Gators’ comeback falls short in 72-67 setback to Bishop Canevin
Lori C. Padilla
Geibel Catholic鈥檚 Ryan Anderson and Bishop Canevin鈥檚 Dom Elliott battle for a rebound during Tuesday鈥檚 Section 2-A game at Geibel Catholic High School.
Geibel Catholic鈥檚 Drew Howard goes up for a shot during Tuesday鈥檚 Section 1-A game against Bishop Canevin at Geibel Catholic High School.
Lori C. Padilla
Geibel Catholic鈥檚 Cole Kendall posts up against Bishop Canevin鈥檚 Nevan Crossey in Tuesday鈥檚 Section 2-A game at Geibel Catholic High School.
Lori C. Padilla
Geibel Catholic鈥檚 Enzo Fetsko drives to the basket against Bishop Canevin鈥檚 Jhamil Fife during the second half of Tuesday鈥檚 game at Geibel Catholic High School.
CONNELLSVILLE TWP. 鈥� Geibel Catholic staged a furious comeback in the fourth quarter, but fell short to visiting Bishop Canevin, 72-67, in Section 2-A action Tuesday night.
The Crusaders (11-0, 16-4) broke open a closely played game in the third quarter behind the play of KeVaughn Price and Dom Elliott. It was a 10-0 run by the Crusaders sparked by Price that gave them control of the game. In fact, Price and Elliott accounted for 30 of the Crusaders鈥� 38 second-half points.
鈥淭hat 10-0 burst in the third quarter gave them a lot of momentum, 鈥� Geibel coach Don Porter said. 鈥淢y kids refused to lose. They fought back, and if a couple of calls go our way, who knows what could have happened.鈥�
The game was tightly played from the start. Elliott had a big first quarter in scoring 13 of his game-high 32 points to help Bishop Canevin take a 20-16 lead. Geibel (8-4, 13-7) was able to stay close behind Ryan Anderson, who scored eight of his 21 points in the first quarter.
Enzo Fetsko, who lead the Gators with 29 points, came to life in the second quarter with 11 points, as Geibel outscored Bishop Canevin, 16-14, in the quarter to trail 34-32 at the half.
In the third quarter, Price who finished with 19, scored to give the Crusaders a 36-32 lead. Cole Kendall, who finished with 13 points for the Gators, drained a pair of three-pointers to give Geibel a 38-36 lead. Nevan Crossey scored for the Crusaders to tie the game.
Elliott scored on a pair of assists from Price. Crossey picked up another basket on a feed from Price, who then scored a basket himself to complete the 10-0 run giving the Crusaders a 46-38 lead. They want on to outscore Geibel, 21-14, to take a 56-46 lead into the final quarter.
鈥淓lliot and Price played well for us tonight,鈥� Bishop Canvein coach Gino Palmosina said. 鈥淲e got an alley-oop dunk and got on a little bit of a roll. You鈥檝e got to give Geibel a lot of credit. We had them down by double digits and they battled back through the last seconds of the game. They could surprise someone in the playoffs.鈥�
The Gators started to find their shot late in the fourth quarter, as Anderson and Fetsko connected on a pair of threes, plus another three from Kendall to close to within three at 70-67. They were forced to foul and Elliott hit a pair of free throws to seal the game.
鈥淚鈥檓 proud of my guys because when Canevin pumped their lead up to 14 we could have quit,鈥� Porter said. 鈥淲e refused to lose, which is a tribute to our seniors. I鈥檓 happy where we are at right now because we鈥檙e healthy and playing well going into the playoffs.鈥�