Surge in third quarter lifts Erie Strong Vincent

Senior David Morris scored 25 points and Erie Strong Vincent exploded for a 24-point third quarter, defeating Quaker Valley, 73-64, in the 4A semifinals Tuesday at Slippery Rock University.

Strong Vincent will face Imhotep in the finals 2 p.m. Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey. Imhotep defeated Greater Nanticoke, 60-23, to advance to the championship.

“Second half, that’s always our big turning point, because we go in on offense and just re-evaluate ourselves, listen to our coach and just go out there and do what we usually do,” Morris said. “We always find our groove after halftime — I don’t know what it is.”

The Colonels and Quakers entered the third quarter tied at 26. Forward William Lyons stole the ball and polished it off with a layup, adding a free throw to pull Strong Vincent ahead, 34-28.

The Colonels had hit their stride on offense, as Jerome Henderson, who scored 17 points, drove for a layup and stretched the lead to 10. Coletrane Washington tried to stop the bleeding with a 3pointer, but Aje Gore made a 3 and Morris added a layup as the third quarter came to a close to make it 50-37.

The Quakers couldn’t contain Morris, who scored 13 points in the third quarter and led the Colonels in trying to get the ball in the paint.

“We just started attacking the basket,” Strong Vincent coach Shannon Pullium said. “We were settling for 3’s. We weren’t attacking.”

Washington opened the fourth quarter with a 3pointer, quickly nullified by a 3-pointer in response by Gore. Two quick layups by Strong Vincent’s Samad Bailey and Gore helped the Colonels pull away, 60-42. Quaker Valley rallied, as guard Wolf Moser made a 3-pointer with 3:49 to play and senior guard Amos Luptak added another 3. Moser and Luptak led the Quakers with 16 points each.

Danny Conlan added a layup at the 1:54 mark before Strong Vincent answered with a wide-open basket.

Another layup by Conlan brought the Quakers within 10 as seconds ticked off the clock. Despite a 27-point fourth quarter, the Quakers couldn’t overtake the Colonels. One of Strong Vincent’s goals was to contest shots and limit shots from beyond the arc, Pullium said, though Quaker Valley managed three 3-pointers in the fourth.

Tied at 12 entering the second quarter, Strong Vincent converted two Quaker Valley turnovers into baskets to pull ahead. The Quakers responded with a 9-0 run triggered by two layups by Luptak, with Ricky Guss adding another layup to pull ahead, 21-16, with 3:50 left in the half.

Strong Vincent’s Tahjmere Jones hit a 3 to stop the streak, but Washington made a 3 on the next possession, holding the lead at 26-21. Morris’ 3pointer at the buzzer tied the score at 26 at the half, before the Colonels seized control of the game in the second half.

After an emotional season, Pullium said this win was for the Erie community in addition to all his players who are battling hardships.

“This is for the ones that are not here,” Pullium said. “The ones that through gun violence have lost their lives, the ones that are incarcerated. When we started this 18 years ago, we wanted to be a fraternity.”