Boys’ Basketball: Alvarez’s shot in final seconds lifts Pottsville past Shamokin
Pottsville's Christian Alvarez celebrates after making a shot in Monday's non-league win over Shamokin at Martz Hall (Photo by Eli Doyle).
POTTSVILLE — Christian Alvarez got an edge on his defender, saw a lane to the basket and took it.
With the score tied and the clock ticking under 15 seconds left to play, the Pottsville junior forward sliced through the lane for a layup to give the Crimson Tide a thrilling 48-46 victory over Shamokin in a non-league boys’ basketball clash Monday afternoon at Martz Hall.
Alvarez’s shot, which came with 10.2 seconds left on the clock, was the deciding blow in a heavyweight slugfest between the two former Schuylkill League Division I rivals and helped the Crimson Tide (6-4) snap a two-game losing streak.
“Big-time players make big-time plays in big games,” Pottsville coach Jake Wartella said of Alvarez. “When the play broke down, we put the ball in his hands, he made a play and we needed it.”
Shamokin (8-2), the top-ranked Class 4A team in District 4 entering the day, tied the game at 46-46 on a pair of free throws by Rylan Price with 1:23 remaining.
The Indians committed two fouls before Pottsville set up its final play.
Alvarez, who finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, posted up his defender at the top of the lane on the right side, then slashed toward the foul line. Letrel Montone, who was controlling the ball at the top right of the formation, hit Alvarez in motion with a bounce pass.
With a step on his defender, Alvarez nearly lost the ball, corralled it, then went strong to the hoop for the layup to put Pottsville ahead.
Shamokin called timeout with 6.7 seconds left and again with 3.6 seconds left, but a final chance to tie or take the lead ended when an entry pass to center Jenssyn Shuey was overthrown with 1 second left.
“We actually had a play drawn up, but it didn’t work,” Alvarez said of the final play. “They overplayed it and overplayed me so I got the ball and made a play.
“I felt he was on my back and thought I had a wide-open lane. I started dribbling when I saw it and made the layup.”
Alvarez was one of several heroes on the day for Pottsville.
Ryder Bowers led the Tide offense with 19 points, nailing five 3-pointers. He drained three triples in the first quarter to give Pottsville an early 12-3 lead, then hit two more in the third quarter. His layup with 6:37 remaining in the game capped a 12-2 run that put the Tide up 41-37.
“Ryder is having a great season for us,” Wartella said of the junior shooting guard. “He’s a great shooter but just an overall great player. Never complains, does his job, plays hard. He hit a ton of big shots for us.”
Pottsville also got big efforts from senior forward/center Tahlil Flucker-White and junior guard JuJu Bainbridge.
Flucker-White started in place of sidelined 6-foot-5 center London Ivy and gave up several inches inside to the 6-5 Shuey. Flucker-White battled tough, pulling down six rebounds and converting a key layup to start the fourth quarter.
“Taco” was a big reason Pottsville had a 19-12 rebounding edge in the first half.
Bainbridge starred on both sides of the floor. Defensively he took a pair of charges, including one with the Tide ahead 44-41 with 4 minutes left. That charge followed his only bucket, a 3-pointer from the right wing that broke a 41-41 tie.
“We were undersized but the kids bought in,” Wartella said. “JuJu was taking charges and guarding kids that were bigger than him. Taco was outmanned all night but he gave us everything he had.
“That was the difference in the game. Their energy was great.”
Wartella and his squad hope Monday’s victory can serve as a springboard to the second half of the season.
The Tide are 4-1 in Schuylkill League Division I play, with wins over Blue Mountain, Tamaqua, North Schuylkill and Pine Grove and a loss to Minersville. Pottsville resumes league play Monday, Jan. 6, at unbeaten Mahanoy Area.
In non-league play, Pottsville has challenged itself against some talented big-school squads and taken some lumps. After beating Hazleton (4-6) to open the season, the Tide dropped three straight non-league games to Wilson West Lawn (7-2), Conrad Weiser (6-4) and Northwestern Lehigh (6-1), who are a combined 20-7.
Monday’s thrilling win over Shamokin reversed that trend.
“We knew this team was really good coming in and it would be a big win after we’d been struggling lately,” Alvarez said. “We’re going to use this win to keep us moving forward in the right direction.”
Added Wartella: “People see some of the teams we played … all the teams we’ve lost to are really, really good basketball teams. We felt like we could have maybe won some of them, but they’re going to help us down the stretch.
“Today was a great win over a really, really good Shamokin team.”
