Pine-Richland boys get section win over Central Catholic

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, January 31, 2018 | 1:05 AM

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With about two weeks left on the schedule, Pine-Richland coach Jeff Ackermann finally started the lineup he had expected to use all season.

The Rams' motto: better late than never.

In his first start this season, junior Andrew Kristofic scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds Tuesday night as No. 3-ranked Pine-Richland attacked the paint with its size to defeat Central Catholic, 78-65, a win that tightened the race for the Section 1-6A title.

A broken thumb from football sidelined the 6-foot-6 Kristofic until just last week. But the Rams, who've dealt with an unsettled roster all season, also had to wait into December for senior Phil Jurkovec, who had 17 points and nine rebounds Tuesday.

Kenny White, another football starter, added eight points.

Now close to full strength, the two-time reigning WPIAL champion played more like itself.

“We finally had the group we expected to have all year,” Ackermann said. “Today, finally. And it's with four games left in the season.

“But we're happy.”

Dan Petcash added 14 points for Pine-Richland (15-4, 7-2), which was the first WPIAL team to reach 70 points against Central Catholic's stingy defense. The Rams fell behind 10-0 but took the lead with an 18-1 run in the second quarter.

Kristofic led with seven second-quarter points.

“In the three years that we've seen him play, that's the best we've ever seen him play,” Central Catholic coach Chuck Crummie said. “Hitting those little jump shots? Right there, that's the game. He played well. He's always had soft hands. If you get the ball inside, he scores.”

Cole Mason led Central Catholic (10-7, 8-2) with 24 points, and Luke Nedrow added 21.

A half-game separates the top three teams in Section 1: Central Catholic, Butler (16-2, 8-2) and Pine-Richland, which all have two losses in section. Central Catholic and Butler have a head-to-head matchup remaining Feb. 6.

Pine-Richland lost to Central Catholic, 53-52, in their first matchup Jan. 5. The Rams, who played that night without Kristofic or Jurkovec, saw Nedrow, a 6-7 Marist recruit, dominate them with 19 points and 14 rebounds.

Central also starts 6-8 center Tommy Farkos.

“The first time we played them, we had to make sure we dig in on Nedrow,” Ackermann said. “We had to leave their wings and dig in because we were smaller. With our bigs back, it's much easier to guard them because they really hurt you inside with their size.”

In Tuesday's rematch, Nedrow scored 11 in the fourth quarter, but this time Central's bigs had company in the paint. With layups, put-backs and short-range jumpers from Kristofic and Jurkovec, Pine-Richland shot 52.8 percent from the field on 28 of 53 shooting.

The Rams also made 21 of 23 foul shots.

“We went at them,” Ackermann said. “We thought we could get the ball inside and score.”

In large part that was because of Kristofic, who scored 13 second-half points in just his third game back. He scored 11 of his team's 27 points in the fourth.

“I'm not in shape yet, that's the biggest thing,” Kristofic said. “Each game I feel it gets a little bit better, but it's not quite there yet.”

Kristofic scored nine points in his debut Friday and added 12 on Sunday. He was limited to 8-10 minutes the first night, but those restrictions are lifted, Ackermann said.

“The kid has been in the gym six or seven days,” Ackermann said. “It's amazing that he can do what he can do.”

Ackermann equally praised Jurkovec, who made a quick transition after quarterbacking Pine-Richland to a state football title.

“Phil was off for nine months from basketball,” Ackermann said. “He played in March last year and didn't come back until December. He's not the same player he was last year, but he's still very effective. The more he plays, the better it gets. I think tonight was one of his better games.”

Pine-Richland made just one of nine from 3-point range yet finished with their ninth-highest scoring output this season. The Rams trailed 14-8 after the first quarter but led 34-25 at half. The team turned up its trap defense in the second quarter.

It led 51-40 after three.

“Our whole talk was tempo, tempo, tempo,” Ackermann said. “Last time, we thought we played at their tempo. The game was in the 50s, and they like to play in the 50s and 60s. We wanted this game up in the 70s or 80s. We got to 78, so I'm really happy with the tempo.”

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Pine-Richland