Banged up Dunsey shines in victory
Jaguars try to duplicate their football success
Thomas Jefferson’s Ethan Dunsey missed a few practices early this week due to an ankle injury that forced him to wear a walking boot.
Friday, Dunsey was the unlikely hero who helped the Jaguars boot West Allegheny from the WPIAL playoffs.
Dunsey scored 14 points, including eight in the fourth quarter, to lead Thomas Jefferson to a 54-43 win against West Allegheny in a Class 5A quarterfinal at Peters Township.
Thomas Jefferson (16-7), the No. 4 seed, advanced to the semifinals for the fifth time in school history and first since 2014. The Jaguars will try to reach the final for just the second time when they face No. 8 Laurel Highlands (15-8) Tuesday.
“It’s great we’re there, but we need to get to the finals. This is awesome, but we need to win,” Thomas Jefferson coach Dom DeCicco said.
West Allegheny (13-11), the No. 12 seed, now needs Thomas Jefferson to reach the championship in order to qualify for the PIAA playoffs.
The WPIAL playoffs sometimes produce surprising stars. Friday it was Dunsey, a 6-foot-5 reserve junior forward who has dealt with shoulder and ankle injuries this season. After West Allegheny cut Thomas Jefferson’s lead to 40-39 midway through the fourth quarter, Dunsey scored five consecutive points — including an and-one — sparking a 9-0 run that increased Thomas Jefferson’s advantage to 39-29 with 1:34 left. West Allegheny would cut its deficit to 49-43, but Dunsey scored on a driving layup with 1:12 left for the game’s final field goal.
“I had shoulder surgery before the year and I’ve been in a walking boot for the past week for a foot injury,” Dunsey said. “It’s been rough coming up to the playoffs, but to come up big for my team was great.”
Dunsey didn’t practice Monday or Tuesday, but he sure looked good Friday. The 14 points were the second-most of his career. He scored 16 points in a game early last season.
“He hadn’t been practicing and I said, ‘He’s not going to be able to play and we need him,’ ” said DeCicco. “I said if we want to get where we want to go, this is a difference-maker. And, boy, tonight he was. He did all the little things that we’ve been waiting for.”
A pair of quarterbacks also scored in double figures for Thomas Jefferson. Senior Shane Stump scored 10 points. He led the Thomas Jefferson football team to WPIAL and PIAA titles in the fall. His likely successor, junior Jake Pugh, scored 14 points.
West Allegheny did an excellent job against Thomas Jefferson’s top two scorers, Noah Pierce and Isaac McNeil. Pierce finished with four points and McNeil three. In two regular-season meetings between the teams — both Thomas Jefferson wins — the two had combined for 42 points and 51 points.
Jackson Faulk, West Allegheny’s alltime leading scorer, collected a team-high 17 points before fouling out with 1:46 left.
West Allegheny was doomed by poor shooting in the fourth quarter, hitting just 3 of 18 from the field. The 43 points were the second fewest of the season for the Indians, who won four of their final five section games to sneak into the playoffs and then upset No. 5 McKeesport in Monday’s first round.
After Faulk, the Indians’ top scorer was Scott Bilivous with seven points. He had 30 against McKeesport.
“It was just fatigue,” West Allegheny coach Andrew Tsangaris said. “They made a couple more basketball plays than we did.
“They’re a very good team and we knew that coming in.”
West Allegheny held a 22-20 halftime lead after outscoring Thomas Jefferson, 84, in the second quarter. But Thomas Jefferson outscored the Indians, 18-11, in the third quarter to sprint ahead, 38-33. Stump had six points and Pugh five that quarter.
Now a team that includes five regulars that started on the state championshipwinning football team are a win away from advancing to a WPIAL basketball final.
“It’s exciting,” Stump said. “To come off of what we did in football and having the success that we’ve had, it’s pretty special.”