Fort Cherry ‘just didn’t have it’ in stunning upset
After penetrating the lane and splitting the Clairton defense, Owen Norman (25) of Fort Cherry dishes the ball off to his open teammate during WPIAL boys' basketball playoff action.
Fort Cherry Eugene Briggs hollers instructions to his players during their playoff game against Clairton. The Rangers ended their season with a 53-46 loss to the Bears.
Matt Sieg (3) of Fort Cherry splits a pair of Clairton defenders as he drives to the basket during WPIAL boys' playoff action.
By Eleanor Bailey/the Almanac
Kaden Smith (1) from Clairton snags a rebound from Adam Wolfe (15) of Fort Cherry during WPIAL boys’ basketball playoff action. The Rangers dropped a 56-43 decision to the Bears and ended their season 20-3 overall.
Matt Sieg (3) of Fort Cherry skies to the hoop for a basket despite the defensive efforts of Clairton.
Shane Cornali pumps fakes before putting up a basket during Fort Cherry's 53-46 loss to Clairton in the WPIAL boys' basketball playoffs.
Despite the defensive efforts of Kaden Smith (1) and Bryant Blair (15), Owen Norman (25) puts up a successful shot during Fot Cherry's 53-46 loss to Clairton.
Lainey Yater (11) maneuvers her way between two Plum defenders on her way to a basket during South Fayette's first-round playoff game.
By Eleanor Bailey/the Almanac
Maddie Webber (34) puts up a basket during first-half action of South Fayette’s playoff game against Plum. The Lions cruised to a 48-13 lead by intermission.
Ava Leroux
Ava Leroux (2) scored a game-high 21 points in South Fayette’s rout of Mechanicsburg.
McDONALD – Fort Cherry’s boys basketball team wasn’t a lock to return to the WPIAL championship game.
The Rangers came into the playoffs as the No. 3 seed in Class 2A, with No. 1 Aliquippa and No. 2 Bishop Canevin ahead of it.
But Fort Cherry had every intention of returning to the Petersen Events Center. Fort Cherry followed up a historic 2021-22 season, highlighted by its first WPIAL title game appearance since 1961, with a 20-2 regular season and a 12-0 record in Class 2A Section 4. So it was reasonable to foresee another deep WPIAL playoff run and state tournament appearance for the Rangers.
Instead, Fort Cherry’s season ended with the team being on the wrong end of a No. 3 vs. No. 14 upset. Coach Eugene Briggs’s program fell to Clairton, 52-46, Tuesday at South Fayette High School.
In the second game of the doubleheader, South Fayette rolled to a 72-29 win over Plum in a Class 5A girls first-round contest.
The consensus around the Fort Cherry (20-3) locker room seemed to be that the team came in overconfident and that burned the Rangers.
“I’m gonna be honest,” Owen Norman, one of the team’s three seniors that had their high school careers come to an abrupt end, said, “we didn’t take it serious. It’s the postseason and we thought we were just going to beat everybody. But we got upset.”
“I think that you could tell the first two quarters,” Adam Wolf, another senior, said. “We weren’t ready at all, and we thought we were just going to walk in and win.”
“The first half,” Briggs said, “we just didn’t have it.”
But Briggs and his players acknowledged that Clairton (11-12) had much to do with how the game played out.
The underdogs weren’t intimidated. Clairton came at Fort Cherry early and led 18-11 after the first quarter. Clairton stayed in control in the second quarter, never losing its lead and heading into halftime with a 25-19 lead.
For Clairton coach Rashawd Hatton, preparation was vital.
“We were really ready for (Fort Cherry’s) pressure, their 2-3 zone. I think it was a real good week of practice that really helped us,” he said.
Briggs said Clairton “had us on our heels” early.
“It took us a while to start attacking,” he said.
Norman led all scorers with 10 points and ended up finishing with 22 in his high school finale. He fouled out with 6.9 seconds left.
Clairton kept it going in the second half, opening up a 35-21 advantage.
Fort Cherry kept fighting and cut the deficit to six, but by the end of the quarter Clairton had pushed the lead back to nine.
The fourth quarter told a similar tale. Fort Cherry had its moments, cutting it to three. But Clairton never gave up control and held on for the upset.
Nobody rational would blame the members of Fort Cherry’s program for wondering what might have been if the team came out with the same energy in the first half as it did in the second.
“The second half was more the way we play,” Briggs said.
Kaden Smith finished with 22 points to lead Clairton and tie for the game-high. He was the only Clairton player to crack double figures.
Clairton has already overachieved in the eyes of many and looks to keep its run going against No. 6 Northgate Friday at a time and place to be announced.
South Fayette, 72-29
No. 1 South Fayette (21-2) took care of No. 16 Plum (13-11), 72-29.
South Fayette led 26-5 after the first quarter, 48-13 at halftime and 60-21 after three quarters.
South Fayette’s Ava Leroux led the team all scorers with 16 points, which Plum’s Megan Martson matched for the game high. Maddie Webber added 13 for the Lions.
South Fayette’s quest to defend its WPIAL championship continues Friday against No. 8 Penn Trafford, who beat No. 9 Shaler Tuesday night.
For coach Bryan Bennett, the team was “pretty focused” in the practices leading up to the game.
Bennett’s worry was that the team going 10 days without playing a game would be a determinant, but that didn’t end up being the case.
“The long layoff had me concerned,” Bennett said. “I thought Plum was a pretty talented team. (Martson) is an outstanding player. She’s averaging over 18 a game, so we knew she was capable of keeping them in it. But our kids were extremely focused tonight, knew they had a job to do and they got that job done.”