SA advances by squashing Cranberry
Drew Cook and Cam Epps led the Gladiators to a comfortable win in their PIAA playoff opener.
Often in state tournament play, the early rounds will see some uneven levels of competition before things get closer as the field shrinks.
That was evident Saturday when WPIAL champion South Allegheny dismantled District 9 champion Cranberry, 75-37, to move on in the PIAA Class 4A tournament.
“I thought our performance was solid today,” SA coach Tony DiCenzo said. “I think what we were looking for there was to get back into a competitive environment and get those competitive juices flowing again. It was a sound performance overall offensively and defensively, so I feel like we played a complete game.”
Drew Cook and Cam Epps had 22 and 19 points, respectively, to lead the home Gladiators (24-3) as they were joined by a raucous home crowd. The gym was so packed that some spectators were sitting in chairs around the baseline.
The Berries (18-8) also had a strong fan presence in what turned out to be their final game of the season. Cole Findlay found success offensively with 15 points, but the rest of Cranberry’s squad was mostly neutralized offensively.
After Cranberry grabbed a 3-2 lead, SA outscored the Berries 24-5 to open up a huge lead after one.
Josh Jackowski, who also reached double-digits with 13 first-half points, hit a triple to give the Gladiators a 5-3 advantage that they never relinquished. Camden Lewis, Cook and Epps then combined for seven points before Cranberry got back on the board via Blake Marchinke free throws. Those makes from the charity stripe brought the score to 12-5 in favor of South Allegheny.
Another 7-0 spurt followed that as Jackowski, Jake Uher, Epps and Cook pushed it out to 19-5 before Connor Morrow converted an and-one on the other end for the Berries. Cook nailed a three, Lewis made a layup and Cook got two points off a steal to end the first quarter scoring at 268.
The Gladiators forced turnovers at will throughout the game as Cranberry lost possession 23 times throughout the contest.
In the second quarter, Morrow made two free throws 50 seconds into the frame to give the Berries 10 points. Epps and Cook scored five points from there before Findlay did the same himself. Another triple from Findlay made it as close as 36-23 before Jackowski made an and-one and then threw down a dunk that sent a lightning bolt through the crowd.
“One thing that was a tremendous help for us was this atmosphere,” DiCenzo said. “We always have a great support system, but the amount of people here after last week’s WPIAL win was big for us. Our kids fed off that. It was a really cool environment, and once they saw what it was starting to look like in the pregame and everything, I could tell they were getting excited.”
After Findlay split a pair of free throws, Jackowski connected on a three and Epps made a putback to give SA more breathing room. The Gladiators took a 50-26 advantage into halftime.
Out of the break, their tenacious defense continued.
South Allegheny scored all 13 of its third quarter points before the Berries got on the board in the second half, making it 63-26 to put it out of reach and start the running clock. With just 1:48 left in the third, it was Marchinke that finally put some second half points on the board for Cranberry before Findlay also scored to bring the score to 63-30 entering the fourth quarter.
The final frame was low-scoring as both squads let their reserves get some run. South Allegheny’s James Anderson, Smaj Reason and Adam Jackowski got on the board.
SA will turn its attention to District 6 runner-up Bishop Guilfoyle (23-4) on Wednesday. The schools will meet at Armstrong High School in Kittanning at 7:30 p.m. for an opportunity to play the winner between District 3 champions Trinity and Shady Side Academy.
“I hope this got the taste of winning back in our mouths after the week off, and I hope this can propel us to future success in this tournament,” DiCenzo said. “We’ll be back Monday and Tuesday, put our gameplan together and go from there.”
