Mike White | Friday, March 13
Live blog from Slippery Rock University, site of a PIAA boys' quarterfinal tripleheader.
Farrell vs. Greensburg Salem
10:04 - HE DID IT AGAIN! Chris Klimchock made a basket with 20 seconds left and Greensburg Salem won, 66-65. Farrell's Marsell Holden misse d a shot at the buzzer.
10:02 - It's 65-64 Farrell. Timeout with 24 seconds left. Greensburg Salem has ball. Farrell's Preston Jefferson has missed four straight free throws.
9:58 - Farrell takes timeout with a 65-61 lead. 1:41 left. Greensburg Salem missed two chances to cut it to two. Klimchock and Jake Matthews missed shots.
9:44 - Farrell has opened up a 61-53 lead. Holden is starting to do some trash talking to Klimchock. Timeout Greensburg Salem. 6:53 left.
9:41 - Holden has slowed down. Only two points in third quarter. Farrell leads, 56-53, after three quarters.
9:28 p.m. - Farrell just tied it up, 41-41, on a steal and layup by Traphael Stubbs. Greensburg Salem calls a timeout with six minutes left in the third. It seems like Farrell might be ready to step on the gas and take control of the game.
9:14 p.m. - Halftime. Greensburg Salem leads, 39-34. Farrell's Marsell Holden just might be the best offensive guard I've seen this year. It's a shame he's not a little bigger. Many Division I colleges would be after him. He's listed at only 5 feet 9. But he is athletic and a deadly shooter. No wonder he has more than 125 3-pointers this season. He has 20 points in the first half. He was 5 of 5 from 3-point range in the second quarter.
9:06 - I take the last statement back. Holden might get up higher on his shot than high school kid I've seen. Another 3-pointer. And just as I'm typing he hit another one. That's four in this quarter. It's 31-25 Greensburg Salem.
9:02 - Marsell Holden of Farrell has a big-time jump shot. He gets up as high on his shot as any high school player I've seen in a while. He's the school's all-time leading scorer.
8:54 p.m. - End of the first quarter and Greensburg Salem leads, 13-7, despite Chris Klimchock going 0 for 6 from the field for GS. Farrell star Marsell Holden has three points.
8:48 p.m. - Jake Matthews has all seven points and Greensburg Salem leads, 7-0.
8:35 p.m. - Here is an example of why the PIAA should not have played three games here. Greensburg Salem's students have nowhere to sit. They will have to watch the game standing in aisle.
8:34 p.m. - Gotta love Farrell's warmup pants. They're white with the Steelers logo on them. In case you didn't know, Farrell's nickname is Steelers.
8:29 p.m. - Just got Farrell's roster. I'm not making this up. One of Farrell's starters names is Robin Hood. Seriously. I asked and it's true. Why would a parent do that to a kid?
Heck, he should've played for old Fifth Avenue High School, where the school nickname was Archers. You get it, right? Robin Hood - an Archer.
8:23 p.m. - The PIAA made a mistake playing three games here. It's too crowded. Two games would've been enough. Why they do tripleheaders at this point is sometimes hard to figure. By the way, the Villa Maria girls defeated Bishop McCort, 45-31, in the second game.
Sewickley Academy vs. Kennedy Catholic (Class A)
7:47 p.m. - The first game seemed to last forever because it turned into a foul fest. The second game is going on right now, with the Villa Maria girls leading Bishop McCort, 29-15 with 2:30 left in the third quarter. The final game between the Greensburg Salem and Farrell boys probably won't begin until 8:30 or 8:45. It was scheduled to start at 8.
All these years, I can't figure out why the PIAA lists game times for double or tripleheaders only an hour-and-a-half apart. The third game always starts about a half-hour late. Why don't they just put one hour and 45 minutes between games for starting times?
7:13 p.m. - Just talked to Kennedy Catholic coach Marlon McGaughy. He said Arizona State might offer a scholarship to guard Kyle Randall. "They want to come and maybe offer," McGaughy said.
I don't think Randall is good enough to play at Arizona State. That's out of his league. Harvard would be good for him and so would Cleveland State. McGaughy said Coastal Carolina also might offer a scholarship.
An assistant coach from Davidson also was here to see Droney. Davidson is one of the schools Sewickley Academy's Tom Droney is considering. He had narrowed his field to Pitt, Notre Dame and Davidson and all three have offered scholarships. Sewickley Academy coach Win Palmer said the two will sit down and talk in the next week or so about college. Droney, only a junior, had said he might open up his recruiting after the season, but Palmer said that's not a definite.
7:05 p.m. - Sewickley Academy's Tom Droney finished with 29 points. That might sound terrific, but it wasn't one of his better games. He made only 7 of 21 shots from the field and scored 15 points in the fourth quarter when the game already had been decided. He was 14 of 17 from the free-throw line for the game. "Everyone just seemed out of rhythm on offense," said Sewickley Academy coach Win Palmer.
Sewickley Academy had a horrible night shooting, making only 17 of 50 from the field (34 percent). Droney was the only player in double figures. Kyle Randall led Kennedy Catholic with 27 points, but it wasn't one of his best games, either. Actually, the game turned into a free-throw shooting contest in the fourth quarter between Randall and Droney. For the game, Randall was 17 of 23 and made 10 free throws in the fourth quarter.
6:37 p.m. - Game just ended and Kennedy Catholic won, 65-50.
6:24 - Sewickley Academy is fouling Kennedy Catholic's Kyle Randall just about every trip - and sometimes fouling him hard. Randall is 9 of 12 from the free-throw line this quarter and Kennedy leads, 55-42.
6:20 - Sewickley Academy is making things a little interesting. The Panthers cut the lead to 51-40 and Droney had a 3-pointer go in an out that would've cut it to eight.
6:11 - Kennedy has opened up a 46-28 lead. Hard to believe. Sewickley Academy averages 66 points a game.
6:03 - Kennedy Catholic's Randall continues to struggle some also. He's 0 for 3 in the fourth quarter and 4 of 16 for the game. No way Sewickley can win this game. It's 42-28. Droney just shot an airball on a 3-pointer.
6:00 - End of three quarters and Kennedy Catholic leads, 42-26. Sewickley is struggling offensively. The Panthers shot 6 of 23 in the first half. Droney had nine points in the third quarter. He now has 14. Kyle Randall has 14 also.
5:52 - Droney is starting to come alive. He's scored seven i na row and has brought Sewickley Academy within 34-24. The game has been stopped momentarily. Randall is shaken up after missing a shot on a drive. He has been taken out of the game.
5:47 - Kennedy Catholic's Rocky Farmartino, a starter, just received his second technical foul and has been ejected. That means he can't play the next game if Kennedy wins. Farmartino's first technical was for throwing an elbow. His second was after a jump ball, he ran right up to Sewickley Academy's Pete Schramm and bumped him, like he wanted to start something. Don't know if he deserved the second technical, but he seems like one of those kids who always tries to act like a tough guy. Looks like a football player. A linebacker or fullback.
5:46 - Tommy Ammaker looks like he could still play. He's sitting in the end zone.
5:44 p.m. - Randall is back guarding Droney.
5:42 p.m. - I was hoping Droney would guard Randall, but he's not. Randall started on Droney, but switched off after picking up two fouls in the first quarter.
5:35 p.m. - it's not good for Sewickley Academy. Kennedy Catholic leads, 30-15, at halftime. Tom Droney is struggling for Sewickley. He has five points in the first half and didn't have a basket until 1:15 was left in the second quarter. He is 1 of 9 from the field.
Harvard coach Tommy Ammaker (former Duke player, assistant coach and Michigan head coach) is here to see Kyle Randall, Kennedy Catholic's talented senior guard. Randall is considering Harvard. Cleveland State also has offered a scholarship. Randall hasn't sparkled, either. He is 3 of 10 from the field and has eight points in the first half.
Posted
Mar 13 2009, 05:33 PM
by
Mike White