Basketball

Carroll’s pressure sets tone in beating Mustangs

By Michael Boytim

mboytim@altoonamirror.com

PORTAGE -- Just seconds into Bishop Carroll Catholic's District 6 Class 1A quarterfinal game at Portage's Len Chappell Gymnasium on Tuesday, Huskies senior Luke Repko swiped the ball away and made an uncontested layup.

Less than a minute later, he did it again and Carroll coach Cosie Aliquo saw his vision for the game coming to fruition while Portage coach Travis Kargo's nightmare scenario going in was realized.

Bishop Carroll went ahead by as many as 18 points before the Mustangs shot their way back into the game, but the deficit was too much to overcome in a 70-56 Huskies victory.

"We talked about coming out on defense hard to start the game and set the tone," Repko said. "If we got steals early, we knew we could beat them and play fast."

Repko finished with a game-high 24 points, many of those coming on layups off the pressure that led Bishop Carroll to the win.

"I was hoping it would," Aliquo said. "I was hoping our pressure would hold on. I think we did a pretty good job, but they did still get some pretty easy buckets."

Portage began to adjust to the pressure in the second half, but had to gamble defensively to get back into the game.

"Going in, the biggest fear I had, the biggest concern I had, was their overall speed," Kargo said. "I think it happened. I thought that the biggest difference between the teams was that their team speed created so many turnovers."

Trailing by 18 early in the third quarter, Portage added full-court pressure itself, and Owen Gouse's 3-pointer with less than 30 seconds to play in the third quarter cut the deficit down to nine.

"Because of the deficit, we got caught doing things we normally don't do," Kargo said. "We haven't been a pressing team this year, but when you're down double digits, there's only so much time. We felt desperation and had to go full-court. Going into the game, that wasn't our plan, but desperate times call for desperate measures."

But just before the third quarter ended, Bishop Carroll's Max Oravec hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to extend the lead back to 12 going into the fourth quarter.

"That was huge," Aliquo said. "That was a huge momentum swing back to us."

Thanks to 3-pointers from Trae Kargo, who finished with a team-high 17 points, and Ethan Hodge midway through the fourth quarter, Portage pulled within eight at 57-49, but the Huskies scored the next eight points to put the game away.

"They are solid," Aliquo said. "To come in here and beat Portage, that's a good win. They don't lose many games here. Travis does a great job. When you play Travis' team, you're in for a battle. They have won three district titles in a row. They didn't win them by accident."

Kargo's team loses just one senior, Brennan Kunko.

"Brennan is one of the most selfless kids I have ever coached," Kargo said. "He gave everything he had every day. He was a great teammate and great kid. I respect everything he's done for Portage Mustang basketball. I told him I was hoping he'd be the first athlete ever to graduate with four district titles, but we left that one a little short."

Bode Layo scored 13 points for the Mustangs, and Gouse added 11 points.

With the majority of his team returning next season, Kargo is hoping to get back to making championship games.

"Winning the last three district championships and being in the last four, we have that target on our back," Kargo said. "We lost a lot of good players over the years, and we keep reloading. I feel like our team was pretty solid this year, but we had new players in new roles and took a little longer to figure it out. Hopefully by next year, we challenged them not to have that feeling again and get us back to what got us those championships. Hopefully we'll get that buy-in and commitment and get back next year and have a different result."

Bishop Carroll will travel to top-seeded Conemaugh Valley, a team the Huskies have beaten in each of the last three seasons, on Friday in the semifinals. Though Carroll is just 13-10, the Huskies have played larger schools all season in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference.

"Playing tougher opponents really helps," Repko said. "We focus on defense. Playing defense is all we need. If we get steals, we're going to win."

Parker Alexander added 17 points for the Huskies, and Jace Casses scored 13 points. Bishop Carroll missed the playoffs last year after winning the District 6 Class 1A championship in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

"We won three in a row," Aliquo said. "Then, we didn't make it last year. This is good for our program. We're back."

BISHOP CARROLL (70): Repko 11 2-4 24, Oravec 4 1-2 10, Alexander 6 3-4 17, Tremel 2 2-3 6, Casses 4 3-4 13, Sekerak 0 0-0 0, Becquet 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 27 11-17 70.

PORTAGE (56): Kunko 1 0-0 3, Kargo 6 1-1 17, Gouse 5 0-0 11, Layo 5 3-4 13, Z. Hodge 2 1-2 5, McCoy 0 0-0 0, E. Hodge 3 0-0 7, Bobolsky 0 0-0 0, Caldwell 0 0-0 0, Walker 0 0-0 0, Kick 0 0-0 0, Slanoc 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 22 5-7 56.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Bishop Carroll 17 16 17 20 -- 70

Portage 9 10 19 18 -- 56

3-point goals: Bishop Carroll 5 (Alexander 2, Casses 2, Oravec); Portage 7 (Kargo 4, Kunko, Gouse, E. Hodge).

Records: Bishop Carroll (13-10); Portage (14-9).

Officials: Anthony Brezovec, Brock Kaufman, Don Moss.