Up off the deck: Winfrey explodes for 47 as Uniontown bounces back
Calvin Winfrey III and Notorious Grooms took it hard.
The two Uniontown senior 1,000-point scorers were crushed by their team’s WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal loss to Peters Township on Friday.
“We were sad, dwelling on the loss all weekend,” Grooms said. “It hurt.”
“That loss killed me,” Winfrey said. “So I had to come out and make a statement.”
A very powerful one at that.
Winfrey hit five 3-pointers and rang up a career-high 47 points, reportedly a school record, and Grooms added 20 as the Red Raiders rallied in the second half to knock off Penn-Trafford, 86-73, in a WPIAL consolation game at A.J. Everhart Memorial Gymnasium on Monday night.
Uniontown, which had already secured a spot in the PIAA tournament, will host Latrobe Wednesday in the WPIAL Class 5A fifth-place consolation game before beginning the state playoffs on March 7.
Kelan Milsom added 11 points before fouling out late as the Red Raiders improved to 21-4 on the season.
The Warriors (14-11) fall into the seventh-place consolation game at Moon, also on Wednesday.
Winfrey sizzled the entire night. He scored 14 points with a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter, added seven points in the second and 13 more in both the third and fourth quarters, sinking one trey in each of the last three frames.
“I came ready,” Winfrey said. “Once I got the first seven I knew it was going to be a good night.
“Both of us have been talking about that loss ever since it happened. We’ve got to move on. Now it’s time to try to get a state title.”
“We told Calvin we want him going to the basket,” Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky said. “I haven’t seen a player go to the basket like him. He’s great at that. When they tried to stop that he was making his shots and that’s a credit to all the shots he’s taken in practice in his life to get to this point.”
Grooms also had an inspiring performance with his passing, rebounding, defense and ball handling, despite being forced to leave the game twice in the fourth quarter with a bloody nose.
“I always try to do those extra little things to help us win games,” Grooms said. “We kept saying we’ve still got another chance in the states so let’s shock the world.”
Penn-Trafford, which upended second-seeded Baldwin in the first round before falling to Mars in the quarterfinals when a potential game-winning 3-pointer wouldn’t go down, gave Uniontown all it could handle for three quarters.
There were seven lead changes and three ties in the first quarter which ended in a 20-20 deadlock and Penn-Trafford held a 36-34 halftime advantage.
“We didn’t play the best defense for a while there but there are times when the other team’s just making shots, too,” Kezmarsky said. “But we picked it up. Kelan especially played great defense in the second half.”
The Warriors went up by seven twice in the third quarter but after taking a 55-48 lead on a 3-pointer by Jack Weishaar the Red Raiders closed the quarter on a 14-4 run that included a pair of 3-point plays by Grooms and seven points by Winfrey and never trailed again.
Up 62-59 after three quarters, Uniontown opened the fourth with a 10-point run to go up 72-59 and Penn-Trafford never got closer than nine the rest of the way.
The Red Raiders effectively went to their delay game when the clock ticked under five minutes, the highlight being a no-look pass Grooms zipped to Cam Dugan for a layup that made it 78-65. Uniontown converted seven of 10 free throws down the stretch.
“We did a great job handling the basketball when we spread the floor,” Kezmarsky said. “That’s one thing we’ve done really well all year.”
Zach Feldman scored 21 points to pace the Warriors, who also got 17 points from Brayden Stone and 13 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, from Evan Gross.
“I have so much respect for Coach (Doug) Kelly and their players,” Kezmarsky said of P-T. “They played so hard. They’ve improved as the season has gone on and that’s a credit to their team and their coaches.
“This is a very tough game for both teams,” Kezmarsky said. “We both had a chance in very close games to be in the semifinals and it didn’t work out.”
Kezmarsky knew his players were devastated by the Peters Township loss.
“Calvin and Tori are just wonderful kids and there’s nobody that hurt more than them, and all these kids, when we lost that game,” Kezmarsky said. “There’s nobody tougher on Tori than Tori. So this was good for us. We’re going to practice tomorrow, play Wednesday, then take a couple days off and see what we can do March 7.
“But they don’t have to prove anything to me with what they’ve done. We were one game from the state final when these guys were sophomores, we were the only ones who stood up to Lincoln Park last year. We’re going to be in the state playoffs three years in a row and there’s not a lot of programs that can say that.”
With another consolation game and at least one PIAA game left, Winfrey and Grooms will have taken part in at least 20 playoff games in their careers when the season ends.
“I laugh because that’s a lot more than me,” said Kezmarsky who was a 1,000-point scorer and a WPIAL scoring champion at Laurel Highlands. “I played in three playoff games, (assistant) Coach (Warare) Gladman played in one.”
Winfrey and Grooms would like nothing more than to push their total to 24.