Dragons advance in 6A
Allderdice uses late run to beat Altoona
For the entire game, Allderdice never trailed. But that doesn’t mean the victory Friday against Altoona came easy.
The defending City League champs needed a late run to escape from Altoona and win Friday night, 68-55, in a PIAA Class 6A subregional championship at Carrick.
After opening a doubledigit lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Mountain Lions (7-14) used two 3-pointers to cut it to four.
It wasn’t until junior guard Jackson Blaufeld made a transition layup with 1:28 to play, stretching Allderdice’s lead to nine, that the Dragons could breathe a little.
Allderdice (24-2) advances to the first round of the PIAA playoffs for the fifth consecutive season, and will face the No. 3 team from the WPIAL — either Woodland Hills or Mt. Lebanon — next Saturday.
“At this point you just want to advance,” Allderdice coach Buddy Valinsky said.
“First of all, they played terrific. For a 7-14 team, they played really well. He played a zone, we haven’t seen a zone, we knew they were going to play zone. It slows a good team down. They shot the ball and played well. Hats off to them,” Valinsky said.
Blaufeld led the Dragons with 20 points, and junior guard Tyler Williams added 19.
Sophomore forward Rob Jones and senior center Shaun Morris also reached double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The Dragons now have won 21 consecutive games. Max Crownover drained six 3-pointers and led Altoona with 18 points.
Other game
Carrick 72, Meadville 58: The Raiders (19-5) rolled to a victory in a PIAA Class 5A subregional championship at Brashear. Imuri Walker scored 17 points, and Daysean Woodson added 15 for Carrick who advances to the first round of the PIAA tournament Friday against the No. 3 team from the WPIAL. Lamar Lewis added 14 points and Ernie Howard 10 more in the victory. Carrick ran out to a 21-10 firstquarter lead and was up, 4026, at half-time. The City League team kept up the pressure by outscoring Meadville, 17-7, in the third quarter. Malik Wilson scored 13 points and Lashon Lindsey added 10 for the Meadville Bulldogs in the loss.