Mars senior shatters Moon at buzzer
Living his own dream, guard guides Planets to 2nd title in a row
This was literally the shot of dreams for Andrew Recchia.
Recchia, Mars High School’s standout senior guard, insisted he had a dream on Thursday night in which he won the WPIAL championship with a shot.
“Call me a liar, but I did,” Recchia said.
The dream had Recchia making a pull-up jumper in the lane to win it at the buzzer. Reality had Recchia going farther.
Recchia made a 3pointer near the top of the key with 2.6 seconds left to give Mars a thrilling 58-56 victory in a memorable WPIAL Class 5A championship game on Friday night at Petersen Events Center. Mars (24-1) came back from a 17point halftime deficit to win its second consecutive title.
Andrew Recchia. The name will live in WPIAL lore, like Midland’s Roosevelt “Boo” Kirby in 1979 and Central Catholic’s Matt McKenna in 2008. Those are two others who made game-winning shots at the end of WPIAL title games.
“It wasn’t exactly [like the dream],” Recchia said.
“But the feeling is the same.” Moon (23-2) had taken the lead with 22 seconds left when Austin Ryan canned a 15-footer to give the Tigers a 56-55 advantage. Mars called timeout with the ball at halfcourt.
Mars coach Rob Carmody called for a play that the Planets like to use late in games. It worked a few years ago for Carmody’s son, Robby, to win a PIAA playoff game against Erie Strong Vincent. This time, Mars inbounded the ball and Recchia took a dribble hand-off on the left wing. He dribbled to his right, off a screen from 6-foot-7, 290-pound Michael Carmody. But Moon defender Connor Ryan got through the screen and was right with Recchia. So Recchia reversed field and went to his left off another Carmody screen. Recchia got open just enough and let loose with a 3-pointer. He had missed two 3-pointers in the game, but this one …
Swish.
Recchia threw his fist into the air and Moon called a timeout. Carmody and teammate Khori Fusco ran after Recchia and hugged him. This was the magic of high school sports in full view of a few thousand fans.
Moon tried a long pass after the timeout, but Carmody intercepted it.
“I was supposed to just catch the ball and go around Mike for a layup,” said Recchia. “But the Ryan kid went under the screen and was right with me. So I just went back to the left.”
It was the biggest shot of Recchia’s life. But he was big for Mars all night.
A Shippensburg University recruit, Recchia scored 14 of his game-high 23 points in the second half. For the game, he hit 7 of 12 from the field and all eight from the free-throw line.
“Andrew just made a play,” Rob Carmody said. “There’s a reason he’s a scholarship player. He didn’t just control the second half. He dominated. At the end of the game, we wanted the ball in his hands. That’s a kid who has won one championship before and played in a state championship game. He had an unbelievable second half. He made me look smart.”
Carmody said he actually got into an argument with his team in the locker room at halftime because of the Planets’ play in the first half.
But things worked out for Mars.
Besides Recchia’s 23, senior guard Brandon Caruso scored 14 and Carmody added nine points and 15 rebounds.
Moon had four players in double figures. Junior guard-forward Donovan Johnson led with 13 points. Senior guard Jioni Smith had 12 and senior twin brothers Austin and Connor Ryan had 11 and 10, respectively.
“When you’re dealing with 15- to 18year-old kids – I know I’m going to sound like it’s the 1950s with this – but kids need discipline,” Rob Carmody said. “Kids need to be called out when they are not doing things to their capabilities. Sometimes that means you have to kick their butt a little bit.”