Vincentian holds off Nazareth Prep
Cornell trio sparks second-half surge to knock off Bishop Canevin, 68-47
Top-seeded Vincentian struggled for a large portion of the second half Monday night at North Allegheny.
Nazareth Prep limited the Royals to just five points in the third quarter, the Royals were held without a point for the first two minutes of the fourth and had a lot of difficulty dealing with the Saints press. No problem. Vincentian showed why it’s the No. 1-ranked team in the state in the first half, and that was enough to propel them into the WPIAL Class 1A final for the third year in a row. The Royals flushed Nazareth Prep’s hopes of winning consecutive WPIAL titles, racing to a big lead and holding on for a 65-54 win in one semifinal.
Ethan Embleton scored 18 points to lead Vincentian (204), which lost to Nazareth Prep (17-8) in the 2019 final. Matt McDonough (14 points), Priest Ryan (12) and Angelo “Boom” Reeves (11) also scored in double figures for the Royals, who will play another Section 1 rival, Cornell, in the championship Thursday at Petersen Events Center.
After beating Nazareth Prep in the regular season by slim margins of three and two points, Vincentian did its best to turn the third meeting into a rout. The Royals led, 12-0, just three minutes into the game. The lead increased to 23-12 after one before rising to 42-20 at the half. The Royals shot 51 percent (14 of 27) from the field in the opening half.
“We started off real fast,” said Embleton, a 6-foot-6 senior forward who made three 3-pointers. “We remember last year and that was motivation for us. We wanted to come out and hit shots, get rebounds and push the ball.”
As for the finish, well, it was a little shaky. McDonough accounted for all five of Vincentian’s five points in the third, when Nazareth Prep pulled to within 47-33 after three quarters. Vincentian point guard Alex Griggs fouled out with 3:26 left in the fourth, which didn’t help Vincentian’s ability to break Nazareth Prep’s press. Still, the Saints could never pull any closer than 11.
“I think our ability to execute and take care of the ball hurt us,” Vincentian coach Tim Tyree said. “Griggs got into foul trouble, so we had some guys taking on the point guard responsibility that normally aren’t point guards.”
Nehemiah Brazil led Nazareth Prep with 17 points and Will Taylor added 16.
Other semifinal
All year long, Cornell’s big three of Kaden DiVito, Zaier Harrison and Isaiah Langston have powered the Raiders high-scoring offense, and nothing changed in the other semifinal at West Allegheny.
The three combined for 49 points in a 68-47 WPIAL win against Bishop Canevin (18-6) to send the Raiders (18-6) to the title game. Langston scored a game-high 23, including an impressive one-handed slam dunk to cap it off.
“That’s why we’re one of the better teams, because we’re not the biggest, but we move the ball a lot,” Langston said.
DiVito and Harrison finished with 13 points apiece for the Raiders, while Kevaughn Price and Dom Elliott led the Crusaders with 19 points each. The teams appeared to be a perfect match for each other in the first half as the Raiders took a 32-29 lead into the break.
With the game still tight, Harrison converted two 3pointers late in the third, then Langston closed out the quarter with a buzzer-beating 3. Now, Cornell will make its first trip to a WPIAL championship since 2012.