Gators upend visiting Monessen, 56-53
Lori C. Padilla
Monessen鈥檚 Marquell Smith (3) and Ronza Ford battle with the Gators鈥� Drew Howard to gain possession of a rebound during the first half of Tuesday鈥檚 Section 2-A game at Geibel Catholic.
Lori C. Padilla
The Gators鈥� Isaiah Krizner struggles to gain possession of the ball from Monessen鈥檚 James Thomas (30) during the second quarter of Tuesday鈥檚 Section 2-A game at Geibel Catholic.
Lori C. Padilla
Monessen鈥檚 DaWayne Howell fights for a rebound with Geibel Catholic鈥檚 Isaiah Krizner and Drew Howard during the first half of Tuesday鈥檚 Section 2-A game at Geibel.
CONNELLSVILLE TWP. 鈥� Geibel Catholic moved into second place in Section 2-A and clinched a playoff spot with a 56-53 victory over visiting Monessen in a boys basketball battle at the Swamp on Tuesday night.
The Gators (7-3, 12-6) hold a one-game advantage in the win column over Monessen (6-3, 7-12) and sit three games behind first-place Bishop Canevin (10-0).
The Gators went cold at the free throw line in the fourth quarter, converting only 4 of 11 attempts, while Monessen charged back with 12 points. Marquell Smith scored six as the Greyhounds took the lead at 53-52. The Gators pulled themselves enough at the foul line, though, hitting 4 of 6 down the stretch for get the win.
Geibel struggled from the foul line all night, making just 8 of 18, but the Gators got a big first half from Enzo Fetsko where he scored 18 of his game-high 23 points. Teammate Ryan Anderson took over in the second half, scoring 11 of his 15 points in the final 16 minutes.
鈥淲e came out with so much energy in the first half. We鈥檙e finally getting back to full strength,鈥� said Geibel coach Don Porter. 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 had our two captains, Enzo and Ryan, playing together for the first 11 games because of injury and illness.鈥�
The Greyhounds kept their composure while facing a double-digit deficit in the second quarter, trailing 29-12 before coming back to cut the deficit to seven at the half, 33-26.
Smith lead a second-half surge for the Greyhounds with 14 points, briefly giving Monessen the lead late in the fourth quarter.
鈥淲e had our opportunities in the second half, but we didn鈥檛 finish them out,鈥� Monessen coach Dan Bosnic said. 鈥淪mith made a lot of good plays for us in the second half to help bring us back. We鈥檝e got to play two halves of basketball to beat a team like Geibel.鈥�
The Gators jumped out to an 18-7 lead in the first quarter due to a hot start from Fetsko, who scored nine points, including a 3-pointer.
Carleton Jones and DeWayne Howell hit consecutive baskets for Monessen in the second quarter before Fetsko countered with a trey, making the score 21-11. Following a free throw from Howell, the Gators scored the next eight points to open up a 29-12 lead. Monessen using balanced scoring, getting points from seven different players to outscore the Gators, 19-15, to trail 33-26 at the half.
Smith started to make things happen for the Greyhounds in the third quarter, scoring eight points. Jones added five points, including a 3-pointer. The Gators鈥� offense found Anderson for several easy baskets as he put up eight in the quarter to allow Geibel to take a 47-41 lead into the final period.
鈥淲e had a meeting Monday night to talk about what we needed to do to get the win tonight,鈥� Porter said. 鈥淭onight鈥檚 win will help define our season. If we make the playoffs, this will be looked at as a quality win.
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 be more proud of this group of seniors. They鈥檝e done a great job for me this year.鈥�