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Moon outlasts Bethel Park, sets up WPIAL finals rematch in state semifinals

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Saturday, March 16, 2024 | 12:05 AM

Yes, these are the state playoffs, but WPIAL champion Moon is back fighting its way through teams from its own league.

Aiden Reesman scored 10 of his season-high 26 points in the fourth quarter Friday night to fuel a strong finish as Moon outlasted Bethel Park, 67-51, in a PIAA Class 5A quarterfinal at Chartiers Valley.

The teams were tied at 40 in the final minute of the third quarter before Moon pulled away with a 13-2 run and consecutive layups by Reesman early in the fourth. The senior also went 6 for 6 from the foul line in the final quarter.

“I hadn’t been scoring as much lately, so I was due,” Reesman said. “My teammates were finding me. So I just finished my layups, hit a few shots and made my free throws.”

The win has Moon (26-3) one game away from the state finals. But waiting in the semifinals is another WPIAL opponent, Franklin Regional, the team Moon beat in the WPIAL finals.

“It says a lot about how good (WPIAL) 5A is,” Moon coach Gino Palmosina said. “It’s been competitive all year. We’re not shocked by that.”

A site and time for Monday’s PIAA semifinal game wasn’t announced. Franklin Regional defeated Shaler, 63-51, in a quarterfinal Friday. Moon won the WPIAL final, 53-48, on March 1.

“They’re going to want our best shot for sure, because we beat them in the championship,” Reesman said. “But I want to play them again. They’re a good team. I’m excited.”

Moon spent the first three quarters Friday trying to push the tempo against a Bethel Park defense that prefers to use a zone, slow the pace and clog the middle. The Tigers scored 22 points in the first quarter but were held to 12 in the second and only nine in the third.

They broke out with a 24-point fourth quarter, including 12 at the foul line.

“We prepared for it all week in practice, but they’re good at it,” Reesman said. “They zoned us, they zone every team, and they muck the game up.”

Elijah Guillory added 12 points and made two of Moon’s seven 3-pointers.

Bethel Park’s Mike Mathias made five 3s himself and scored a team-high 17 points for the Black Hawks (15-14), who entered the state playoffs as the sixth seed from the WPIAL. Nick Brown added 10 points.

Moon tried to pull away a couple of times, but Bethel Park stayed close through three quarters. A layup and foul shot from Bethel Park’s Jack Bruckner forced a 40-40 tie with 1:47 left in the third.

But Moon’s Caden Schmidt answered with a tie-breaking 3-pointer in the final minute and the Tigers opened the fourth with a 10-2 run to lead 53-42. Reesman had six points in the run.

“We just ran out of gas a little bit,” Bethel Park coach Dante Calabria said. “You could tell we were getting tired because we weren’t getting out to the shooters as quick.”

After pushing the pace for three quarters, the double-digit lead convinced Moon to spend the fourth trying to slow it down. The Tigers clinched the win at the foul line by converting 12 of 17 attempts in the fourth.

Reesman was perfect in the fourth on six chances after going 0 for 3 in the third.

“He came up big from the foul line,” Palmosina said. “That’s when you need them most, so credit to him.”

Calabria said nobody, himself included, could’ve predicted a couple of months ago that Bethel Park would reach the state quarterfinals. The Black Hawks were a No. 11 seed in the WPIAL playoffs, but found a way to beat a few higher-seeded teams. The midseason switch to a slower tempo helped.

“We like to go too, it’s just that we don’t have the depth right now to go,” Calabria said. “So we had to adjust how we play. We did that in the middle of January, and they took to it right away.”

Moon made six 3-pointers in the first half and led 27-17 early in the second quarter. Reesman and Guillory led the way for the Tigers with two 3s apiece before halftime.

But Bethel Park took advantage of four Moon turnovers later in the second quarter and narrowed the lead with its own 10-2 run. The Black Hawks’ run, which cut Moon’s lead to 29-27, included transition layups by Brown and Tanner Pfeuffer after turnovers.

The game was tied at 31 after consecutive baskets by Bethel Park’s Shawn Davis just before half, but Moon headed to halftime with a 34-31 lead after a 3-pointer by Guillory.

“We wanted to get the game going up and down as much as possible,” Palmosina said. “I thought there was a stretch in the second quarter where we accomplished that, and then we had a couple of bad defensive possessions, they snuck back into it, and they got back into their flow of slowing it down.”

After third-quarter ties at 36 and 40, Moon entered the fourth with a 43-40 lead and then pulled away. The Tigers started the fourth with a layup by Carter Tumulty, and Reesman quickly added two more for a nine-point lead.

“We haven’t seen too many zones,” Reesman said. “Turnovers killed us a little bit, but we just stuck together and we got out in transition. That’s our game.”

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.

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