Deflated: Peters Township derails Uniontown’s quest to play at the Pete
MONONGAHELA – Uniontown’s boys basketball team had its sights set on playing in the Petersen Events Center this season.
That goal of reaching the site of the WPIAL basketball championships came to an abrupt end at the hands of sixth-seeded Peters Township which handed the third-seeded Red Raiders a surprising 56-52 loss in the Class 5A quarterfinals at Ringgold High School Friday night.
The Indians got 18 points from sophomore Jake Wetzel, who took full advantage of his 6-foot-8 frame against the smaller Red Raiders, and held off a late Uniontown rally to advance to Tuesday’s district semifinals against Mars.
Uniontown has no choice now but to poke in a new destination for its quest: Hershey.
The Red Raiders (20-4) have already qualified for the PIAA tournament which concludes at the Giants Center in Hershey on March 28. The loss to the Indians dropped Uniontown into the consolation brackets to determine their place in the state brackets.
“Tough game,” said Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky, whose team had its 12-game winning streak snapped. “These kids wanted so badly to get to the Pete. Give Peters Township credit. They played hard. Their 6-8 kid really gave us a lot of problems.
“Right now we’re just hurting. But we still have the state tournament to look forward to.”
Sean Thelk hit four-3-pointers in tallying 12 points and Dylan Donovan also scored 12 points for the Indians (17-7).
Calvin Winfrey III led the Red Raiders and tied Wetzel for game-high honors with 18 points. Isaac Ellsworth followed with 14 points, including four 3-pointers, and Kelan Milsom added 11 points.
Notorious Grooms, one of Uniontown’s two 1,000-point scorers along with Winfrey, was held without a field goal by Peters Township, scoring six points all from the foul line.
“Peters Township’s a very good team. They play very aggressive defense,” Kezmarsky said. “They’re very aggressive off the ball.”
Peters Township had to survive a late Uniontown comeback attempt before it could celebrate.
The Indians took a 42-38 lead into the fourth quarter and increased their advantage to eight twice, the second time on a layup by Ben Miller with three minutes to play.
Winfrey, trying to rally his team, hit a jump shot and a 3-pointer to get the Red Raiders within 52-49 with just under two minutes left. After Lucas Rost made one of two free throws for PT, Winfrey drove in for a layup to make it 53-51 with 1:17 remaining.
The Red Raiders’ defense then stepped up, forcing a five-second call, but Uniontown had trouble finding an open shot as it worked the ball around. With time ticking down, Ellsworth missed on a baseline drive, Wetzel grabbed the rebound and was fouled with six seconds left and made one of two from the line.
“We were trying to get Calvin to drive and if somebody would leave Isaac we were going to kick the ball to him,” Kezmarsky explained. “Our offense all night was to try to get Calvin and Tori to the rim. Time was running down and Isaac tried to make a play.”
Up 54-51, Peters Township fouled Winfrey before he could get off a 3-point shot with 1.2 seconds left.
“We didn’t want them to shoot a three,” Peters Township coach Joe Urmann said.
With two free throws, Winfrey made the first and intentionally missed the second but Uniontown was called for a lane violation. The Red Raiders fouled Rost with 0.8 seconds left and he made both free throws to seal the victory.
Kezmarsky commended his players for fighting until the final buzzer.
“Our kids battled back in the fourth quarter, there was no quit in them,” Kezmarsky said. “We had opportunities. We played really good defense in the fourth quarter.”
Urmann gushed over his team’s performance.
“I’m just super proud of our guys’ effort tonight,” Urmann said. “It was a spectacular win for us.”
The Indians pulled the upset by slowing the pace, gumming up the Red Raiders offense with their rugged defense, and hitting big shots.
“They’re a really high-scoring, potent offense so we had to get creative in terms of how we were going to slow them down,” Urmann said of how he approached the Red Raiders defensively. “They’ve got some really talented players and are well coached. We just kind of did our thing. Our guys just really dug in and guarded at a high level. They rotated, they guarded the ball well.
“Most high school teams have two, maybe three really good scorers. I thought Uniontown had four. That’s a different beast. I think they average like 73 points per game so that was a pretty tall task. But our guys were up to it and did an awesome job.”
There were four lead changes and three ties in the first quarter with Thelk hitting two 3-pointers for Peters Township and Ellsworth and Cam Dugan each making a 3-pointer for Uniontown which also got a three-point play from Winfrey as the Red Raiders built a 15-10 advantage.
The Indians fought back to tie it twice in the second quarter but Uniontown held a 26-25 lead at halftime.
“We didn’t score as much as usual early in the game,” Kezmarsky said. “We just didn’t make as many shots tonight as we normally do.”
The Indians opened the third quarter with an 8-2 run that included two baskets by Wetzel and another 3-pointer by Thelk to go up 33-28 and they never trailed again.
Urmann lauded Wetzel.
“Jake was awesome tonight,” he said. “As only a sophomore that’s probably the biggest crowd he’s played in front of. But his poise was pretty good. The moment did not seem too big for him. He was good on defense and he definitely helped us out on offense.
“It was everyone though. I told them they’re a true team, not just a bunch of guys that wear the same colored jersey. And I told them this win is rare and it’s special and to value it and enjoy the ride.”
Kezmarsky was ready to turn the page.
“It hurts,” Kezmarsky said. “We can’t look back on it. It’s over.”
The state playoffs begin March 7.