nine attempts. We aren’t used to that. We’re used to knocking down two or three 3-pointers early and getting some baskets from pressure. It was nice in the second half to get a big run in the third quarter to really establish control of the game.”

Dale Clancy led the barrage of 3-pointers for Seton-La Salle, knocking in three and finishing with 14 points. Levi Masua was the game leader with 16. The Rebels tallied 24 points in the quarter to open up their advantage to 51-25 heading into the last eight minutes.

“Once they made their run early in the third, we didn’t have a whole lot of time to be too selective with our shots,” Fadden said. “Earlier on, I would have preferred us to be a little bit more (careful). Our first possession in the second half, we ran off almost a minute off the clock, but then shot a 24-footer. If it goes, it’s a good shot. If it doesn’t, it’s not.”

Mohawk outscored the Rebels 14-10 in the final quarter but could not overcome the deficit. Grim netted a team-high 15 for the Warriors. Gio Menichino followed with eight.