Gators’ season ends with losses to state’s top-ranked teams
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Geibel Catholic鈥檚 Drew Howard (23) heads up court after making a steal against Berlin Brothersvalley as teammate Trevon White looks on during Friday night鈥檚 PIAA Class A first-round game at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown鈥檚 缅北禁地 Center. Howard scored 11 points in the Gators鈥� defeat.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Geibel Catholic鈥檚 Ryan Anderson secures a rebound against Berlin Brothersvalley as teammate Jaydis Kennedy (22) looks on during Friday night鈥檚 PIAA Class A first-round game at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown鈥檚 缅北禁地 Center.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Geibel Catholic鈥檚 Enzo Fetsko (3) puts in a shot in front of Berlin Brothersvalley鈥檚 Cole Blubaugh for the Gators鈥� first points during Friday night鈥檚 PIAA Class A first-round game at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown鈥檚 缅北禁地 Center.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Geibel Catholic鈥檚 Isaiah Krizner attempts a shot over Berlin Brothersvalley鈥檚 Abe Countryman (25) during Friday night鈥檚 PIAA Class A first-round game at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown鈥檚 缅北禁地 Center.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Geibel Catholic鈥檚 Enzo Fetsko tries to fend off Berlin Brothersvalley鈥檚 Cole Blubaugh as he dribbles the ball during Friday night鈥檚 PIAA Class A first-round game at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown鈥檚 缅北禁地 Center.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Geibel Catholic鈥檚 Isaiah Krizner (12) defends Berlin Brothersvalley鈥檚 Elijah Sechler during Friday night鈥檚 PIAA Class A first-round game at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown鈥檚 缅北禁地 Center.
JOHNSTOWN 鈥� No one can say Geibel Catholic鈥檚 boys basketball team wasn鈥檛 tested during the 2020 postseason.
Fifteen days after suffering a 99-51 loss to Vincentian Academy 鈥� the No. 1 Class A team in the state and eventual district champion 鈥� the Gators found themselves up against Pennsylvania鈥檚 second-ranked team in Berlin Brothersvalley in the first round of the PIAA tournament.
The results were similar.
The District 5 champion Mountaineers ended the first quarter on a 12-point run to take a 17-6 lead and never looked back in cruising to a 73-37 victory in the 缅北禁地 Center at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown on Friday night.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a real tall task to try to come up and beat those two,鈥� Geibel coach Don Porter said. 鈥淚t should be an interesting match-up with Vincentian and Berlin.鈥�
Those two will meet in the second round on Tuesday at a site and time to be determined.
Elijah Sechler hit four of Berlin鈥檚 10 3-pointers in scoring a game-high 22 points, teammate Wil Spochart followed with 16 points and 6-foot-3 center Abe Countryman dominated inside in tallying 14 points.
The Mountaineers (27-1) led 39-13 at halftime and 53-22 after three quarters.
鈥淏erlin鈥檚 a really nice team,鈥� Porter said. 鈥淭hey鈥檒l do well.鈥�
The Gators (15-10) can take pride in knowing they earned the program鈥檚 first playoff win since 2005 when they beat Leechburg in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs, 65-58.
Geibel got one strong scoring half from two different players against the Mountaineers. Senior Ryan Anderson accounted for all but two of his team鈥檚 first-half points with a pair of 3-pointers and a 5-for-6 performance at the foul line for 11, while sophomore Drew Howard scored all 11 of his points in the second half with five field goals, including one trey.
Berlin made it tough on Gators leader Enzo Fetsko, holding the senior 1,000-point scorer to just two points as he put in Geibel鈥檚 first basket of the game.
鈥淔etsko was just cold tonight,鈥� said Porter, who also credited Berlin鈥檚 defense. 鈥淚 know it was deliberate to try to get him taken out of the game, that鈥檚 what their game plan was. Take out a 20-point scorer.
鈥淥ur game goes through Enzo, it has all year. It鈥檚 just a shame that it happened this last game like this. It just wasn鈥檛 our night.鈥�
The Gators took their only lead when Anderson hit four straight free throws in a 25-second span to make it 6-5 with 4:05 left in the first quarter but Countryman scored to put Berlin back ahead to stay.
Oddly enough, despite falling by 36 points, the Gators put just as many players in the scoring column as the Mountaineers with seven.
Senior Isaiah Krizner and freshman Trevon White each had four points, senior Ethan Jellots sank a 3-pointer and senior Jacob Mariotti tossed in a basket at the final buzzer for two points.
Geibel was minus one starter as senior Cole Kendall didn鈥檛 travel with the team for personal reasons.
Porter commended his team despite the loss.
鈥淥ur guys had a great season,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey played hard all the time. I couldn鈥檛 be more proud of them.鈥�