Both the Montour Spartans and the Bishop Canevin Crusaders kept their WPIAL boys basketball title hopes alive by posting quarterfinal wins in their respective classes Friday night.
Montour, seeded No. 1 in the Class 5A tournament and ranked No. 1 in the state by TribLive.com, had to battle to defeat Latrobe, 60-52, at Ringgold High School.
Bishop Canevin, seeded No. 4 in the Class 3A tournament, jumped up big on Keystone Oaks, then watched the Eagles put together a 31-3 run to go in front, only to roar back down the stretch and claim a 67-58 victory at Peters Township High School.
Montour, now 23-1 and on a 17-game winning streak, advances to play Chartiers Valley, which downed Moon, 51-44, Friday night. The Spartans and Colts will square off Tuesday at a time and location to be determined.
Bishop Canevin, now 15-8, will meet Aliquippa, a 71-49 winner over Shady Side Academy, Tuesday at a time and site to be determined.
Ama Sow scored 19 points while Colton Straight contributed 17 and AJ Alston 12 for Montour in its win over Latrobe.
The Spartans led 27-20 at halftime, but Latrobe wouldn’t go away, thanks to Max Butler, who was limited in the first half due to foul trouble but sparked the Wildcats’ second-half effort.
Latrobe trailed 40-35 heading into the final quarter but pulled within a point with less than 6 minutes to play. A pair of free throws from Mark Carter and five quick points from Sow widened the Spartans’ lead to eight with 3 minutes, 14 seconds to play, but Latrobe continued to battle and pulled to within three on a Butler 3-pointer at 53-48 with less than 3 minutes remaining.
From that point on, though, the Spartans stood firm. Straight worked his way inside for a basket to widen the lead to five, and the Spartans hit their free throws down the stretch to claim the win.
Butler finished with 19 points in a losing effort and Ian Decerb added 16.
Bishop Canevin 67, Keystone Oaks 58
The game looked a bit like a laugher in the first 11 minutes, as the Crusaders led 23-15 after one quarter and then went on an 18-2 run in the second quarter that resulted in their lead growing to 41-17.
But the Eagles woke up late in that second quarter, putting together a 10-0 run that trimmed Bishop Canevin’s lead to 41-27 at halftime.
The third quarter belonged to Keystone Oaks, as it used pressure defense to force numerous Crusaders turnovers, and the Eagles outscored Bishop Canevin 22-5 to take a 49-46 lead heading into the final quarter. At one point, Keystone Oaks put together a 31-3 run and the Crusaders appeared to be on the ropes.
The Eagles maintained a slight edge midway through the final quarter at 54-50, but Lamier Wade’s three-point play cut the lead to one, and after a Drew Allen free throw tied the game at 54-54 with 3:18 to play, Allen came up with a steal and a layup and made good on a free throw to give Bishop Canevin a 57-54 lead.
Raukeem Hawkins then drilled a 3-pointer to make it 60-54, and Keystone Oaks would never get closer from that point on.
Allen finished with a game-high 25 points while Wade added 15 and Eddie Benton 10.
Erond Jakupi led Keystone Oaks with 20 points.
The Crusaders used a 16-0 run that started late in the first quarter and extended into the second to build a 36-15 lead three minutes into the second quarter. Keystone Oaks finally broke the drought with a pair of free throws, but Bishop Canevin scored five more to increase its lead to 41-17.
At that point, the Eagles looked completely overmatched, but they rallied to score the final 10 points of the second quarter and pulled to within 41-27 at halftime.
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