Troy Ruggery shoots in the lane against Johnstown.

Lestochi hits key shot

By Matt Michelone

For the Mirror

It’s not every day that an opportunity to redeem yourself becomes a possibility when it comes to finishing in the clutch during a playoff basketball game.

During last year’s PIAA Class 3A second-round matchup against Girard, Bishop Guilfoyle Academy’s Tyson Lestochi missed a last-second shot which would’ve given the Marauders a trip to the quarterfinals.

On Friday night, the Marauders were trailing by two with 13.5 seconds to play in regulation. The ball was in Lestochi’s hands once again in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference championship game.

This time, he redeemed himself on a last-second hook shot to force overtime as the Marauders tied the game at 48, sending it into overtime.

From there BG took control and then hung on to finish its bid for back-to-back-to-back LHAC Championships — defeating Johnstown, 58-55 — at Penn State Altoona’s Adler Arena.

“When I swung the ball, and they swung back, they really leave that opening on the other side,” Tyson Lestochi said of how the play developed. “When I drove, I knew they weren’t going to help, they were just going to stunt it. When I went (for the shot), I just went for it and I made it.”

Lestochi’s father and Marauder head coach, Ryan, had some extra nerves knowing how close his son was the last time an opportunity like this presented itself as his team handed the Trojans their first loss of the season.

“That was a tough one,” he said. “I was staring at that thing like ‘please, God.’ We had the same thing in a state playoff game last year, and it just hung on the rim like that and it didn’t go.

“I’m so glad for him that it went, and he’ll have that end-of-game confidence. I’m proud of him as a coach, and even more as a dad.”

Tyson Lestochi finished with 10 points.

Johnstown looked like it was starting to pull away in the third as Donte Tisinger put away a jumper off a turnover and Amier Robinson added one off a feed, which helped the Trojans build a 35-30 lead.

Tisinger led all scorers with 24 points, and Robinson — who was battling through an injury suffered during Thursday night’s semifinal win over Hollidaysburg — finished with eight.

Johnstown coach Ryan Durham believed that Robinson’s limited availability had the greatest impact on the Johnstown defense.

“It more or less hurt us more on the defensive end because we couldn’t pressure or play like we normally do because he was trying to be a decoy,” he said “Just trying to give what he could, when he could.

“The manner we lost today, it was frustrating. We just didn’t play our best. We had our chances — missed foul shots, just tough.”

During the closing seconds of the third BG’s Taurean Consiglio hit from downtown at the buzzer, cutting that deficit down to two. Consiglio finished with 15 points and Troy Ruggery tied him for the team lead.

“We both have really, really competitive teams, and we both take pride in winning, and take pride in winning the Laurel Highlands championship,” Tyson Lestochi said. “It seems like every time we play each other, we just both are on our best game.”

Ryan Lestochi was appreciative of the chance to use this game as a chance to get tuned up for the playoffs along with efforts that went into winning another conference championship

“It was an amazing game,” he said. “We know what we’re getting with Johnstown. They’re just so good, they’re so tough and so physical. They’re well coached. Donte (Tisinger) is such a handful to deal with. Our boys just stayed strong and made just enough plays to pull one out.”

The Marauders will now get a week off before they open the District 6 Class 3A playoffs as the No. 2 seed and welcome the winner of the 7-10 matchup between Central Cambria and Southern Huntingdon next Friday.

BISHOP GUILFOYLE (58): Lestochi 2 6-8 10, Consiglio 4 6-7 15, Foor 3 1-2 9, Ruggery 7 0-0 15, J. Kissell 1 1-2 3, C. Kissell 2 0-0 4, Gates 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 14-19 58.

JOHNSTOWN (55): Robinson 4 0-0 8, Tisinger 10 2-6 24, Armstrong 3 0-0 7, Alberter 1 0-0 3, R. Braswell 1 3-6 5, Ashcom 1 0-2 3, Dykes 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 7-16 55.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Bishop Guilfoyle 11 10 12 15 10 – 58

Johnstown 14 8 13 13 7 – 55

3-point field goals: Bishop Guilfoyle 4 (Consiglio, Foor 2, Ruggery), Johnstown 6 (Tisinger, Armstrong, Alberter, Carr, Ashcom)

Records: Bishop Guilfoyle (19-3), Johnstown (22-1).

Officials: Clark Adelman, Jack McDougal, Randy Burkett