No. 1 North Hills celebrates 4th win over rival North Allegheny in WPIAL quarterfinals
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Friday, February 25, 2022 | 11:12 PM
North Hills’ Royce Parham celebrates after defeating North Allegheny, 61-53, in a WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinal on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, in Ross.
North Hills’ Royce Parham works against North Allegheny’s Ty Iwanonkiw during their WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinal on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, in Ross.
North Hills’ Royce Parham dunks against North Allegheny’s Ty Iwanonkiw during their WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinal on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, in Ross.
North Hills’ Alex Smith shoots a three-pointer over North Allegheny’s Matt McDonough during their WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinal on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, in Ross.
The North Hills student section and cheerleaders celebrate as time winds down in a WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinal against North Allegheny on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, in Ross.
North Hills’ Alex Smith reacts during a WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinal against North Allegheny on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, in Ross.
North Hills’ Devin Burgess scores against North Allegheny during a WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinal on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, in Ross.
North Hills’ Royce Parham is fouled by North Allegheny’s Kolin Dinkins during their WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinal on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, in Ross.
North Hills’ Royce Parham scores against North Allegheny’s Joey Dopirak and Robby Jones during their WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinal on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, in Ross.
North Hills’ Royce Parham celebrates after being fouled while scoring against North Allegheny during a WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinal on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, in Ross.
As the saying goes, it’s tough to beat a basketball team three times in one season, but what about four? The sold-out crowd that packed into North Hills’ gym was there to find out.
Indians sophomore Royce Parham scored 24 points, senior Alex Smith had 21, and No. 1 seed North Hills answered the crowd’s question by defeating No. 8 North Allegheny for the fourth time this season Friday night. They leaned on their size and strength in the paint for a 61-53 win in a WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinal that seemed like a potential trap.
The teams’ Feb. 11 matchup was a one-point game, so North Hills surely would have chosen a different opponent to open the playoffs against after having a first-round bye.
But they didn’t have a choice.
“North Hills-North Allegheny is one of the biggest rivalries in the WPIAL, so it’s always special,” Smith said. “We knew from the jump that they gave us the toughest games throughout the whole year. We knew it was no cakewalk in the quarterfinals.”
North Hills scored 32 points in the paint, added 22 more at the free throw line and made only one 3-pointer. Some layups were a result of breaking North Allegheny’s press, but North Hills also tried to work the ball to the 6-foot-6 Parham and 6-3 Smith around the basket.
“We were kind of taking what they were giving,” North Hills coach Buzz Gabos said. “They really pressured us on the perimeter and made it tough out there. We have an advantage with Royce, obviously. But guys did a good job of taking the right angles and finishing.”
The Indians also out-rebounded NA by 10.
Parham scored 17 first-half points and the Indians led 33-25 at half. Smith and Parham combined for a 9-0 run in the first quarter with seven points from Smith.
“They’re physical in posting guys up,” NA coach Dave DeGregorio said. “When Parham is getting the ball down there, it’s opening up things for other guys. You’ve got to guard him with a man-and-a-half all the time. And when he has it, you’ve got to guard him with two.”
The win advances North Hills (23-0) to face No. 4 Mt. Lebanon (16-8) in a semifinal Tuesday at a site and time to be determined. No. 2 Fox Chapel (22-1) and No. 3 Central Catholic (18-5) will meet in the other semifinal.
North Hills hadn’t reached a WPIAL semifinal since 2017, when Smith’s brother, Nick, was a senior for the Indians.
Kyrell Hutcherson led North Allegheny (15-9) with 17 points and Matt McDonough had 10 on a night when the Tigers didn’t shoot well. They went 6 for 25 from 3-point range, including 1 for 11 in the second half.
North Allegheny trailed 46-33 in the third quarter but narrowed that gap to five midway through the fourth. A driving layup and foul shot by McDonough reduced North Hills’ lead to 50-45 with four minutes left.
That was the closest NA could get.
A layup by Hutcherson had North Allegheny back within five about a minute later, but North Hills answered with two free throws by Smith and a press-break layup by Devin Burgess to lead 56-47 with less than three minutes left.
North Hills kept the lead with foul shots. Parham didn’t make a basket in the second half but went 7 for 8 from the line. Combined, the Indians finished 22 for 32 on free throws with 22 taken after halftime.
In all, North Allegheny shot seven free throws and made five.
“This was the most we’ve pressured them,” DeGregorio said. “You had to change something a little bit (from the previous games). … Maybe because we’re more aggressive, we get some more fouls.”
North Hills won the previous matchups, 69-59, 75-52 and 60-59.
“All three games were good games,” Gabos said. “The last one they missed a shot at the buzzer to beat us. … We just knew we were going to have to be really, really good to beat them.”
Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.
Tags: North Allegheny, North Hills
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