No. 1 Penn Hills lets victory talk for itself
The start of the game was moved up 2½ hours because of the impending winter weather. But a 5 p.m. start didn’t stop a fairly big crowd from showing up. As Penn Hills’ student section and cheerleaders danced in the bleachers during timeouts, Penn Hills senior Daivon Stephens did a pretty good routine on the court. You won’t find a more versatile player in the WPIAL, and the 6-foot-5 guard showed it against Woodland Hills with 21 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks.
“We have a couple guys who I think are pretty good defensively,” Woodland Hills coach Odell Miller said. “But, when you’re 6-5, handle the ball, go inside and shoot halfway decently, that’s a tough matchup. We don’t have a guy like [Stephens].”
It’s just that no one from Penn Hills would talk about Stephens’ performance or the team’s afterward.
Penn Hills athletic director Stephanie Strauss said the district has decided not to have DeRose or players talk to reporters after games. She said it’s because of what happened after last season, when the WPIAL ordered Penn Hills to suspend DeRose for the first four games of this season because of the way he and his team behaved after a WPIAL playoff loss against North Hills. Penn Hills’ players allegedly caused damage to a locker room and DeRose used an expletive and criticized game officials to a Post-Gazette reporter. PIAA and WPIAL rules state a coach can be penalized for criticizing officials to the media.
Now onto what happened on the court in the Woodland Hills game. Penn Hills opened a 17-point lead in the third quarter, but Woodland Hills scored the final 12 points of the third quarter to cut the lead to 47-43.
Penn Hills widened the lead again to 12 points (62-50) in the fourth quarter, but Woodland Hills again came back, making it 63-60 with 52 seconds remaining. Then, Woodland Hills had two turnovers and a missed 3pointer on its final three possessions, while Penn Hills senior guard Corey Fulton made 5 of 6 free throws. Fulton finished with 19 points.
Woodland Hills was led by Amante Britt, a talented senior guard who averages 20 a game. Britt scored 21. Keandre Bowles, who averages 19, was held to 8.
“They sped us up,” Miller said. “We like to run, but we were a little too fast. I told our guys we needed to settle down. This is a blemish for us right now. It will make us more hungry. We’re going to see them again, and my team is very confident we can beat them. But they own it right now.”