Rough start: Imani explodes early to advance, but Gators earn respect in defeat
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Geibel Catholic鈥檚 Tre White serves up two points against Imani Christian during Saturday鈥檚 WPIAL Class A semifinal playoff game at Mount Lebanon. White scored 17 points but the Gators lost, 75-57.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Imani Christian鈥檚 Avery Wesley (4) tries to keep up with Geibel Catholic鈥檚 Jaydis Kennedy during Saturday鈥檚 WPIAL Class A semifinal playoff game at Mount Lebanon. Kennedy led the Gators with 20 points but the Saints won, 75-57.
Geibel Catholic's Jeffrey Johnson (5) defends Imani Christian's Dame Givner聽during Saturday's WPIAL Class A semifinal playoff game at Mount Lebanon.
Geibel Catholic's Kaiden Grady scores against Imani Christian聽during Saturday's WPIAL Class A semifinal playoff game at Mount Lebanon. Grady scored 11 points but the Gators lost, 75-57.
Geibel Catholic's Tommy Kolencik (11) lofts a shot over Imani Christian's Alier Maluk during Saturday's WPIAL Class A semifinal playoff game at Mount Lebanon.
Geibel Catholic's Kaiden Grady (25) can't prevent Virgil Hall from throwing down one of Imani Christian's eight dunks聽during Saturday's WPIAL Class A semifinal playoff game at Mount Lebanon.
MT. LEBANON 鈥� If Geibel Catholic鈥檚 boys basketball game Saturday was a boxing match the Gators would鈥檝e been given a couple standing eight counts in the first quarter of their match-up with top-seeded Imani Christian.
And then Geibel would鈥檝e continued on, not only going the distance but outslugging its opponent the rest of the way despite losing in the end.
That鈥檚 what happened to the Gators in their 75-57 defeat at the hands of the Saints in a WPIAL Class A semifinal game at Mount Lebanon.
Imani Christian put on a show of long-range shooting and dunking in the opening frame, exploding to a 31-4 advantage.
Geibel, however, shook off the horrendous start and outscored Imani Christian 53-44 over the next three quarters.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got bunch of hard-nosed kids,鈥� Gators coach Don Porter said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not ever going to quit. They鈥檇 go two more quarters until they鈥檇 get the win if it was possible.鈥�
The Saints (17-6) advance to Thursday鈥檚 Class A final at the Petersen Events Center against No. 2 Union. The Gators (17-7), who have already secured a spot in the PIAA tournament, will meet Carlynton in a consolation game Tuesday that will determine placement in the state bracket.
Imani Christian was led by 6-10 sophomore center Alier Maluk who had two dunks and a 3-pointer in the opening frame on his way to scoring a game-high 21 points. Dame Givner, Avery Wesley and R.J. Sledge, who each also hit a 3-pointer in the first quarter, finished with 14, 14 and 13 points, respectively, for the Saints.
Maluk threw down six dunks and 6-foot-8 Virgil Hall, who added nine points, had two slams. The Saints also had three other dunk attempts rattle out.
Imani Christian鈥檚 first quarter included four 3-pointers, three dunks and one three-point play. Geibel鈥檚 only points came on an acrobatic layup by Jeffrey Johnson and a bucket inside by Tommy Kolencik.
鈥淭errible start,鈥� Porter said. 鈥淧art of it was the shock of just coming into the gym and seeing the size of what they had. Their height was there, some dunks, some big blocks.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 get any whistles the whole first quarter. I鈥檓 not saying that鈥檚 the difference in the game but it surely didn鈥檛 help that we had some strong takes to the hoop and didn鈥檛 get a whistle on them.鈥�
While it looked like the Gators were completely overmatched, they came out inspired in the second quarter, opening it with an 18-6 run that cut the lead to 37-22 and forced Saints coach Omar Foster to call a timeout along the way.
鈥淗olding them to four points, that was amazing for my guys,鈥� Foster said of the incredible start. 鈥淚 thought Geibel fought hard in that second quarter. I was upset that we kind of got comfortable. I think we might鈥檝e looked at the scoreboard and we just let off the gas.鈥�
The Gators two top scoring threats, Jaydis Kennedy and Tre White, bounced back from being shut out in the first quarter to scoring 10 and nine points, respectively, in the second.
鈥淚 just told the guys you鈥檙e not straying from our plan, our shots are just not falling right now and theirs are,鈥� Porter said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e just got to stay the course, and they did.鈥�
Imani Christian regrouped and closed the quarter on a 15-7 run for a 52-29 halftime lead, then reeled off the first seven points of the third quarter to go up 59-29 and invoke the mercy rule.
Still, the Gators would not fold.
Geibel answered with a 15-4 run to get within 19 and ended the quarter down 65-44. After outscoring the Saints 25-21 and 15-13 in the middle two quarters, the Gators also won the fourth quarter, 13-10.
鈥淲e beat them three of the four quarters, but that鈥檚 not how you score a basketball game,鈥� Porter said.
Kennedy wound up with a team-high 20 points and White added 17 in a stellar all-around performance. Kaiden Grady also hit double figures with 11 points. Johnson finished with five points and Kolencik had the team鈥檚 other four points.
Porter lauded Grady and Kolencik for not backing down from Imani Christian鈥檚 intimidating front line.
鈥淜aiden did really well, and even Tommy Kolencik played right with them,鈥� said Porter, who added, in noting Grady鈥檚 offensive output, 鈥淚t just gives us another weapon going into the state tournament.鈥�
Foster praised the Gators.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a lot of respect for them. I think they鈥檙e still a good team,鈥� Foster said. 鈥淭hey may not have seen a team that plays as fast as we do. It was probably a little shocking to them at first. But then give them credit, they adjusted well.鈥�
Porter had no qualms with his team鈥檚 effort.
鈥淚鈥檓 happy with where we鈥檙e at against a team of that caliber,鈥� Porter said. 鈥淗opefully we can make a little run (in the state playoffs).
鈥淲e鈥檙e definitely going to build off of this.鈥�