OLSH wins Round 1 against section rival Sewickley Academy

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, January 15, 2019 | 10:33 PM

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One down, three to go?

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart freshman Jake DiMichele scored 21 points and senior Daren DiMichele added 20 in Tuesday night’s 77-69 victory over Sewickley Academy in what could be the first of four matchups between the Section 3-2A rivals this winter.

The two teams met four times last season including in the WPIAL finals and the PIAA semifinals.

Will there be four this year?

“I don’t know,” OLSH coach Mike Rodriguez said with a laugh. “It’s great. We enjoy playing them. The kids are friends. Win (Palmer) is a friend of mine. But they take a little off you. They take a toll on you after a while.”

“I’d love to have three more,” Sewickley Academy coach Win Palmer said. “It’s fun to play them. I don’t know if they bring out the best in us, but we definitely bring out the best in them.”

Second-ranked OLSH (12-1, 6-0) built a 17-point first-half lead behind the DiMicheles and then held strong each time top-ranked Sewickley Academy (7-4, 5-1) tried to rally.

The rivals — ranked second and third overall in the state — will rematch Feb. 8 in Sewickley.

“We’re desperate for a WPIAL and state championship,” OLSH point guard Dante Spadafora said. “We all have that goal. Both teams are warriors.”

Isiah Warfield had 34 points and 13 rebounds for Sewickley Academy including a three-point play that cut OLSH’s lead to 59-56 with 6 minutes left. But the DiMicheles answered with consecutive baskets, first by Jake and then a layup by Daren to again stall Sewickley’s momentum.

OLSH had four scorers reach double figures. Spadafora scored 15 points and Ricco Tate added 12.

Sewickley played short-handed without senior Nate Ridgeway, who was sidelined with flu-like symptoms. With Ridgeway out, the Panthers found secondary scoring from senior Donald Belt, who made eight 3-pointers and scored 26 points.

Warfield and Belt combined for 60 of Sewickley’s 69 points.

“We battled and we still almost pulled it out, so I’m really pleased with the game,” Palmer said. “Having coached for this long, I just know what games like this do for a program. I thought this was an uplifting night, believe it or not.”

Palmer said illness had affected a few other players this week as well. Ridgeway, dealing with the virus for several days, played only the first half in Sewickley’s last game.

“He would have made a big difference,” Rodriguez said. “That’s a 22-point-per-game scorer. If he plays, this could have been a different game.”

Sewickley Academy was ahead only once, leading 3-0 in the opening minute. OLSH grabbed an early double-digit lead behind a hot start by the DiMicheles. They combined to score 18 first-quarter points including three 3s by Daren DiMichele as OLSH built a 24-12 lead.

The Chargers’ lead peaked at 33-16 in the second quarter before Sewickley Academy strung together a 14-2 run just before half.

Foul trouble slowed OLSH’s fast start. After 10 points in the first quarter, Daren DiMichele was held scoreless in the second and added only two points in the third.

OLSH led 40-33 at half and 55-51 after three.

Free throws were almost OLSH’s undoing. The Chargers are typically strong from the foul line but made only 11 of 20 in Tuesday’s second half.

Spadafora missed 5 of 6 in one stretch but regrouped to make his final three. His pair with 1:26 left pushed OLSH’s lead to 72-65.

Daren DiMichele later made four straight in the final 30 seconds to clinch the win.

“We played OK is spots,” Rodriguez said. “We can play a lot better than we did tonight. Certainly, we didn’t play our best game.”

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.

Tags: Our Lady of the Sacred Heart