PIAA Class 5A Boys’ Basketball: Pottsville falls to Penncrest in thriller
Pottsville's Christian Alvarez (right) prepares to receive a pass during a PIAA Class 5A First Round game at Martz Hall. The Crimson Tide fell to Penncrest 46-46 (Photo by Matt Freiler).
POTTSVILLE — Pottsville was not ready for its basketball season to end.
Christian Alvarez tied a game-high 17 points as Pottsville fell to Penncrest 46-43 in a PIAA Class 5A boys’ basketball first-round game Friday at Martz Hall.
“We lost to a good team tonight,” Pottsville coach Jake Wartella said. “Our kids left everything out on the court. Again, so proud of our seniors. I thought Letrel (Montone), Christian and Derek (Watkins) played really, really well tonight, and they didn’t want to lose.
“Unfortunately, if you don’t win a state title, your season ends with a loss. And we weren’t prepared to lose tonight. We weren’t prepared to talk to the kids. It was a very sad and depressed locker room tonight, and no coach or player was ready for it.
“We just kept stressing have much these kids are going to be missed and how fun the season was.”
Penncrest (22-3), the fifth-place team from District 1, came out swinging and piled up an 8-0 scoring run to open the first quarter. Mikey Mita and Theo Gladue each netted four points for the Lions during the run.
Mita, a junior forward, stands 6-foot-7 and went toe-to-toe with Alvarez all game long. Mita tied Alvarez, who stands 6-3 at forward, with a game-high 17 points coming from all over the floor.
Watkins stopped the run for the District 11 champion Crimson Tide (21-7) after collecting two points on a slashing layup with 3:40 on the clock in the first. Pottsville chipped away on the back of Watkins, who scored six of the Tide’s 11 first-quarter points. Penncrest led 13-11 at the end of the frame.
Alvarez got the scoring started right away in the second quarter. The junior forward added a strong bucket to tie the contest 13-13 only 20 seconds into the second. From there, the Lions took back over. Will Stanton, Sean Benson and Mita each collected a 3-pointer as Penncrest went on a 9-0 scoring run that forced Wartella and the Tide to take a timeout and regroup with 1:57 to play, trailing the Lions 22-13.
Watkins totaled four points through the final minute of the second for Pottsville, Montone added a 3 and found Alvarez for another strong bucket in the paint as the Crimson Tide cut the deficit to six at the half. Penncrest’s 2-3 zone forced Pottsville to take shots at the arc, but things weren’t going the Crimson Tide’s way, shooting 1-for-7 from the perimeter in the frame.
Coming out of halftime leading 26-22, Mita paced the Lions with 11 first-half points and flexed his scoring diversity at all three levels.
“He is an All-State player, and he proved it tonight,” Penncrest coach Mike Doyle said about Mita. “He works so hard at his game and those shots. For his size, he’s as good inside or outside, and every time we had a run, we called his number. We went right back to him, and he answered every time. That’s a big-time player.
“The physicality of (Pottsville) was unlike anything we’ve seen,” Doyle added. “We practiced fouling on every play, a hand check on your stomach, and try to match their physicality and toughness, and that’s what we tried to do. No slight on them, we felt we were better basketball players, we have a lot of college players on this team. But we just had to match their physicality.”
Montone landed a thunderous block to begin the third quarter and got the Tide rolling. Alvarez put Pottsville ahead for the first time since the 30-second mark of the first quarter after watching a bucket fall and dropping an and-1 free throw to push his squad ahead 26-25 with 5:23 left to play in the frame.
The Crimson Tide and the Lions swapped the lead five more times throughout the quarter, including a go-ahead 3 by Pottsville’s Colin McGinley, before Penncrest led 36-34 the buzzer. JuJu Bainbridge’s buzzer-beater shot didn’t go for the Tide.
Alvarez nailed a go-ahead 3-pointer to put Pottsville ahead 37-36 just 21 seconds into the fourth quarter. Montone added another 3 for the Crimson Tide off a screen from Bainbridge as it felt like the momentum may have shifted again.
Connor Cahill nailed a 3 for the Lions and Mita went 2-for-2 from the free throw line as Penncrest went back on top 41-40. Mita added another bucket following an empty possession from Pottsville, by Montone answered right back with a 3 to tie the contest at 47-47 with 1:18 to play in regulation.
Mita added a baby-hook for the Lions and Gladue split a pair of free throws as Penncrest led 46-43 with 12.4 on the clock. The Lions intentionally fouled three times and shaved roughly 5.3 off the clock before Montone’s attempted game-tying buzzer-beater didn’t go for the Crimson Tide.
“This my seventh trip to the state tournament … this was not a first-round game,” Doyle said. “This was more like a (quarterfinals) or (semifinals). I mean, we messed up with Holy Ghost Prep and got thrown back in the bracket, so this was like a game you’d see at 8 or 16. We knew we were going to come with everything, there was no learning curve. We had to hit the floor running.”
Montone finished with 11 points for Pottsville and Watkins chipped in 10.
For the Crimson Tide, a season of hardware, which included championship titles in both the Schuylkill League and District 11 Class 5A, ends after a state playoff match on their home court. Pottsville departs seniors Montone, Watkins, Gianni Hughes-Crane, London Ivy, Tahlil Flucker-White and Mikey Allen.
“This team has meant so much,” Wartella said. “I can’t stress how proud I am of this group to find a way to win two championships. We weren’t planning on losing this game tonight, we were hoping to win a couple games at states, but it wasn’t an effort factor. We left everything on the court and our kids fought so hard. I’m just so proud of their effort all season.
“To find a way to win two championships and 20-plus wins this season, it is a credit to the kids. They came together as a group, and they were just a joy to coach all year. I’m so thankful for the senior class. They really brought the team together, they were true leaders.
“You go as your seniors go, and we had some great seniors this year. They’re going to be missed and they’re going to be hard to replace. But hopefully our young kids learned a lot from them. Their leadership qualities, and everything about them, is just bring this team together. I’m so proud of the seniors, so proud of this group. It was such a fun ride.”
Penncrest advances to the quarterfinals to face the winner Holy Ghost and Lampeter-Strasburg on Tuesday at a site and time to be announced.
