Dec 29, 2015 4 min read

McMURRAY – Despite the average turnout, there was no lack of intensity at the Peters Township Christmas Tournament championship game. Peters Township and Pine-Richland, two teams not in the same section, found themselves meeting for a second time in the young boys basketball season.

A two-point win by PT in the season-opening tournament was not to be repeated as Pine-Richland and Andrew Petcash found a rhythm early and defeated the Indians 72-53 Friday night.

The exclamation point to Petcash’s 30-point performance came in the fourth quarter, when he scored 11 points.

“I thought we just played harder tonight than we did the first time we saw (Peters Township),” said Pine-Richland coach Jeff Ackermann. “Our goal tonight was to come out fast, jump on them and get a lead early.”

The Indians’ first basket of the game was it’s only lead as Petcash led an eight-point run in the later stages of the first quarter to put Pine-Richland (1-2, 6-4) ahead, 13-5.

“Size hurt us,” said Peters Township head coach Gary Goga. “We didn’t shoot the ball like we did yesterday and our ball movement was horrible.”

Any momentum Goga and the Indians gained was erased by two three-point shots by Pine-Richland’s Adam Alexander in the waning moments of the first half to put the Rams ahead 34-25.

“Last time, they got us pretty good with three-point shooting,” said Ackermann. “We really wanted to put pressure on the ball and their guards.”

The pressure of Pine-Richland’s half-court defense was something that disrupted the Indians’ offense for most of the game, forcing ill-advised shots that led to several fast-break opportunities for the Rams.

A six-point run to start the fourth quarter to put Peters Township (2-2, 7-3) down, 53-40. The Indians then had to rush offensive possessions.

The lack of offensive production originated from shooting. With center Ben Doyle going down with an ankle injury in the middle of PT’s first-round win against Thomas Jefferson, it forced Goga to improvise.

“When you don’t shoot it well and your center is out, that is obviously two big problems,” he said. “His loss hurts because (Ben) is such a big part of our game plan. He is so versatile.”

Nick Valentic, who finished with 15 points, led Peters Township. Kelson Marisa chipped in 13 points.

Petcash led the Rams while Alexander and sophomore Phil Jurkovec also scored in double-digits, with 15 and 11 points, respectively.

Despite the loss of Doyle Monday night, Goga knows the issues faced against Pine-Richland are fixable.

“Losing him is not an excuse,” he said. “We know we need to do things better. We’ll patch it up tomorrow at practice.”

Seniors Nate Swart and Anthony Popeck did not allow Wash High to falter again to an opponent from a larger classification.

Swart and Popeck combined for 28 first-half points, which would be good enough to better the entirety of Thomas Jefferson’s offense by five points, and Wash High secured its first non-conference, 72-55 over Thomas Jefferson.

The Prexies (3-1, 4-5) got the ball to Swart early and often. This was something Wash High missed in its opening-round game.

Despite a complete performance from the opening tip to the waning moments, Wash High head coach Ron Faust doesn’t know how much improvement the Prexiese have made nine games into the season.

“I don’t know our progression at this point,” said Faust. “We don’t ever want to be unhappy about a win but I don’t really know if we’ve made great progression. Sometimes we take things that we are doing well and can’t continue to do them.”

Swart scored a game-high 27 points.

A 10-0 run to begin the game was all the Prexies needed against TJ (2-2, 4-7). The Prexies led by 15 points at halftime.

Wash High rattled off another 10 unanswered points and extended its lead to 57-36.

Popeck finished with 11 points, all in the first half.

The Jaguars were led by Steve Dunlap’s 14 points.

“We can’t look at it as conference and non-conference games,” said Faust. “We have to always look at it as an opportunity to get better. I would like to see a more concerted effort and then the record will take care of itself.”