Jan 17, 2017 4 min read

CANONSBURG – For nearly three quarters, it was a night to forget for Canon-McMillan High School senior basketball player RJ Bell.

Despite having plenty of open looks at the basket, Bell went scoreless in the first half and didn’t fare much better for most of the third quarter, until he got one big shot to drop.

Bell knocked down a corner three-pointer late in the third quarter to give the Big Macs some breathing room, and his 12 second-half points helped lead Canon-Mac to a key 54-47 Clas 6-A Section 2 victory over rival Peters Township.

“I’ve been struggling lately,” Bell said. “I’m just glad my teammates had faith in me to keep finding me. I know I can hit big shots and I am just glad they believed in me after those first three quarters. This was a big win. This section is a grind, so getting a win like this is big.”

Bell was part of a balanced C-M attack as all eight players who were in the game found their way into the scoring column.

In addition to Bell’s big night, Britton Beachy (13 points) and Kenyan Lewis (11), also finished in double figures for the Big Macs (3-2, 10-4).

“Coming into tonight we were averaging over 66 points per game, but didn’t have one player averaging over 15 points per game,” Canon-McMillan head coach Rick Bell pointed out. “I believe that shows what kind of team we are. Everyone contributes. We are a true team.”

PT (3-3,10-5) closed to within 29-28 late in the third quarter before RJ Bell’s three-pointer gave CM a 33-28 lead after three.

The Big Macs pushed the lead to 38-28 early in the fourth quarter.

PT’s Conor Pederson made a layup and then Dax Ploskina drained a three as Peters Township clawed back to within 38-33.

Ploskina led PT with 14 points and Pederson chipped in 13. Michael Cortese also finished in double figures with 11 points.

The Big Macs took over the game down the stretch from the free-throw line, where they made 18 of 25 attempts on the night.

“Free throws were huge,” said Rick Bell. “We have a lot of guys that can step to the line and knock them down. Especially our experienced guys. That is a big difference from last season as we had plenty of games where we missed those same free throws in those same situations.”

While the Big Macs made their free throws, the charity stripe was not kind to the Indians, who shot just 21 percent.

PT turned to some pressure defense late in the game. The combination of that and a pair of Ploskina three-pointers pulled the Indians to within 49-46 with one minute left, but Beachy sealed the win from the free-throw line for the Big Macs.

Overall, it was a rough offensive night for Peters Township, which uncharacteristically shot less than 30 percent and has lost three consecutive games.

“You have to make shots,” Peters Township head coach Gary Goga said. “You aren’t going to win games when you shoot under 30 percent from three-point range and shoot free throws the way we did. Right now, we are struggling. It’s crazy. Ten days ago, we were shooting the ball well and in a good spot. Now, we are struggling and looking up at four teams. Canon-Mac is a good team. They played fantastic.”

Against the Indians’ man-to-man defense, C-M found early driving lanes that led to some easy baskets. A 6-0 spurt to close the first quarter gave Canon-McMillan a 15-9 lead.

The Big Macs’ zone defense slowed the Indians offense from the opening tip, limiting PT to 17 first-half points.

“A lot of people will say you can’t zone a three-point shooting team,” Rick Bell said. “I say why not. If you play it the right way it can be effective. You have to ask yourself how do you get your threes? Peters likes to spread you out and penetrate and kick it out to open shooters. I thought we did a good job of keeping them out of the lane and eliminating the kick-out pass.”

Goga made the switch to a zone defense and it slowed C-M, but back-to-back baskets by Beachy and Drew Engel gave the Big Macs their biggest lead of the first half at 22-15.