PT outlasts Mars in OT, earns trip to WPIAL finals
CORAOPOLIS – With 26 seconds remaining in overtime and Peters Township leading by three, Dylan Donovan was ready to go to the foul line to shoot free throws when he noticed blood running down his forearm.
That’s when Peters Township trainer Nate Sedlack came to the rescue.
Instead of Donovan having to come out of the game, Sedlack wrapped gauze and tape around the arm in a speed that was akin to a NASCAR pit stop.
Then, Donovan walked to the line and sank two free throws to deliver the final blow.
It gave the sixth-seeded Indians the cushion they needed to fend off No. 10 Mars in a 58-52 overtime win in the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball semifinals Tuesday night at Moon High School.
“Shout out to Nate (Sedlack),” Peters Township coach Joe Urmann said. “He got that arm wrapped up really quick and Dylan went out and knocked them down. Nate’s one of the best in the business and he’s been with us for a few years now.”
The Indians (18-7) advanced to play No. 4 Chartiers Valley in the WPIAL 5A championship, 7 p.m. Saturday at Petersen Events Center. Mars (14-11) will face Montour in the third-place game before entering the PIAA tournament.
Donovan added another free throw in the final seconds to cap a 22-point night and an exhilarating game that featured 11 lead changes.
The entire game was played within six points, which was the margin of victory. Neither team had a six-point lead until the final score.
“It was awesome,” Donovan said. “My heart was racing, it was so much fun. The energy was great. It was a great game to be a part of and great to come out of with a win.”
Peters Township had to endure a deep three-point attempt by Austin Wroblewski that bounced off the rim at the end of regulation. Wroblewski had made two threes in the fourth and narrowly missed a game-winner.
The Indians got two huge plays from Lucas Rost right off the bat in overtime. First, Rost sank a jumper on the first possession. Then he had a block from behind on an attempt by Mars’ 6-8 center Ben Detisch.
Rost also hit two game-tying free throws near the end of regulation.
“The first basket in overtime is huge and we were able to win the tip, Lucas Rost came off a ball screen and was able to hit a medium range jumper,” Urmann said. “He was huge for us tonight on both ends of the floor. He’s Mr. Consistency and the ultimate glue guy.”
The Indians limited Mars to one basket in the extra period, a three-pointer by Detisch and a free throw by Will Wilson.
Prior to overtime, Mars caught fire at times from beyond the arc. The Fightin’ Planets made eight three pointers in the game, nearly half of their 20 field goals.
Austin Campbell and Wroblewski had a trio of threes each. Shawn Thelk countered with three of his own for Peters Township, Donovan hit a pair and Wetzel sank one.
There were multiple times where the Indians had to fight their way back from five-point deficits in the second half, but found a way.
“It was a tough one in a sense that they made shots in big moments and I don’t really think we played particularly well,” Urmann said. “I thought we were tight at times. Credit to them. I thought (Mars coach) Kobe (Phillippi) had a good game plan and the Mars players played so hard.
“I thought we were a little stagnant on offense to be honest and relied on (Donovan) too much to create offense with the ball in his hands. We need to do a better job of creating action off of him.”
Wroblewski led Mars with 15 points. Campbell had 14 and Detisch scored 12.
Jake Wetzel and Thelk scored nine each for the Indians and Nick McCullough had eight points, including a steal and score late in the fourth that gave Peters Township a 46-45 lead.