New Castle sinks Quaker Valley
Red Hurricanes pull away in second half after converting 10 3s in 73-58 victory
In 2002, Amos Luptak was the ring bearer in Ralph Blundo’s wedding.
Fifteen years later, Luptak, a standout senior point guard at Quaker Valley, couldn’t keep the New Castle boys basketball coach from another ring.
Despite Luptak’s season-high 29 points, New Castle defeated Quaker Valley, 73-58, to win the WPIAL Class 4A championship Saturday at Petersen Events Center.
New Castle’s players and coaches get rings when they win titles. For Blundo, it will be his fourth ring in seven years. Luptak is not related to Blundo, but was the ring bearer at the wedding because Blundo’s thenfiancee was a nanny for Luptak’s family.
“We had trouble keeping Amos in front of us on defense,” Blundo said.
But Quaker Valley fell too far behind in the second half. New Castle (23-2) led the Quakers (22-3) by only three points at halftime, but pulled away in the second half, mainly because of some fine 3-point shooting.
New Castle made 10 3-pointers — the fourth-most in a WPIAL championship — and seven came in the second half. Throw in junior forward Marcus Hooker’s 12 points and 15 rebounds and the Red Hurricanes hurt the Quakers in a variety of ways.
“They played a near-perfect game,” Luptak said.
The Red Hurricanes finished 10 of 25 from 3-point range. Senior guard Gino DeMonaco had all four of his 3-pointers in the second half and finished with 12 points. Senior guard Geno Stone had three 3-pointers and scored 23. Senior guard Garrett Farah also made three 3-pointers and finished with 15.
The Red Hurricanes’ marksmanship is nothing new. In three WPIAL playoff games, New Castle made 30 3-pointers and shot 46 percent from behind the arc. Against Quaker Valley, New Castle got open looks from 3-point range off set plays, but also when the Quakers had to scramble on defense.
New Castle split two close games with Quaker Valley in the regular season. How did this one turn lopsided?
“We made shots,” Blundo said. “It seems simple, but that’s really what it was.”
Quaker Valley shot only 20 percent (3 of 15) from 3-point range. Besides Luptak, the only other Quaker Valley player in double figures was junior guard Coletrane Washington, who had 16.
“We’ve been a balanced team on offense. That’s who we are,” Quaker Valley coach Mike Mastroianni said. “But we really didn’t have that balance on defense, and a lot of that had to do with New Castle’s defense.”
New Castle widened its lead to 14 points late in the fourth quarter. The Quakers cut the deficit to 59-51 with 3:46 left, but could get no closer.
When Blundo’s name was announced to receive a gold medal after the game, he started shaking his head.
“I was just looking at my wife [Kate] thinking about what she does every day so I can do this,” Blundo said. “It’s hard to put into words, but I’m just so appreciative.”
And he has another ring to show for it.