Big Macs spring trap in first round

Canon-McMillan switches defense in fourth quarter, sparks OT win

Going into the fourth quarter in Tuesday night’s firstround playoff matchup against North Allegheny, Canon-McMillan’s season seemed to be eight minutes away from ending.

The Big Macs have 10 seniors on their roster, and a few of them had something to say about that.

Canon-McMillan (15-8) came out for the final quarter playing suffocating trap defense to spark an 8-0 run without allowing the Tigers (13-9) to score a point for more than four minutes. The Big Macs eventually forced overtime with two free throws with 29 seconds left, then held on in overtime for a 61-59 win to advance to the second round of the WPIAL Class 6A playoffs.

Senior guard Drew Engel led all scorers with 21 points, while fellow senior Ethan Beachy contributed 14 for Canon-McMillan. Beachy said the message from coach Rick Bell is always the same when the Big Macs are in a hole late in the game.

“Never stop, keep being persistent,” Beachy said. “And we just keep doing that, we listen to him, we love each other, and we just keep going out and fighting, and that’s what we did.”

Both teams started out slow on offense, and North Allegheny led 10-9 after the first quarter thanks to eight points from leading scorer Mike Iuzzolino. But Iuzzolino picked up a second foul and had to sit the entire second quarter. Meanwhile, the offenses came to life and the Tigers took a 27-24 lead into the break.

North Allegheny came out hot after halftime and stretched its lead to double digits with an 8-0 run. That’s when Canon-McMillan started to turn to the trap defense and forced the Tigers into several costly turnovers.

“It was that trap. It was coach Bell’s adjustment … we went into the 1-3-1 trap, and we executed. We were having cramps, but we just fought through it. And they even came back, but in the end we just had to hit free throws.”

After senior forward Louis Waller hit two clutch free throws for the Big Macs to send the game to overtime, both teams came out trading buckets in the extra period. Then, with North Allegheny holding a 52-51 lead, Thomas Samosky hit a go-ahead 3pointer for Canon-McMillan just before the one-minute mark in overtime. The Big Macs never surrendered the lead again.

“I passed it to him, and I knew it was going in,” Beachy said. “I just started running back [on defense].”

Waller went back to the line and hit two more free throws, then Engel was perfect on two more trips to the line to seal the deal.

Canon-McMillan advanced to play Latrobe in the quarterfinal round Saturday, a team that defeated the Big Macs, 72-70, in their second game of the season Dec. 8. Bell has no doubt that first matchup will help provide his team with the needed confidence to pull off the upset and exact some revenge in the rematch.

“We have a mantra on our team,” Bell said. “We play to win, we don’t play not to lose. I want my kids being fearless.”

With his high school playing days in jeopardy late in the fourth quarter, Beachy said only one thing was on his mind, and that same mentality will likely carry over to the showdown with Latrobe.

“Just thinking, ‘Win.’ Not worried about anything else,” Beachy said. “Just get the dub.”