Gateway pulls out win vs. McKeesport

Gators hold on after Tigers twice took the lead in final three minutes

Gateway and McKeesport had already played a pair of barnburners this season, but those Section 3 battles were nothing compared to their Tuesday night postseason meeting.

McKeesport trailed by as many as 11 in the second half and fought back to take the lead twice in the final three minutes. But in the end, No. 4 Gateway (17-5) did just enough as it pulled out a 53-51 victory against the 12th-seeded Tigers (11-11) at Norwin to advance to the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball semifinals.

McKeesport played much of the night without senior forward Travarese Rowe, who was in foul trouble throughout. Even so, he still led the Tigers with 14 points and helped propel the team’s late comeback.

There was one tie and five lead-changes in the final 2:35 of the game.

McKeesport had its opportunities to pull it out.

After Jaydon Carr hit the front end of a 1-and-1 to give Gateway a 52-51 lead with 1:32 seconds left, McKeesport ran down more than a minute and took a 3-point shot which hit the back iron. The Gators rebounded and Kaleb Pryor hit the second of two free throws with 20 seconds remaining to close out the scoring.

McKeesport had two opportunities to tie, but missed both shots. Gateway rebounded the first, but stepped out of bounds to give the Tigers another chance with 7 seconds remaining.

Following the inbounds pass, Lamont Perkins could not get his last-second shot in the paint to fall and the Gators took the win.

Even though there was a disparity in records and seeding, the fact the two played such a tightly contested game shouldn’t have been a surprise. The two teams split their regular season meetings with Gateway posting a 74-65 win on Jan. 3 and the Tigers winning on the Gators home floor, 69-62, on Jan. 27.

Other Class 5A games Hills 60, Mars 41:

Penn

Planets guard Tasso Sfanos tried to do it all against the Indians as he put up 30 shots and finished with 22 points. But that wasn’t enough for No. 7 Mars (15-9) to pull off the upset as No. 2 Penn Hills (19-3) used a balanced attack that featured four players in double figures led by Noah Barren with 18, to move into the semifinals. Mars will take on Fox Chapel, which lost to North Hills, in the consolation game as the top seven teams in the classification qualify for the PIAA playoffs.

Peters Township 68, South Fayette 60:

The top-seeded Indians (20-3) led by six at halftime and held on to knock off the Lions to get back to the semifinals for the first time since winning the WPIAL Class 4A title in 2009. Jack Dunbar led the Indians with a team -high 21 points, while Elijah Hill had 27 in the loss for South Fayette, which will play McKeesport in the consolation round on Friday.

Class 1A Union 100, Aquinas Academy 47:

Aquinas Academy senior Vinnie Cugini, the all-timeleading scorer in WPIAL history and four-time district scoring champion, posted 36 points for the No 7 Chargers (19-5), but they could not hold off the offensive deluge from the No. 2 Scotties. Lucas Stanley scored 28 points and Matt Stanley 22 to lead four Union (21-2) players in double-digits.

Carlynton 62, Monessen 39:

The Greyhounds (21-3) came into the game winners of 21 of 22 and Section 2 champions, but were quickly routed by the third-seeded Cougars (16-6) despite a game-high 22 from Lorenzo Gardner. Austin Milliner and Jaiden McClure each had 14 from Carlynton.

Geibel 66, Neighborhood Academy 64:

The fourthseeded Gators trailed by eight heading into the fourth quarter, but outscored the No. 5 Bulldogs, 21-11, in the final frame to pull out the win. Trevon White had 30 points and Jaydis Kennedy 26 in the win for Geibel (17-6), while Neighborhood Academy (18-5) was led by 29 from Courtney Wallace. The Gators will be making their second consecutive semifinals appearance and are looking for their first title since 1980.

Imani Christian 78, Rochester 41:

The top-seeded Saints (16-6) had little problem getting past the No. 8 Rams (11-12) in their running- clock victory. Rochester will play Neighborhood Academy on Friday in the consolation game.