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鈥檚 WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal loss to Peters Township on Friday.
鈥淲e were sad, dwelling on the loss all weekend,鈥� Grooms said. 鈥淚t hurt.鈥�
鈥淭hat loss killed me,鈥� Winfrey said. 鈥淪o I had to come out and make a statement.鈥�
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.
鈥淚 came ready,鈥� Winfrey said. 鈥淥nce I got the first seven I knew it was going to be a good night.
鈥淏oth of us have been talking about that loss ever since it happened. We鈥檝e got to move on. Now it鈥檚 time to try to get a state title.鈥�
鈥淲e told Calvin we want him going to the basket,鈥� Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky said. 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 seen a player go to the basket like him. He鈥檚 great at that. When they tried to stop that he was making his shots and that鈥檚 a credit to all the shots he鈥檚 taken in practice in his life to get to this point.鈥�
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.
鈥淚 always try to do those extra little things to help us win games,鈥� Grooms said. 鈥淲e kept saying we鈥檝e still got another chance in the states so let鈥檚 shock the world.鈥�
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鈥檛 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.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 play the best defense for a while there but there are times when the other team鈥檚 just making shots, too,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淏ut we picked it up. Kelan especially played great defense in the second half.鈥�
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.
鈥淲e did a great job handling the basketball when we spread the floor,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 one thing we鈥檝e done really well all year.鈥�
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.
鈥淚 have so much respect for Coach (Doug) Kelly and their players,鈥� Kezmarsky said of P-T. 鈥淭hey played so hard. They鈥檝e improved as the season has gone on and that鈥檚 a credit to their team and their coaches.
鈥淭his is a very tough game for both teams,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淲e both had a chance in very close games to be in the semifinals and it didn鈥檛 work out.鈥�
Kezmarsky knew his players were devastated by the Peters Township loss.
鈥淐alvin and Tori are just wonderful kids and there鈥檚 nobody that hurt more than them, and all these kids, when we lost that game,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 nobody tougher on Tori than Tori. So this was good for us. We鈥檙e going to practice tomorrow, play Wednesday, then take a couple days off and see what we can do March 7.
鈥淏ut they don鈥檛 have to prove anything to me with what they鈥檝e 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鈥檙e going to be in the state playoffs three years in a row and there鈥檚 not a lot of programs that can say that.鈥�
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.
鈥淚 laugh because that鈥檚 a lot more than me,鈥� said Kezmarsky who was a 1,000-point scorer and a WPIAL scoring champion at Laurel Highlands. 鈥淚 played in three playoff games, (assistant) Coach (Warare) Gladman played in one.鈥�
Winfrey and Grooms would like nothing more than to push their total to 24.