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By Nate Ritchey
nritchey@altoonamirror.com
SIDMAN -- Penn Cambria found itself in a much bigger hole than it would hope for from the start on Friday night against Forest Hills.
The Panthers got down by 21 in the second half and could have thrown in the proverbial towel, but they didn't as they rallied back to get it under single digits.
In the end, the early deficit proved to be too much to overcome as Forest Hills made enough free throws down the stretch, and Penn Cambria was eliminated from the District 6 Class 3A playoffs in the quarterfinal round with a 71-57 loss on Friday night.
"Energy-wise in the first, it was bad for us. We just didn't have the energy that we practiced with for the past week," Penn Cambria coach Jim Ronan said. "I really thought that we were going to come out with that intensity that you need to win a playoff game, especially against a really good Forest Hills team. We just dug ourselves a big, early hole."
The Rangers began the contest shooting a blistering rate as five 3-pointers fell in the opening quarter, and led to the big 23-10 deficit for the Panthers after eight minutes of action.
PC was content leaving Forest Hills' Chase Williamson open on the outside, but the forward made them pay by knocking down two treys, while Koy McGough had two and Dylan Stohon added the other.
"Our boys really wanted to shoot this week, so they stayed after a couple of practices," Forest Hills coach Dom Vescovi said. "When we came out, I was nervous but they apparently weren't. It (knocking down 3-pointers early) helped to set the tone for the game."
The second quarter was a more respectable 10-6 edge for FH (19-6), but the Panthers disadvantage grew to 17 (33-16) at the half.
"Our game plan early was to let 35, Williamson open and dare him to shoot," Ronan said. "He made his first two, so that went against our strategic game plan that we thought was really good. Good teams find a way to combat that, and he really just got them going and it got us out of sync a little bit defensively."
Gavin Harrold buried his second trifecta of the night to start the third for Penn Cambria to cut the score to 33-19 before a 7-0 run by the Rangers stretched the lead.
Stohon, who led all scorers with 28 points, made a layup followed by a 3-pointer from Koy McGough, who tallied 15 points.
A FH layup by Brandon Gregovich, who added 10 points, at 5:37 gave the Rangers a 40-19 lead.
Stohon, a freshman, really went to work in the third as he delivered 13 of the Rangers 18 points to give the second seed a 51-34 lead after three quarters.
PC (11-12), the seventh seed, was able to get as close as 14 at 48-34 when Brandon Rabish hit consecutive shots from deep -- the second coming with 45 ticks left.
Forest Hills got up by as many as 19 on two separate occasions in the final stanza with the second coming on a McGough shot to make the score 58-39.
"They (Penn Cambria) started to hit some 3's, and we made some boneheaded turnovers," Vescovi said. "Give them credit, they are a good team. You're not just going to put them away."
With only 5:41 remaining in the contest, Penn Cambria could have just casually played out the remainder of the game, but instead it dug its heels in and came out with a 16-4 spurt over the next four-plus minutes to pull within seven (62-55) on a trey from Blake Lilly with 1:20 showing on the clock.
Easton Semelsberger, who led PC with 20 points, keyed the burst with 10 of the 16 points including back-to-back triples before the Lilly shot.
"He's been my leader the past couple of years with all the other great players and leaders that we've had," Ronan said of Semelsberger.
Unfortunately, the Panthers had to foul and the Rangers were able to knock down 7-of-8 from the line to ice the game.
PENN CAMBRIA (57): E. Semelsberger 8 1-3 20, Harrold 3 0-0 8, Rabish 2 2-2 8, Gibbons 2 3-4 8, Farabaugh 0 0-0 0, Plunkett 0 0-0 0, Lilly 2 1-2 7, Cherico 0 0-0 0, Strittmatter 2 0-0 4, L. Semelsberger 1 0-0 2, Jones 0 0-0 0, Marshall 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 7-11 57.
FOREST HILLS (71): S. McGough 1 4-6 6, Williamson 3 0-0 8, Gregovich 4 2-3 10, K. McGough 5 2-2 15, Stohon 8 10-12 28, Gabany 1 2-2 4, Gramling 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 20-25 71.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Penn Cambria 10 6 18 23 -- 57
Forest Hills 23 10 18 20 -- 71
3-point field goals: Penn Cambria 10 (E. Semelsberger 3, Harrold 2, Rabish 2, Lilly 2, Gibbons); Forest Hills 7 (K. McGough 3, Williamson 2, Stohon 2).
Records: Penn Cambria (11-12); Forest Hills (19-4).