Robinson, Valley edge Blue Pirates
D6 1A boys basketball quarterfinals
Trending
HUNTINGDON -- Connor Robinson scored four baskets in the fourth quarter of Juniata Valley's District 6 Class 1A quarterfinal game against Williamsburg at Huntingdon Area High School on Tuesday and each one tied the game after the Blue Pirates had taken the lead.
With his team up two in the final minute, Williamsburg collapsed its defense onto Robinson in the paint, expecting another shot to go up. Instead, he dished to a wide-open Reid Edwards under the basket for an uncontested layup that put the Green Hornets up two scores in an eventual 70-67 triumph.
"Connor is one of the hardest workers we have," Juniata Valley coach Bill Lightner said. "He's always going to put his head down and give me 100 percent effort. I can count on all these guys day in and day out, but he's really a gamer."
Robinson, who finished with 17 points, said he refused to let his team down after the game as he recalled a tough memory from a few years ago.
"I have been in plenty of positions like this before where there is a lot of pressure," Robinson said. "When we were in junior high in our (league) tournament, I was on the foul line and missed both of my shots late in the game. I keep that in the back of my head and have always said to myself I will never let that happen again. We lost that game because of those shots I missed. I have been through it and know how to relax in those big moments and come through."
Fellow Juniata Valley junior Charlie Mattas, who led the Green Hornets with 23 points, felt confident with the ball in Robinson's hands.
"Clutch is definitely in Connor Robinson's vocabulary," Mattas said.
Williamsburg, which trailed by as many as eight points in the third quarter, took its first lead of the fourth quarter on a Rowan Gorsuch 3-pointer with 6:36 left. Gorsuch finished with a game-high 24 points.
Robinson tied the game with a putback.
Gorsuch gave the Blue Pirates a 55-53 lead on a runner. Robinson made another putback.
R.J. Royer scored his only points of the second half with a layup after leading Williamsburg with 17 first-half points, but Robinson again answered with a basket.
With 2:29 to play, Gorsuch gave Williamsburg its final lead, 63-61, on a putback after his team-high 12th rebound, but Robinson scored again on the other end.
"It's been all year," Williamsburg coach Brock Anders said. "We haven't made that timely stop when we needed to, and it wasn't any different tonight. You leave some of their guys open, and we were taking some risk-reward chances, and the risks didn't pay off for us tonight with some of the shots they made down the stretch."
Edwards, who finished with 14 points and 18 rebounds, made a putback with less than two minutes to play to put Juniata Valley ahead, and Robinson found him for a layup that made it 67-63 on the next possession.
"I know every time I get into the paint, he's dropping," Robinson said. "I saw him flash by and no one near him. I trusted him and knew he'd put it in. This feels really good after losing at home to them to beat them twice in a row and show we're the better team."
Williamsburg's lone senior, Zach Kagarise, made a bank shot to cut the Green Hornets' lead to two and a Mattas free throw extended that back to three, but the Blue Pirates never got off a clean shot attempt to try and tie the game before the clock expired.
"I knew it was going to be a fight and be tough," Lightner said. "Brock is a great coach who I knew would make adjustments. We tried to do the same thing. Thankfully my boys came out on top. I think this is huge. We have some momentum, and this builds on their confidence. I couldn't ask for better players and better men."
Juniata Valley will play at top-seeded Portage in the semifinals on Friday. The Mustangs defeated Conemaugh Valley, 82-62, in their quarterfinal game.
"We have much respect for Williamsburg even though it's a rivalry," said Mattas of the school Juniata Valley participates with in a co-op during high school football season. "This was a good game, but this is great for us and should give us momentum."
Williamsburg was able to take the lead late despite Gorsuch and Royer both picking up their fourth fouls midway through the third quarter and missing a large part of that quarter.
"Our young guys kept it tight with those guys sitting," Anders said. "For us to only be down six going into the fourth quarter was a tribute to the guys working hard for us in practice."
Jesse Brumbaugh scored 14 points for Williamsburg, and Kagarise had 10 points in his final game.
"I couldn't be prouder of Zach's growth over the last four years," Anders said. "I was really hard on him early in his career, and he's been fantastic all year long. He's been a great leader on the floor playing defense and scoring. He's a great Blue Pirate, and I'm proud to have coached him."
WILLIAMSBURG (67): Kagarise 3 3-4 10, Brantner 0 0-0 0, Brumbaugh 5 4-5 14, Gorsuch 10 3-3 24, Royer 7 2-2 19, Zehner 0 0-0 0, Parks 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 25 12-14 67.
JUNIATA VALLEY (70): Deihl 0 4-4 4, Robinson 7 2-4 17, Edwards 6 2-4 14, Mattas 8 5-7 23, Rand 5 0-0 12, Beck 0 0-0 0, Musser 0 0-0 0, Chavez 0 0-0 0, Bark 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 26 13-19 70.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Williamsburg 12 18 15 22 -- 67
Juniata Valley 15 16 20 19 -- 70
3-point goals: Williamsburg 5 (Royer 3, Kagarise, Gorsuch); Juniata Valley 5 (Mattas 2, Rand 2, Robinson).
Records: Williamsburg (13-10); Juniata Valley (14-10)
Officials: Ray Hoppel, Justin Fraker, Drew Pellman