Warriors rally past Raiders, clinch playoff berth

By JOE SABOLEK

MVI Sports

Matt Loftis had two words for his Elizabeth Forward squad in the closing seconds of their Section 3-4A matchup at Waynesburg Central Tuesday. 

“Next play.”

The Warriors shook off an iffy call and made the big play they needed to hold on for a 56-55 win over Waynesburg Central, punching their ticket to the WPIAL playoffs.

After Chase Vaughn was whistled for a questionable travel call with 20.6 seconds to go, the EF head coach settled his team down, knowing his team was going to have to still make a play.

“It’s easy to kind of harp on those things, but in that situation you have to look ahead,” said Loftis. “We needed one stop. If we did that, we were gonna punch our ticket to the playoffs.”

The Warriors did just that, as Waynesburg held for a final shot, but as Lucas Garber dribbled into the paint, he was met by a swarm of EF defenders, who knocked the ball away and forced a jump ball. 

After another time out and Waynesburg inbounding, they threw to Avery McConville. He went up for a shot, only to be met by Vaughn who emphatically blocked it to seal the win. 

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