BROOKVILLE, Pa. – A Kevaughn Price floater with three seconds left lifted WPIAL fourth-place finisher Bishop Canevin to a 40-39 win over District 9 runner-up Cameron County in the second round of the PIAA Class 1A playoffs at Brookville High School.
(Photo: Dylan Guisto of Cameron County makes a move during Tuesday’s PIAA playoff loss to Bishop Canevin) Photo by Jared Bakaysa of JB Graphics. See more of Bakaysa’s work here)
Matt Swartz had put Cameron County (21-6) ahead 39-38, with just over 13 seconds left.
That’s when the Crusaders (20-6) got the ball down to their side of the floor following a pair of reach in fouls by the Red Raiders, who had two fouls to give.
From the sideline with 6.7 left, Price got the inbound and drove baseline and switched hands for a left-handed floater that bounced in to put the Crusaders up 40-39 with three seconds left.
“I saw that play,” Cameron County head coach Mark Guido said. “I saw that play on film, I wanted to switch that screen, and I didn’t call that in the timeout. I feel like that’s on me for that.”
Cameron County had one last chance to pull out the win, but a last-second 3-point attempt was blocked.
The Red Raiders trailed, 33-29, entering the fourth and got within one point (36-35) after a Swartz field goal with 4:22 left.
Two minutes later, Caden Beldin drove down the middle of the lane and dished the ball off to Hayden Brown at the block for an easy layup giving Cameron County a 37-36 lead.
Price answered and put the Crusaders back up by one with two minutes left.
A costly turnover by Nevin Crossey on the inbound with 50 seconds left gave the ball to the Red Raiders with a chance to take the lead.
Cameron County patiently used the clock and Beldin again dished the ball off to the block, this time it was Swartz who had the layup to put the Red Raiders up 39-38 with 13 seconds left.
The Red Raiders defense held the Crusaders to three field goals in the fourth after giving up seven in the third, but their defense wasn’t enough to stop Price’s game-winning field goal.
Price had a game-high 25 points for Bishop Canevin in the win.
“Strength was the big thing,” Guido said of Price. “He was just putting his shoulder down and going. We talked about it in pregame to step in and take charges. We changed our defense from a pressure man-to-man to a pack line man-to-man defense and the idea was to step in and take a charge.
“We didn’t get that done. That’s part of the reason why we lost. He didn’t fear that. He was going every time he touched the ball and we couldn’t block a shot.”
Cameron County jumped out to a 9-7 lead at the end of one behind five points from Dino Brown and four from Beldin.
Bishop Canevin got nine second-quarter points from Price, who had a layup as time expired, to give the Crusaders a 19-18 halftime lead.
An 8-2 run to start the third behind four points from Nate Kirsh extended the Crusaders lead to 27-20, their largest lead of the game.
Dylan Guisto and the Red Raiders fought back as he had seven third-quarter points to help cut the deficit to 33-27 at the end of three.
For Cameron County, Beldin paced the offense with 12 points while Guisto added 11, including 4-for-4 at the charity stripe. Dino Brown chipped in a 3-pointer and finished with eight tallies.
“I think these guys played with their souls this year,” Guido said. “They worked as one and never let one guy get out of the team mentality. It’s a testament to their character and it’s one of the best teams I’ve ever coached.”
Bishop Canevin will face District 5 Champion, Berlin Brothersvalley (who defeated WPIAL Champion Vincent Academy) in the quarterfinals on Friday, March 13 at a site and time to be announced.
Cameron County postseason information is brought you by: Team Minard • Potter County Family Campground • Close’s Lumber Company • Rhonda Ramsey Hair Salon in Emporium • E& G Auto Plus, Inc. in Coudersport
BISHOP CANEVIN 40, CAMERON COUNTY 39
Score by Quarters
Bishop Canevin 7 12 14 7 – 40
Cameron County 9 9 9 10 – 39
BISHOP CANEVIN – 40
Price 11 2-4 25, Crossey 2 0-0 6, Fife 1 1-2 3, Mirsch 0 0-0 0, Elliott 2 0-2 4, Hipuiss 0 0-0 0 0, Avery 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 3-8 40.
CAMERON COUNTY 39
D. Brown 3 1-4 8, Guisto 3 4-4 11, Swartz 2 0-0 4, Beldin 6 0-0 12, Good 0 0-0 0, H. Brown 2 0-0 4, Morton 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 5-8 39.
Three-pointers: Bishop Canevin 3 (Crossey 2, Price 1), Cameron County 1 (D. Brown)
CORNELL 53, ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 44
CLARION, Pa. – Using a strong shooting night and a defensive zone that gave Elk County Catholic fits, WPIAL runner-up Cornell beat District 9 champion ECC, 53-44, in the second round of the PIAA Class 1A playoffs at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym.
The Rams (20-7) shot 18 of 35 (51.4 percent) and confounded the Crusaders (27-2) with a zone that gave up the baseline for the better part of three quarters.
That allowed Cornell to take a 15-point lead, 41-26, on a Zaier Harrison 3-pointer, one of three triples from the senior guard, just after the start of the fourth quarter.
The Harrison three ended a 17-9 run to start the second half by the Rams.
ECC didn’t go away getting hot from the outside to go on a 13-4 run that closed the gap to six points, 45-39, with 2:40 to play. Mark Kraus, Ben Hoffman and Will Uberti all hit 3-pointers during the run.
The Crusaders then had a chance to get within four when Carter Lindemuth went to the free-throw line, but Lindemuth missed both of his charity shots, and Cornell didn’t miss its free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
ECC trailed 11-8 at the end of the first quarter before watching Cornell go on a 13-4 run to take a 24-12 lead late in the first half. Nine first-half turnovers hurt the Crusaders.
A quick 5-0 spurt to end the half helped ECC get back within seven, 24-17, at the break. But Harrison hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored eight points in the third quarter, and Kaden DiVito added six points in the quarter to help the Rams extend the lead to 38-26 going to the final eight minutes.
Harrison led all scorers with 15 points with DiVito, who also hit three 3-pointers, adding 14 points. Isaiah Langston chipped in 10 points and Blaine Sams had eight for Cornell,
Regis Wortman paced ECC with 13 points, Kraus, who hit a pair of threes, finished with eight tallies and Lindemith scored seven.
Cornell will face District 6 champion Bishop Carroll, a 52-51 winner over Shade, in the quarterfinals Friday, March 13, at a site and time to be announced.
Elk County Catholic postseason information is brought to you by: Fran Morelli Sales & Service
CORNELL 53, ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 44
Score by Quarters
Cornell 11 13 14 15 – 53
ECC 8 9 9 18 – 44
CORNELL – 53
Zaier Harrison 6 0-0 15, Kaden DiVito 5 1-3 14, Isaiah Langston 3 4-6 10, Jeavonte King-Walden 3 0-0 6, Drew Lopez 0 0-0 0, Blaine Sams 2 2-2 8, Michael Smith 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 7-11 53.
ECC – 44
Isaac Wortman 0 0-0 0, Carter Lindemuth 3 0-3 7, Jordan DePrator 1 0-0 2, Ben Hoffman 1 0-0 3, Will Uberti 1 0-0 3, Regis Wortman 4 5-6 13, Mason McAllister 0 0-0 0, Leo Gregory 2 2-2 6, Mark Kraus 3 0-0 8, Charlie Breindel 0 2-2 2. Totals 15 9-13 44.
Three-pointers: Cornell 8 (Harrison 3, DiVito 3, Sams 2). ECC 5 (Kraus 2, Lindemuth, Hoffman, Uberti).
Full coverage of District 9 teams in the basketball postseason can be found here.
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