Casses

WESTOVER — While Harmony has had a nice season with the first time making the District 6 Class 1A playoffs in a few years, they hadn’t seen a player quite like Bishop Carroll’s Jace Casses.

“A couple kids came to the bench and said, ‘Coach, you told us he was good, but you didn’t tell us he was this good,'” Harmony head coach Mike Rummel said.

It’s a little scarier that Casses was 10 points shy of his season-high, but his 37 points was more than enough for the Huskies in a 71-46 victory over the Owls in the 1A quarterfinals on Tuesday evening.

The senior had just six points in the first quarter, but Casses really turned on the jets in the second quarter as he had 23 points at halftime.

“Shots really weren’t falling in the first quarter, but my teammates picked it up,” Casses said. “In the second quarter they started falling, and I felt like I couldn’t miss.”

“There’s some guys you only get to see once. I’m the luckiest,” Bishop Carroll coach Cosie Aliquo said. “I get to see him every game.”

Bishop Carroll (11-12) will play Williamsburg in the semifinals. The Pirates had a bye in the quarterfinal round.

The Huskies may be a game below .500, while Harmony finished the season at 13-9, but the rugged schedule in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference was likely a factor.

“I know they play games outside of their conference, but I’m sure it makes a difference,” Aliquo said.

While it took a little while for Casses to really get going, it was still enough for the Huskies to take a 12-8 lead after the first quarter. Joey Phillips, who chipped in 15 points for the game, had four points in the quarter, including a basket to end the period with Carroll holding a four-point lead.

A 4-point game turned into a double-digit lead quickly when Casses took over. He drilled all four of his 3-pointers for the game in the second period as Bishop Carroll took a 37-23 lead to halftime.

“He’s very good. He’s quick,” Rummel said. “He has one of the quickest first steps I’ve seen in a long time. We gameplanned for him. It just didn’t work out.”

The Huskies got the 30-point Mercy Rule clock rolling late in the third quarter on a Casses layup, and Carroll started to empty their bench the rest of the way.

Hunter Pearce led the Owls with 12 points, while Brady Hagens also hit double digits with 10 points.

“We went from a 5-win season to a 13-win season. I’m proud of that,” Rummel said. “We wanted to go over .500, and we did that. We wanted to make the playoffs for the first time in a couple years with this group, and we did that. We wanted a home playoff game, and we did that. We checked a lot of boxes off.”

Bishop Carroll’s semifinal game at Williamsburg will tip off at 7 p.m. on Friday evening.

BISHOP CARROLL (71): Myers 1 0-0 3, Hall-Campbell 3 0-0 6, J. Phillips 7 1-1 15, Kirsch 1 2-4 4, Casses 15 3-4 37, Lucko 0 1-2 1, Tremel 1 0-0 2, Seymour 1 0-0 2, Holtz 0 0-0 0, P. Phillips 0 0-0 0, Lauer 0 0-0 0, Stohon 0 0-0 0, Isaacson 0 1-2 1. Totals — 29 8-13 71.

HARMONY (46): Maseto 3 2-4 8, T. Hugill 2 1-2 5, Bry. Hagens 1 2-2 4, Bra. Hagens 4 2-2 10, H. Pearce 3 5-8 12, J. Pearce 1 2-2 4, Doland 1 0-0 2, M. Hugill 0 1-2 1, Keith 0 0-0 0, Stiver 0 0-0 0. Totals — 15 15-22 46.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Bishop Carroll 12 25 25 9 — 71

Harmony 8 15 11 12 — 46

3-point goals: Bishop Carroll 5 (Myers, Casses 4); Harmony 1 (H. Pearce).

Records: Bishop Carroll (11-12); Harmony (13-9).

Officials: Frank Garritano, Chris Garritano, Andy Henry