Steady Trojans back in semifinals
There is no wow factor with the Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic team. The Trojans don’t have a starter taller than 6 feet 2, don’t have an abundance of quickness and they sometimes play at a methodical pace that can bring abouta yawn.
But look at the bracket for WPIAL Class 3A basketball and there is North Catholic on oneof the semifinal lines. Yetagain. North Catholic defeated Washington, 47-34, in a Class 3A quarterfinal Thursday nightat Moon.
It certainly wasn’t a pretty contest, like a number of othersfor North Catholic this season. But the beauty of North Catholic is that the Trojans will be in the semifinals for the10th time in the past 11 seasons.
North Catholic is a twotime defending WPIAL champ and has won four WPIAL titles under coach Dave Long since 2009. He acknowledges this might not be one of his most talented teams, but the Trojans are in thefinal four yet again.
“We’re not a bad offensive team, but it benefits us if we play at a slower pace,” said Long, whose team is averaging47 points a game.
The Trojans (13-11) were the ultimate in efficiency against Washington. At one point in the fourth quarter, North Catholic’s student section was counting out loud the number of passes North Catholic used on a possession. It got up to 20 before Washingtonfouled.
“We play conservative, close to the vest and it stifles teams,” Long said. “The joke is don’t shoot a 3-pointer or you might get pulled from the game.”
For the game, North Catholic shot 64 percent (21 of 33) andalmost 70 percent (18 of 26) in the final three quarters. Forward Mike Drambel scored 15 points and forward Brian Davidson 12. Most of their shots came from close range and they made 13 of 16 shotsbetween them.
But forget the efficient offense for a minute. One of the main reasons for North Catholic’s success is a matchup zone defense that has given teams fits this year, including Washington. The Little Prexies came in with an 18-5 record, but they have been somewhat offensively challenged at times after losing their two leading scorers in the middle of the season. Against North Catholic, Washington had 22 points through the first three quarters and took only 30 shots the entire game. Zahmere Washington led Washington with 14points.
The matchup zone is the reason North Catholic is second in the WPIAL in scoring defense, allowing only 43.3 points a game. The defense has kept the score low against some Class 6A teams in nonsectiongames.
“That’s [assistant coach] Frank Halloran’s baby,” Long saidof the matchup zone.
Halloran is in his third season as a North Catholic assistant.
“There’s a coincidence between the number of WPIAL [championship] appearances and the length of time he’s beenhere and we’ve been runningthat thing,” Long said.
Washington coach Ron Faust said, “What makes it good is they’re patient in that defense. They’re going to maybe make you take some shots you don’t want to take and take shots with people who probably shouldn’t be shootingthe ball.”
If Washington doesn’t qualify for the PIAA playoffs, the loss will have marked the end of Faust’s 32nd season. His record is 595-220. After the game, Faust brought up the pain he feels for longtime Aliquippa football coach Mike Zmijanac, who was ousted as coach by the Aliquippa school board Wednesday night. Faust said he definitely plans on coaching againnext year.
“Unless the Aliquippa school board moves to Washington,”he said.