×

St. Clair hits mark but Portage ousted

JOHNSTOWN — Bishop McCort had too many weapons for Portage to handle in Thursday night’s District 6 Class 2A boys basketball quarterfinal contest as the Crimson Crushers led from start to finish and put an end to the Mustangs’ season with a 69-40 victory.

The top-seeded Crimson Crushers (19-4) advanced to the district semifinals Tuesday against Purchase Line at a venue and time to be determined.

“We hung around for a while, but they are a number one seed for a reason, and they played like it,” said Portage coach Travis Kargo, whose seventh-seeded team concluded a 10-14 campaign.

Bishop McCort scored the first six points of the night and jumped out to a double-digit first-quarter lead, but the Mustangs were able to stay within striking distance into the second. However, a late 15-3 surge by the Crimson Crushers in the final minutes of the half helped McCort open up a 38-23 advantage at the break, and a barrage of 3-pointers in the third period allowed the Crushers to take command and build a 23-point edge heading into the fourth to effectively decide the outcome.

“Portage played hard, but we were a little quicker, and our defensive pressure wore them down,” Bishop McCort coach Jerry Murphy said. “We shared the ball well, and I was pleased with our effort.”

Logan Kasper scored a game-high 17 to lead the Crimson Crushers, while Imil Britt added 15 and Andre Nash 12.

It was a bittersweet night for Mustang senior forward Braedon St. Clair. The Portage big man scored a team-leading 16, and he surpassed the 1,000-point plateau for his career with a second-quarter free throw that earned a loud ovation from a large Mustang fan contingent in attendance.

“Braedon St. Clair, that kid is a battler,” Kargo said. “We are really going to miss him, as well as our other seniors.”

A Britt 3-pointer capped off a 7-0 run that gave McCort a 19-7 first-quarter lead before the Mustangs’ Jake Swank nailed a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to close the gap to single digits heading into the second.

St. Clair’s putback later pulled Portage to within 23-17 at the 4:25 mark before the Crimson Crushers responded by scoring 15 of the next 18 points to go up 38-20 in the final minute of the half.

McCort’s depth started to wear down the Mustangs in the third.

“Fatigue took its toll on us,” Kargo said. “They just kept running fresh bodies in and out, and we started turning the ball over.”

Corbyn Haney’s layup narrowed the Mustang deficit to 44-32 with just over five minutes left in the third, but that was as close as Portage would get as Kasper drained three straight from beyond the arc for the Crushers to spark a 15-4 run to close the quarter and make it 61-38.

“Our kids played their guts out,” Kargo said. “The scoreboard may not show it, but I’m proud of our effort, and we represented our school and our conference well.

“Our senior class won at least one playoff game each of the last four years, we made it to our first district championship game and first state playoff game in quite a while. I’m very proud of what this group has done for our program.”

PORTAGE (40): Teno 1 4-6 6, Swank 4 0-0 9, Haney 2 0-0 5, St. Clair 6 4-6 16, Scoran 0 0-0 0, Price 2 0-0 4, Corrente 0 0-0 0, Selapack 0 0-0 0, Oravecz 0 0-0 0, Forst 0 0-0 0, Roseman 0 0-0 0, Brown 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 8-12 40.

BISHOP McCORT (69): Seidel 0 0-0 0. Petrosky 4 1-2 9, Nash 6 0-0 12, Vitovich 4 0-0 8, Kasper 7 0-0 17, Britt 6 0-0 15, Ambrose 0 0-0 0, Kramer 0 0-0 0, Diamond 1 0-0 3, Conahan 2 0-0 5, Smadja 0 0-0 0, Cacciotti 0 0-0 0, Semelsberger 0 0-0 0, Helsel 0 0-0 0. Totals 30 1-2 69.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Portage 10 13 15 2 — 40

Bishop McCort 19 19 23 8 — 69

Three-point field goals: Portage 2 (Swank, Haney). Bishop McCort 8 (Kasper 3, Britt 3, Diamond, Conahan)

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

COMMENTS

Starting at $4.39/week.

Subscribe Today