Still in the hunt
Mustangs stun Franklin Region to keep playoff hopes alive
Laurel Highlands had its back against the wall as far as making the WPIAL boys basketball playoffs out of Section 1-5A.
In danger of falling three games out of the final postseason spot, the Mustangs came up with one of their best efforts of the season.
Tyrone Burton rang up a game-high 21 points and Luke Martin added 11 as Laurel Highlands went on the road to knock off second-place Franklin Regional, 51-36, to pull within two games of Uniontown and McKeesport who are tied for fourth-place. The top five teams in the section qualify for the playoffs.
The loss dropped the Panthers (7-4, 11-6) into a second-place tie with Penn-Trafford, three games behind frontrunning Gateway (10-1, 12-6).
Laurel Highlands (4-7, 10-8) is now tied with Latrobe for sixth place but remains alive in the playoff hunt. The Mustangs were scheduled to host Albert Gallatin (0-11, 2-16) Friday night then have section games at Uniontown on Tuesday and at home against Penn-Trafford next Friday.
“This is a huge win,” LH coach John Smith said. “We’ve been in most of our section games. Other than maybe one or two, they’ve been all winnable games for us. We got a big road win at Penn Trafford not too long ago and now this one tonight, that keeps us right there in the playoff race.”
Laurel Highlands snapped a three-game losing streak, having suffered defeats to McKeesport by six, Gateway by 10 and Latrobe by six.
“We’ve had a couple tough losses recently but you don’t want that to get their spirits down,” Smith said. “We’ve been positive with the kids and telling them we’re right there. This is a tough section with a lot of well-coached teams. Latrobe is a well-coached team. Robbie (Kezmarsky) does a great job at Uniontown, (McKeesport’s Dan) DeRose with his record at Penn Hills and North Allegheny. Any section win is hard-earned in here.”
Laurel Highlands employed a zone defense against Franklin Regional and the strategy was effective.
“I’m a man-to-man guy,” Smith said. “I don’t like playing a zone personally. But you have to play the hand you’re dealt and I look at us, evaluate our strengths and our weaknesses and I looked at Franklin and their strengths and weaknesses and I thought playing zone would give us a better chance to win. I had a game plan today that I thought they executed flawlessly. I thought our zone was tough. We weren’t giving up open outside shots. We were bumping, shifting, communicating and I felt we gave them fits defensively.”
The determined Mustangs not only defeated Franklin Regional on its own floor, they took control from the start and never relented.
Laurel Highlands grinded out to an 8-3 lead after the first quarter and was up 16-13 at halftime.
The Mustangs extended their advantage to 31-22 in the third quarter and pulled away from there, out-scoring the Panthers 20-14 in the fourth.
Kayden Smith tallied eight points, Jude Packrone had six points and Sevi Vecchiolla added five points to account for LH’s scoring. Logan Walter led Franklin Regional with 11 points.
“The first half was kind of a slugfest but we were able to come out in the second half, relax, and Kayden was able to get some penetration, get downhill for a couple layups and a couple nice assists,” Smith said. “We were able to get the ball to Tyrone, and when he got in foul trouble (Burton ended the game with four fouls) we had guys come off the bench and give us good minutes. Everybody played their role. We rebounded the ball well and played good defense, and that’s where it all starts with us is defense.
“I was extremely proud of the boys’ performance tonight.”
Smith lauded Burton’s effort.
“We don’t have a 30-point scorer every night,” Smith said. “I don’t know from game to game who’s going to be our leading scorers. Tonight it was Tyrone and I’m super happy for him. I thought we could go inside today and Tyrone really stepped it up. Sevi had a good game, too.
“One of the differences from the first time we played them (a 65-52 home loss on Dec. 23) and tonight is our guards were much more selective with their shots. We didn’t shoot that many 3-pointers and this year, statistically, we haven’t been good in that aspect of the game. I break the statistics down with the players and we watch a lot of film and I’m explaining to them that this isn’t what we’re real good at right now and maybe we ought to try this, and they’re receptive to that.”
Smith is confident the Mustangs can close the season strong.
“I’ve been saying it all year, these kids are dedicated, they’re hard workers, they’ve showed up during our offseason program and they’ve been practicing hard all season, and they’re starting to reap what they sow,” Smith said.
“As a head coach, I’m trying to instill in these boys hard work ethic, good sportsmanship and a team-first mentality, and that’s what they’ve been doing. It’s just a credit to these kids. They’ve bought in and they play for one another. We want to go out and represent ourselves in a positive way for our school and our families, and I think they’re doing that. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Smith was wary of the Colonials going into Friday night’s game.
“We can’t overlook AG,” Smith said. ” They almost beat Gateway in their last game (a 50-48 loss), plus this is a big rivalry game. It doesn’t get the hype of the Uniontown game but it’s right there. AG is a very young team. I have a lot of respect for Coach Spencer (Macke). They don’t have a great record but he’s got his kids still playing hard and they’re dangerous.”