Panthers knock monkey off back
Former players, coaches, fans, they all were more than willing to give the Sewickley Academy boys basketball team some tough love. It went a little like this: Yeah, you guys are pretty good, won some section titles, but where’s the WPIAL championship?
Friday night, the Panthers and their accomplished senior class made sure that particular banner wouldn’t be missing much longer.
Four players scored in double figures for Win Palmer’s unselfish bunch to help the longtime coach and program win a fourth WPIAL crown, first since 2010, with a 71-60 victory against section rival Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in the Class 2A final at Petersen Events Center.
“This team shares the ball unbelievably well,” said Palmer, who now has led the way to all four WPIAL titles since the first in 2004. “We don’t have the big man in the middle that a couple of our teams had, but we’re as skilled a team as I’ve coached.”
Point guard Chris Groetsch had a game-high 25 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds, with fellow senior Justin Pryor scoring 15, all in the second half, to go with 10 boards. Groetsch’s junior brother, David, pitched in 13 points and sophomore Nate Ridgeway added 12.
After a back-and-forth first half that made for a 3333 tie at the break, the thirdseeded Panthers (20-4) took control for good with a 10-0 run midway through the third quarter as they beat the No. 4 Chargers (18-7) for the third time this season.
“We can’t take anything away from Sewickley Academy, they played an outstanding game,” said Chargers coach Mike Rodriguez, whose team reached its first WPIAL final since 1999. “I thought they were one of the best teams we played all year, and they still are, so hats off to Win Palmer and his troops.”
The Panthers shot 46 percent from the field and made 14 of 18 free throws, many coming down the stretch to ice their win. They also held a 33-23 edge on the glass and had just eight turnovers.
Chris Groetsch was a whirling dervish at times, knifing into the paint and finishing in creative ways, including one early layup that came to a standstill on the rim before dropping through. But to single him out too much would be doing his teammates a disservice.
Their big run featured four baskets from four players — 3-pointers by Ridgeway and David Groetsch, a fastbreak layup by Pryor and a reverse layup by Chris Groetsch in transition that made it 49-39 with 3:27 left in the third.
“That’s the beauty of our team,” Palmer said. “You don’t know who to stop.”
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart never got closer than seven points the rest of the way. Sophomore Austin Wigley came off the bench to score 20 points, 15 in the first half, and senior forward Ethan Harrell added 18 with plenty of pretty moves on the inside. Freshman point guard Donovan Johnson, who had averaged 18.3 points a game in the playoffs, was held to two as he dealt with foul trouble.
Both teams now await the PIAA playoffs, a chance for the Chargers to reboot and for the Panthers to keep rolling. Ironically, Sewickley Academy let a section championship get away this year — to Bishop Canevin.
“Coach Palmer’s son Tyler was a coach last year and he would always kind of rub it in our face that he won a WPIAL championship and we hadn’t yet,” Chris Groetsch said with a grin. “It’s nice that he can’t hold that over our heads anymore.”