Latrobe upsets Thomas Jefferson, 61-59

By JOSE NEGRON
jnegron@yourmvi.com

Thomas Jefferson head coach Dom DeCicco called a timeout with 10 seconds remaining in Wednesday’s WPIAL playoff opener to devise an offensive strategy.

With TJ trailing Latrobe by just two points, the veteran mentor scripted up a pair of play calls: A shot inside for 6-6 senior forward Ethan Dunsey and a long range opportunity for 6-1 freshman guard Evan Berger.

The Jaguars had to go the full length of the court and eventually got the ball in Berger’s hands; however, a strong defensive move by Latrobe’s Ryan Sickenberger forced the freshman to push the ball across court to senior Ian Hansen.

Hansen lifted up an off-balanced prayer with one second remaining on the clock, but it didn’t fall, giving No. 10 Latrobe a 61-59 upset victory over No. 7 Thomas Jefferson in the first round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs.

“Evan threw the pass, but we really wanted him to take that shot there,” DeCicco said. “He’s a freshman and that’s a tough thing to put on a kid, but he is who we wanted to shoot if we were going to shoot a three. If not, we wanted to go inside to Dunsey.”

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