WEEKEND SPORTS
Vincentian likely to be top-seeded team in 1A for the WPIAL playoffs
With a freshman, two sophomores and a junior in the starting lineup, Vincentian’s future is awfully bright. But get the shades out now because the present has plenty of shine for the Royals.
Section champs. Likely No. 1 seed for the WPIAL Class 1A playoffs. That’s what Vincentian is after Friday night.
Cornell came into Vincentian’s “she shed,” er, tiny gymnasium with the No. 1 ranking in Class A and a shot at its first section title in 14 years. But Vincentian, the No. 2-ranked team, used a second-half surge to pull away from Cornell for a 70-59 victory.
Vincentian led by only one point at halftime, but its 6-foot-6 twin towers of Angelo “Boom” Reeves and Ethan Embleton were imposing figures in the second half as Vincentian won its third consecutive section title. The Royals are 14-7 and finished 12-2 in Class 1A Section 1. Cornell, which didn’t have a starter taller than 6-1, finished one game back at 11-3 (18-4 overall).
Vincentian played a rough non-section schedule and is a heavy favorite to get the No. 1 seed for the playoffs. Seedings and playoff pairings will be announced Tuesday night by the WPIAL.
“I’m proud of what these guys are doing,” Vincentian coach Tim Tyree said. “We have a young team and still have a long way to go, but they’re doing a good job.”
Cornell defeated Vincentian, 84-75, in early January as Kaden DiVito, Cornell’s fine 5-11 junior guard, poured in 36 points on his birthday. Tyree heard Cornell singing “Happy Birthday” to DiVito after the game. But Vincentian could have put candles on a section championship cake Friday night. DiVito, the fourth-leading scorer in the WPIAL at 26.9 points a game, was held to 16 this time and made only 4 of 19 shots. For the game, Cornell shot only 29 percent (20 of 68).
“Kaden was a little off tonight,” Cornell coach Bill Sacco said. “But this kind of court is tough. My garage used to be bigger than this.”
Reeves, a sophomore, and Embleton, a junior, combined for 19 points in the second half. Reeves finished with 18, including an impressive dunk, and made 7 of 10 shots from the field, all in close. Embleton scored nine, all in the second half. Junior guard Nate Cullo added 16, sophomore guard Alex Griggs 15 and freshman guard Matt McDough 10.
“I thought against their zone, we were just dribbling the ball around too much in the first half,” Tyree said. “There has to be ball reversals. Our advantage was inside. I’ve got two 6-6 guys at the Class 1A level. Getting the ball inside to them allowed us to open some driving lanes. We put an emphasis on that at halftime and really executed that in the second half.”
The score was tied, 36-36, with 4:44 to go, but Vincentian went on a 13-3 run to close the quarter and grab a 49-39 lead. The Royals outscored Cornell, 13-5, to start the fourth and grab a 62-44 lead.
Luke Piccolo, a 5-9 senior guard, hit six 3-pointers and scored 24 points for Cornell.
“DiVito scored 36 the last time and I didn’t sleep very well after that,” Tyree said. “I felt if we could hold him under 20, we had a good chance at winning this. This isn’t the biggest gym in America. Any basketball player, especially in a game of this magnitude, it’s tough. It does have an impact on people coming in here on the road.”
Foul trouble for Zaier Harrison also hurt Cornell. Harrison, a junior guard who averages 17 points a game, fouled out with 5:57 left and scored nine points.