Poor first quarter sinks Marauders
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By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
Westmont Hilltop entered the District 6 Class 3A boys basketball tournament this postseason as the fourth seed in the field, prompting some to consider the Hilltoppers as possibly flying under the radar a bit.
Veteran Westmont coach Dave Roman, however, believes otherwise, and so do his players.
Westmont came out of the gates in stunning fashion during Tuesday night's district semifinal matchup with top-seeded Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic at the Pleasant Valley gymnasium, building an 18-4 first-quarter lead and riding that momentum to a 54-45 victory.
"I don't think that we're really under the radar,'' said Roman, whose team now moves on to the District 6 Class 3A championship game against second-seeded Forest Hills - a 92-63 semifinal winner over Tyrone Tuesday - on Friday night at Mount Aloysius College. "We're usually around (in the playoffs) at the end of the season. We had been waiting and preparing for this matchup, and we got our chance tonight to see how good we really are.''
So did everybody else, as the Hilltoppers parlayed a very balanced scoring attack and a solid rebounding and defensive effort into the upset victory.
"I knew for sure that they would be a tough matchup,'' said Guilfoyle coach Ryan Lestochi, whose Marauders host third seed Tyrone in a consolation game Friday night, with the winner advancing to the state playoffs.
"They have some size to match our size, and some athletes to match our athletes,'' Lestochi said of the Hilltoppers. "They controlled the pace tonight, and we didn't.''
Senior guard Jonathan Crocco and senior forward Noah Brownlee shared game scoring honors with 14 points apiece for Westmont. Crocco also corralled a game-high 13 rebounds and sophomore guard Jack Wesner chipped in 12 points, along with turning in a stellar defensive effort against high-scoring BG junior sharp-shooter Jude Haigh.
"Defensively, we tried to throw a little wrinkle in against them,'' said Roman, whose squad became just the second team this season to limit the explosive BG offense to less than 50 points in a game. "Jack did a tremendous job with a big assignment in guarding Haigh, who is a great player.''
Haigh and sophomore guard Tyson Lestochi led BG with 12 points apiece, but BG's high-octane floor and scoring game never got untracked.
"Getting off to the big start was a key for us and slowing down Haigh was another key,'' Crocco said. "He's a great player, but Jack Wesner played great defense against him.''
Westmont, which brought a very loud and vocal fan contingent to the Marauders' home gymnasium, scored the first 10 points of the game. Brownlee hit two field goals from the paint and another off a drive to put Westy up 6-0, then freshman guard Grant Craig hit a jumper from the key and Crocco scored from inside to give the Hilltoppers the 10-0 advantage before BG could finally answer.
Craig's reverse layup, and his driving layup after his steal, made it 14-2. Crocco hit a 3-pointer from the left side and Craig, who had seven first-quarter points, hit a free throw to stake Westy to the 18-4 lead after one quarter.
"Westmont did a great job of controlling the pace right out of the gate tonight, and we were really out of sorts offensively,'' Ryan Lestochi said. "We dug a hole for ourselves early in the game, and we couldn't quite get out of it.''
In typical BG fashion, the Marauders put up a fierce comeback fight, though, drawing to within four points twice in the fourth quarter - 37-33 on Haigh's two free throws very early in the period, and 39-35 on Tyson Lestochi's layup after a steal by freshman Troy Ruggery moments later.
Westmont, however, was able to keep BG at arm's length for the rest of the game. Wesner drove inside for a bucket, then scored another field goal on a layup, to give the Hilltoppers a 43-35 lead.
After a Tyson Lestochi free throw, BG was forced to foul late in the fourth quarter, and Westmont capitalized, getting two free throws from Wesner and three from Crocco to balloon its lead up to 12 points, 48-36, and gain some game-clinching separation.
"It took a lot of energy for us to get within striking distance,'' Ryan Lestochi said. "We got (the deficit) down to four points, then we'd have a defensive breakdown, and it would be back to five, or seven.
"Credit to them, they came in here into a tough environment and played their butts off,'' Ryan Lestochi said of the Hilltoppers. "They brought the fight to us tonight.''
Ryan Lestochi expects his BG team to bring similar fight in Friday's win-or-go-home consolation game for third place against Tyrone.
"Our goal was to win a district championship,'' Ryan Lestochi said. "That's not possible any more, and we now have two choices - we can bag it, or we can fight in the next game.
"Knowing our kids, I think that they'll come out with fire on Friday night.''
WESTMONT HILLTOP (54): Craig 4 1-2 9, Miller 1 2-2 5, Crocco 4 5-8 14, Brownlee 6 2-4 14, Wesner 4 4-6 12, Sweeney 0 0-0 0, Fortson 0 0-0 0, Weslager 0 0-0 0, Rhoades 0 0-0 0. Totals - 19 14-24 54.
BISHOP GUILFOYLE (45): Haigh 4 3-4 12, Rehm 2 0-0 4, Lestochi 5 1-2 12, Consiglio 2 0-0 4, Gates 2 0-0 6, Foor 0 1-2 1, J. Kissell 0 0-0 0, C. Kissell 0 0-0 0, T. Ruggery 3 0-0 6. Totals - 18 5-8 45.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Westmont Hilltop 18 6 13 17--54
Bishop Guilfoyle 4 13 13 15--45
3-point goals: Westmont Hilltop 2 (Miller, Crocco); Bishop Guilfoyle 4 (Gates 2, Haigh, Lestochi).
Records: Westmont Hilltop (19-5); Bishop Guilfoyle (21-4).
Officials: Cliff Kitner, Jason Moschat, Bill Yost.