It didn’t come easy, but Moon Area lived to fight another day in the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball tournament by outlasting visiting Gateway, 49-42, Tuesday night.
The tournament-opening victory vaults the fifth-seeded Tigers – now 18-5 — into a quarterfinal matchup Friday against No. 4 Chartiers Valley, which defeated No. 13 Thomas Jefferson, 72-50.
The location and time of Friday’s game will be announced later.
Michael Santicola led the Tigers’ attack with 25 points and Amir Turner added 11.
Moon led 33-24 heading into the final quarter, but Gateway would not go away. The Tigers, the defending Class 5A champs, led 42-32 halfway through the quarter, but Gateway put on a mini run to cut the lead to 42-36 with 2 minutes, 30 seconds to play.
But Moon responded down the stretch, getting a baseline dunk from Santicola and a layup from Turner that restored the lead to 10, 46-36, with 1:36 remaining. Santicola and Turner also hit key free throws down the stretch to keep the Gators at bay.
Moon coach Gino Palmosina said he liked the way his team started Tuesday.
“We got off to a hot start offensively,” he said. “We made some stops and got some runouts – that’s what we rely on a lot. We limited their second chances. But they’re very athletic. They got some better looks and were more patient (in the second quarter). And they got some second-chance points that put them back in the game.”
Palmosina said his team could have done a better job executing offensively in the half court.
“But at the end of the day, at this time of the year, you just have to get wins. We got one tonight and we’ll move on to Friday.”
Moon is plenty familiar with Chartiers Valley, the No. 4 seed, which beat the Tigers twice during section play.
“It’s going to be tough,” Palmosina said of the Colts. “They have our number. It’s going to be a challenge for us.”
The Tigers jumped out quickly, and it appeared it would be a long night for the Gators.
Moon led 10-0 before Gateway got on the board with a free throw with 2 minutes, 52 seconds left in the opening quarter.
The Tigers eventually built the lead to 15-1 before the Gators scored four of the last five points of the quarter to cut it to 16-5.
Gateway turned up the pressure defensively in the second quarter, forcing several Moon turnovers and some ill-advised shots, and the Gators methodically cut into the lead.
At one point, Gateway trailed by just six at 21-15 before Santicola’s baseline drive resulted in a layup, and another layup just before the halftime buzzer gave the Tigers a 25-15 lead at intermission.
Neither team could establish any sort of an offensive rhythm in the third quarter, but Gateway outscored Moon 9-8 to trail 33-24 heading into the final eight minutes.
Bishop Canevin 59, Seton LaSalle 57
Drew Allen’s last-second block preserved the fourth-seeded Crusaders’ win over the Rebels in the opening round of the Class 3A tournament.
With the win, Bishop Canevin moves on to play No. 5 seed Keystone Oaks, a 72-57 winner over No. 12 Ligonier Valley, Friday night at a time and location to be determined.
The Crusaders, who went unbeaten in section play, improved to 14-8 overall.
Bishop Canevin got off to a slow start and fell behind 14-7 at the end of one quarter. But the Crusaders erupted for 23 second-quarter points to take a 30-25 lead at halftime. Allen scored 11 of his team-high 15 points in the opening half.
Seton LaSalle cut into that lead in the third quarter and trailed 40-38 heading into the final eight minutes.
Jackson Maddix, who finished with 14 points, and Eddie Benton, who added nine, both hit some clutch free throws down the stretch to hold off the Rebels.
Seton LaSalle had one final chance to tie or win the game when it inbounded the ball with 4.8 seconds left. The Rebels managed to take it to the rim, but Allen came from behind for the block to preserve the win.
Bishop Canevin coach Aaron McGee said his team played well when it mattered most.
“It was a team effort tonight,” he said. “We went down early, but we battled back. Maddix and Drew led us in scoring, Eddie Benton hit some big free throws, Damar Olds’ defense was great and (Lamier) Wade was great on the glass. Everyone stepped up.”
Olds contributed 12 points in the win and Wade added eight.
Southmoreland 58, Carlynton 50
The 11th-seeded Cougars put up a fight, but in the end, they came up short in a first-round matchup in the Class 3A tournament.
Noah Felentzer scored a game-high 31 points for No. 6 seed Southmoreland, which improved to 18-5 with the victory and will move on to face Mohawk – the No. 3 seed – Friday at a time and location to be determined.
Devonte Dean scored 19 points to pace Carlynton, which finished its first season under coach Dan DeRose with a record of 9-13.
Despite being the underdog, the Cougars remained within striking distance just about the whole way despite a major disparity in free throws. Southmoreland went to the line 32 times, converting 25, while Carlynton was 8 for 15 from the line.
After trailing 19-13 at the end of the first quarter, Carlynton trimmed the deficit to four, 28-24, at halftime, and trailed by just one, 41-40, heading into the final eight minutes.
Southmoreland coach Frank Muccino said he figured his team would be in for a dogfight.
“They’re well-coached and they played hard,” he said of Carlynton. “We knew that coming in. We were just trying to survive and advance to the next one.”
DeRose said his team, which lost one of its top contributors when Damien Holloway chose not to play, had trouble with Felentzer, but he had no issues with the Cougars’ effort.
“I thought the kids played really hard,” he said. “We didn’t play smart at times defensively trying to stop (Felentzer), who kind of had his way with us.
“But considering all that we have gone through and having to shuffle the lineup without Holloway playing, and playing some other kids more minutes than usual, we did pretty well for what we had.”
Photos by Tom Drost
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