Big first half keys Marauders
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By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
The Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic Marauders came at Chestnut Ridge in waves both offensively and defensively in the first half of their Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference semifinal playoff matchup Thursday night at the Pleasant Valley gymnasium.
In the second half, though, the tide ebbed for the Marauders.
BG fired out on all cylinders in the first 16 minutes of the game, building a 50-17 lead at intermission. But the Marauders took their feet off the gas pedal in the second half, being outscored, 35-24, and settling for a 74-52 victory.
BG (19-3 overall, 18-0 in conference play this season) meets Johnstown in the conference championship game at 8 p.m. Saturday night at Penn State Altoona's Adler Gymnasium. Johnstown punched its ticket to the title game with a 49-23 win over Central on its home court in Thursday's other semifinal.
First-year BG coach Ryan Lestochi was thrilled with his team's performance in the first half, but felt that the second half was a different story.
"The first half was the epitome of how we want to play, and we have been trending that way in the last six weeks,'' Lestochi said. "We had a disappointing second half. We were complacent, selfish, and we were playing 'me' basketball instead of team basketball.
"Chestnut Ridge is a team that does not quit, and they battled and came back on us in the second half,'' Lestochi added.
Nonetheless, the overwhelming first-half performance registered by the Marauders was more than enough to get the job done Thursday.
With sharpshooting junior Jude Haigh scoring 13 of his game-high 26 points, including three 3-pointers, the Marauders rolled out to a commanding 28-10 lead after a first quarter in which they converted 10 of their 16 floor shots.
After Ridge senior Nate Whysong - who led the Lions with 25 points - hit a 3-pointer from the right side to draw Ridge to within 9-5, BG went on a 19-3 run to put a good down payment on the victory.
The second quarter was more of the same for the Marauders, who carried the period, 22-7, with Haigh scoring 18 of his game-high 26 points in the first half, and sophomore guard Tyson Lestochi chipping in 11.
"We knew that we had to play good defense, and we came out fast,'' said Haigh, who also grabbed eight rebounds in the game. "Our team chemistry was amazing in the first half, and we were able to build a great lead.''
Trevor Rehm, a 6-foot-9 junior center who usually proves to be an indefensible force for opponents in the paint, scored 12 of his 19 points in the second half for BG, and collected a game-high 12 rebounds.
"We came out real fast, played real hard, and that obviously gave us the fire to play well,'' Rehm said.
Ridge coach Don Ellis - whose team is 19-4 overall, 14-4 in conference play, and will host Bedford in the District 5 Class 3A championship game Wednesday night - also called Thursday's game a tale of two halves.
"I was real happy with our second half - our kids didn't quit after falling behind at halftime, and we can hopefully carry that momentum into the upcoming playoffs,'' Ellis said. "In the first half, (BG) did everything right. Our defense wasn't good, they made their shots, and they got to all the loose balls.''
BG — which also got 11 points and nine rebounds from sophomore Taurean Consiglio — converted 20 of its 34 first-half shots for a sizzling 58.8 percent clip, then went on cruise control in the second half.
"When we play all together and share the basketball like we did in the first half, we've got enough players on this team that we're really hard to guard,'' Ryan Lestochi said.
Lestochi said that the Marauders' emphasis will be on performing with that type of teamwork Saturday night against a talented Johnstown team, which will carry a 20-3 overall record into the conference championship game.
"We haven't played them this year, but we know that they are a very good, athletic team that applies a lot of defensive pressure,'' Lestochi said of the Trojans. "They have some real good athletes and we're looking forward to the game. It should be a good matchup.
"Hopefully we can get back to playing team basketball.''
CHESTNUT RIDGE (52): N. Whysong 10 0-1 25, J. Whysong 1 0-0 3, Crocker 2 1-2 5, Wolfhope 1 1-2 3, Lazor 3 0-0 9, C. Whysong 2 0-0 5, Ickes 1 0-0 2, Nicodemus 0 0-0 0. Totals - 20 2-5 52.
BISHOP GUILFOYLE (74): Haigh 10 0-0 26, Rehm 8 3-5 19, Lestochi 5 1-1 11, Consiglio 5 0-0 11, Gates 1 0-0 2, J. Kissell 2 0-0 5, C. Kissell 0 0-0 0, Foor 0 0-0 0, T. Ruggery 0 0-0 0, K. Ruggery 0 0-0 0, Robertson 0 0-0 0. Totals - 31 4-6 74.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Chestnut Ridge 10 7 22 13--52
Bishop Guilfoyle 28 22 11 1 3-- 74
3-point goals: Chestnut Ridge 10 (N. Whysong 5, Lazor 3, J. Whysong, C. Whysong). Bishop Guilfoyle 8 (Haigh 6, J. Kissell, Consiglio).
Records: Chestnut Ridge (19-4 overall, 14-4 in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference); Bishop Guilfoyle (19-3, 18-0).
Officials: Bill Pfeffer, Mike Andrews, Jack McDougal.