Ringgold falls as final shot doesn’t
By Bill Hughes
Contributing writer
McMURRAY – Ringgold’s first trip to the WPIAL boys basketball quarterfinals since 2020 ended in heartbreak Friday night with a 48-47 loss to Hampton in a frantic finish of the Class 5A matchup.
After the 10th-seeded Talbots (14-7) tied the score at 47-47 with 1:19 to go, it appeared the 15th-seeded Rams would run down the clock and take the final shot.
After Ringgold used a timeout to set up what could have been the last possession of the game, the Rams put the ball in the hands of David Wachinski, their junior floor general.
As he dribbled slowly back toward midcourt, Hampton sent a trap toward him and Wachinski threw the ball to the top of the key.
Hampton’s Zack Danner stole the ball with 22 seconds to go, and Hampton pushed the ball to the hoop in transition. Luca Romero Lauro was fouled with 17.8 seconds left on the clock.
After missing his first free throw, he regrouped with his teammates and hit the second to give the Talbots the one-point lead.
Ringgold used its last timeout with 13.6 seconds remaining, and a frantic finish followed.
After the ball was deflected out of bounds with 4.5 seconds left, the Talbots fouled Ringgold with 2.4 seconds on the clock.
With no timeouts to set up a play, the ball was inbounded to Wachinski and his 16-foot runner was off the mark.
The game started out in the opposite fashion.
Ringgold came out and dominated the first quarter. With the contest knotted at 2-2 early on, the Rams used stifling defense to limit Hampton’s looks, and Wachinski controlled the tempo.
He finished the quarter with three assists, and Ringgold led 17-5 going into the second.
In the opening quarter, Hampton was ice cold from deep as it missed all seven of its three-point attempts.
With Ringgold up 19-7 with 3:53 to go in the first half, Wachinski picked up his third foul and the Talbots took advantage.
They went on a 10-0 run to take their first lead, 20-19, with 1:41 left in the half, but the Rams scrapped and clawed to take a 25-23 lead into half with their floor general on the sidelines.
The game was neck and neck in the third, and the contest was tied at 37-37 heading into the fourth and deciding quarter.
With the Talbots holding their biggest lead of the game, three points, at 43-40, with 5:02 to go, Ringgold’s Demetri Lowe had a pair of steals and breakaway layups late to give Ringgold the momentum.
Wachinski drilled a three-pointer with 1:33 to go to give Ringgold its last lead at 47-45 before the chaotic finish.
Lowe led all scorers with 20 points while finishing with five rebounds, two blocked shots and the two steals. Dennis Hawkins finished with a team-high seven rebounds while Wachinski had four assists.
The Rams enter the consolation portion of the playoff bracket to determine their PIAA seed. All eight WPIAL quarterfinalists have qualified for the PIAA tournament.
Ringgold 17 8 12 10 47
Hampton 5 18 14 11 48
Ringgold: Demetri Lowe 20
Hampton: Jonas Cupps 13; Zach Danner 11