Jake DiBello-Millimaci forced overtime with a last-second shot and then scored the final three points in the extra period to lift Mercyhurst Prep to a 46-45 victory over Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Wednesday night in a second-round PIAA Class 2A boys basketball tournament game played at Sharon High School.
The loss ended the Chargers’ season and left them with a 21-6 record. Mercyhurst Prep improved to 21-6 and advanced to the quarterfinals to face Jeannette, which beat Jefferson-Morgan, 68-36, Wednesday night.
Tiernan McCullough nearly willed OLSH to a victory, as he finished with 26 points and went over the 1,000-point mark for his career in the fourth quarter.
The 6-foot-4 junior guard gave the Chargers a 43-40 lead on a 3-pointer early in overtime, but Mercyhurst Prep’s Trent Bengel answered with a 3-pointer of his own to tie the game at 43-43.
McCullough then followed his own miss to make it 45-43, but an OLSH turnover led to DiBello-Millimaci’s driving layup, which tied the score.
The Chargers were in position to work for the last shot with less than 30 seconds to play, but a Lakers’ double-team yielded a DiBello-Millimaci steal, and he was fouled while heading to the basket. The 5-10 senior guard converted one of two free throws with 15 seconds to play to put Mercyhurst Prep on top, 46-45.
OLSH moved into the front court and put the ball in McCullough’s hands. But Mercyhurst Prep’s Ryan Harris would not allow McCullough to penetrate, and he dished off to Austin Avsec, whose desperation shot from the right of the top of the key would not fall.
OLSH coach Mike Rodriguez said his team’s failure to execute with a lead in the extra period was too much to overcome.
“We made several costly turnovers and mistakes in overtime,” he said. “But these are all coaching mistakes. The boys played their tails off. This loss is on me – not the boys.”
OLSH jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, but the Lakers connected on three 3-pointers and went in front 13-11 after one quarter. The Chargers managed just six second-quarter points and Mercyhurst Prep extended its lead to 24-17 at halftime.
OLSH came up empty on five straight possessions in the second quarter, including a turnover off an inbounds pass that Mercyhurst Prep converted at the other end on a traditional 3-point play.
That gave the Lakers a 21-13 lead with 2 minutes, 35 seconds remaining in the first half, and OLSH could only trim a point off that deficit by the time the half ended.
McCullough scored nine of the Chargers’ first-half points, but the rest of the team had trouble getting untracked.
The Chargers crept closer in the third quarter but gave up a Bengel layup in the final seconds and trailed 33-30 heading into the fourth quarter.
OLSH finally took the lead, 38-36, on McCullough’s driving layup with 90 seconds to play in regulation, but Trent Garner followed up a missed Lakers shot to tie the score with 42 seconds left.
Avsec’s smart feed set up Frankie Igrec for a shot inside that vaulted OLSH in front 40-38 with 19.1 seconds to play, but DiBello-Millimaci somehow converted an off-balance jumper that rolled in just before the buzzer to tie the game at 40-40 and send it to overtime.
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