Feb 20, 2018 4 min read

IMPERIAL – There are very few words out of the soft spoken Chartiers-Houston boys basketball freshman Austin Arnold.

Finding a starting spot in the lineup three games ago, and playing with four seniors, it was Arnold who made the biggest shots of the night.

Consider it a quiet confidence the 6-0 guard-forward maintains in even the biggest moment.

With Chartiers-Houston loosely gripping, yet maintaining, a slim lead throughout most of the second half, Arnold made a baseline three-pointer and hit two free throws with 45 seconds left to score the final five points of the game for the Bucs as they defeated No. 12-seeded Neshannock, 50-47, in a WPIAL Class 2A playoff game Tuesday night at West Allegheny High School.

“The seniors have really helped me get there,” Arnold said. “We can’t always depend on only one or two guys to score. Everyone has to contribute. It feels good.”

It sure feels good for fifth-seeded Chartiers-Houston (18-5), which advances to play Serra Catholic, the No. 4 seed, in a quarterfinal game Friday night at a site and time to be determined.

In a three-point filled game – C-H had seven and Neshannock made nine – the most important was Arnold’s to extend the Bucs lead to 48-41 with 2:01 remaining in the game.

“All season long he has been real comfortable,” said C-H coach Eugene Briggs. “He doesn’t seem to like starting, but I’d rather him finish like this and have trouble in the first quarter. He helps us with handling the basketball, and also with helping others get free for more shots. It’s just interesting that both teams have 6-6 and 6-7 post guys and we’re shooting threes.”

Neshannock (8-15) was forced to heave up shots from behind the arc after being outscored 18-7 and falling behind in the second quarter. Chartiers-Houston senior guard Cam Hanley scored eight of his team-high 18 points in the second, including two, left-handed layups to finish a 15-3 run to begin the quarter.

“(Chartiers-Houston) had some timely shots,” said Neshannock coach John Corey. “They had three different guys hit a three in that quarter. They had four different guys score. We got caught with some bad close outs and they knocked shots down.”

The balanced second quarter for the Bucs gave them a 31-20 lead at halftime.

The deep ball then worked in favor of the Lancers to draw them nearer in the third quarter.

Nikolas Rylott came off the bench to hit a trio of three-pointers in the third – Neshannock made four as a team in the eight-minute span – to cut the deficit to 37-34.

“The defense was there most of the night,” Briggs said about the Bucs trying to hold a lead that once reached 13 points.

“We just quit attacking on offense. That’s what got us in trouble.”

Neshannock inched closer with another three-pointer from Dante DeLillo to come to within one point, 39-38, with 6:22 remaining in the fourth quarter.

That would be the closest the Lancers would come until an inability to inbound the ball for C-H forced a five-second call to give them one last possession with 16.3 seconds remaining. Similar to most of the night, Neshannock chucked up a three-pointer, but it barely grazed off the side of the rim and into the arms of C-H’s Zach Southern as the buzzer sounded.

The Bucs were balanced on offense by Hanley and Andrew Clark, who finished in double digits with 15 points. Southern also had nine points, and Arnold scored a five of his eight points in the fourth quarter.

“(Neshannock) had the guy in the post, but all of their players on the perimeter can play,” Briggs said. “It was a tough matchup. Their record is very deceiving. They are a good team.”

The Lancers abandoned an inside game they had success with in the first quarter as Jake McCormick scored seven points in the opening eight minutes. Chartiers-Houston then limited McCormick to two points the remaining of the game, which came with 52 seconds left in regulation.

Rylott, who came off the bench for Neshannock, led all scorers with 19 points, including six three-pointers.

“We didn’t do the little things that we needed to do to get the ball inside the paint,” Corey said. “It was a collective effort that we didn’t get the ball inside a little bit more. (Chartiers-Houston) made it difficult for us. You have to give them credit. Defensively, they played really well.”