C-M rally falls short
CANONSBURG – Down 22 points with 10 minutes to play, the easy thing for Canon-McMillan to do in its Section 4-AAAA game against Bethel Park was to give up and start thinking about the next game.
That wasn’t in head coach Rick Bell’s team Friday night.
The Big Macs battled back from the edge of a blowout, only to fall short in the final seconds, dropping a 55-52 decision to the Black Hawks.
“I’m an educator and I often view this as an extension of the classroom,” said Bell. “There are always lessons to be taught – life lessons. Sometimes in life, you are down 20 with under 10 minutes left. What are you going to do? Quit? I asked the kids if we wanted to quit, and we aren’t about to do that. It’s disappointing not to win the game because that is our goal, but I am extremely proud of the effort we gave. We didn’t quit.”
Canon-Mac (1-3,6-6) came out slow and were uncharacteristically ineffective at both ends of the floor. Things bottomed out when Bethel Park’s (4-1, 8-4) Joe Mascaro and Josh Duda drained back-to-back three-pointers to extend the Blackhawks’ lead to 47-25 with under two minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Nothing went right for the Big Macs to that point. Then, suddenly, thing started to work.
Sam Bohn, who finished the night with a team-high 20 points, knocked down a couple of jumpers to close the third quarter and pull C-M within 16 at 47-31.
Usually a solid three-point shooting team, the Big Macs did not make a shot from behind the arc until Cal Wilson hit a three-pointer early in the fourth quarter. R.J. Bell followed with one of his two fourth-quarter three pointers and the Big Macs pieced together a 16-0 run that cut the Bethel Park lead to just 47-41.
“Anytime you play a Canon-Mac team, you know that you are going to get their best shot,” said Bethel Park head coach Ben O’Connor. “It doesn’t matter if they are down two or down 30. They are going to keep coming at you. When you punch, they punch back. I don’t want to say we tightened up, but they started making some shots and fed off the home crowd.”
The two teams exchanged baskets for the next couple minutes until Canon-McMillan pulled to within three after a basket and a pair of free throws by Bohn.
A technical foul was called on Jake Papi with under 40 seconds remaining with the Big Macs down, 53-50, but Bethel Park failed to take advantage. The Black Hawks missed five straight free throws at one point in the closing minute.
Bell was fouled shooting a three-point shot and made two of the three free throws to pull the Big Macs within 53-52, but that was as close as it would get.
BP’s Jake Dixon made a free throw to make it a 55-52 game with 3.5 seconds remaining, but Bohn’s attempt to tie the game fell just short.
“We talked at halftime about how disappointed we were,” said Bell. “I’m very proud of the way the kids responded and came out and played in the second half. Unfortunately for us, we played only 16 minutes instead of 32 minutes.”
Bethel Park came out the gates hot as they built a double-digit lead instantly.
Mascaro scored 10 of his game-high 23 points in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, the Big Macs made one of their first seven field goal attempts and made just 7 of 22 attempts in the first half.
Bohn and Britton Beachy helped keep the Big Macs in the game, combining for 11 points in the second quarter. Bohn hit a jumper late in the quarter to cut the Bethel Park lead to 29-19. But the Black Hawks went into the locker room on a high note with a 32-19 lead when Mascaro drained a three at the buzzer.
“That turned out to be a big play,” said O’Connor. “Collectively we want to do things as a team, but individually we want to win battles like getting to loose balls and rebounding. That’s a staple of our team.”
Levi Metheny also scored in double digits for the Black Hawks, finishing with 10 points.
Both Bell (12) and Beachy (11) finished in double figures for Canon-Mac.
The loss leaves the Big Macs with a lot of work to do if they want to figure into the playoff picture in a tough section.
“I asked the kids if we were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs,” said Bell. “I asked them if we were eliminated from winning the section. They answered no. We just have to wash it off and forget about it and get back at it tomorrow.”