Rams overwhelm Tigers in second half
Pine-Richland had lost twice earlier to North Allegheny
Pine-Richland was all charged up Friday night.
Junior Joey Petcash took a charge in the fourth quarter that earned him and his teammates free pizza.
And the Rams used a tremendous second-half charge to beat North Allegheny for the first time in three tries this season.
In a game in which it trailed midway through the third quarter, Class 6A No. 5-ranked PineRichland stormed from behind to beat visiting No. 4 North Allegheny, 73-47, in a battle of the top two teams in Section 1.
“I think it’s very good for the kids because they beat us the first two times, and I just said, ‘Hey, you’ve got to get this one tonight,’” Pine-Richland coach Bob Petcash said. “And I think where we are in the season, climbing, I think it’s a good win at this point.”
Luke Shanahan (20 points) led a group of four players scoring in double figures for Pine-Richland (9-4, 6-3), which has won seven of its past eight games. Jameson O’Toole scored 13 points off the bench, Joey Petcash added 12 and Joey Dudkowski 11.
North Allegheny (12-5, 8-3), meanwhile, continued to trend in the opposite direction after dropping its third consecutive section game after an 8-0 start. That start included wins of 83-77 (in overtime) and 56-48 against Pine-Richland. Section 1 teams are playing each other three times this season, and North Allegheny is 0-3 the third time through the schedule.
“I was never in favor of us playing everybody three times in our section,” said North Allegheny coach Dan DeRose. “I thought that was a huge mistake. It’s hard to beat a good team twice, let alone to have to beat them a third time. When you’re on the winning side you say, ‘OK, do I need to do anything different?,’ because what you did the first couple of times worked, whereas the team you lost to, they come with a different game plan and make different adjustments.”
North Allegheny had the upper hand Friday night when it took a 37-36 lead on Khalil Dinkins’ basket with 4:49 left in the third quarter, but that’s when the game suddenly turned. Pine-Richland proceeded to go on a 15-1 run to take a 51-38 lead on Andrew Alexander’s layup with 55 seconds left in the third.
O’Toole, a 6-foot-2 junior, sparked the surge with seven points, including a 3-pointer. It was just O’Toole’s fourth game back after missing the first nine games with a wrist injury. He chipped in six more points in the fourth quarter. His father, Tim, is the associate head coach at Pitt.
“It was huge because he brought in a whole different level of scoring and play,” Bob Petcash said.
Pine-Richland’s lead grew to as many as 27 points in the fourth quarter. The Rams shot an astounding 81% (17 of 21) from the field in the second half, this after an up-and-down first half that saw them commit 10 turnovers.
Joey Petcash said the final 12 minutes were the best his team has played all season.
“I really think we played our best basketball,” he said. “I think what makes us able to do that is that we have four or five guys that are able to score. A lot of these teams have done with one or two people. Tonight we had four. Everyone can score and everyone was scoring.”
Pine-Richland’s man-to-man defense gave North Allegheny problems. The Tigers got a teamhigh 19 points from Dinkins, but Greg Habib (11) was the only other player to reach double figures. Habib was held to nine points below his average.
Not only did Pine-Richland win the game, but they also won pizza. When a player takes a charge, coach Bob Petcash gives them credit for ice cream — due to COVID restrictions they must wait on their reward. And he has said that if his son, Joey, takes one he would give them credit for pizza. Joey took his first of the season Friday, and he did it against Dinkins, who just happens to be 6 feet 4, 220 pounds and a Penn State football recruit.
“He’s a big boy, so it’s probably going to hurt in the morning,” Joey Petcash said, “but I’m just happy to get our guys some pizza.”