Greensburg Salem strengthens playoff chances with win over Armstrong

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, January 24, 2018 | 5:11 PM

Armstrong prides itself on old-school, halfcourt basketball.

It's slow and deliberate, on the edge of medieval. Think throwback Big East.

Squarely on the opposite end of the spectrum is Greensburg Salem, which can't get out of the blocks fast enough. Uptempo fast breaks all day.

In a collision of styles, the host Golden Lions were lulled into a pass-and-cut game early Tuesday night before finally finding some space to run in a 49-35 victory over the River Hawks in a Section 3-5A game that saw just three Greensburg Salem players score.

Senior Marvel McGowan had a game-high 20 points, sophomore Dante Parsons added 16 and reserve swingman Jack Oberdorf provided a spark off the bench with 13 for the Golden Lions (9-6, 2-4), who got a boost to their playoff hopes, moving into a fourth-place tie with Armstrong (6-9, 2-4).

The top four teams make the playoffs. Greensburg Salem and Armstrong split their head-to-head series.

The game had its chippy moments in the second half, but neither team lost its cool and the officials made sure tempers did not boil over.

“The first quarter was their pace, then in the second quarter we started to get going, and you could see it,” Greensburg Salem coach Craig Mankins said. “Our kids believed we had to keep the pace moving and the pressure up. If you let Armstrong run their sets, they're going to get the shot they want … and put you at an advantage. We created the advantage our way, and I give my kids a lot of credit. That's as good as a defensive effort that we've put up for 32 minutes.”

Armstrong led for most of the first half but never led in the second.

“We didn't get stops in that third quarter. The third quarter has been Kryptonite to us all year,” Armstrong coach Greg Hutcherson said. “Even if games we've won, the third quarter has been our worst.”

Armstrong played without starter Hunter Shanty, who had the flu. Jayvon Roundtree was injured early in the game and did not return, and Dawson Porter was injured in the third quarter and did not came back.

Isaiah Price led the River Hawks with 14 points, and Nate Baillie added 10.

Armstrong won the first meeting 55-41, which was the Golden Lions' first loss of the season.

“We pride ourselves on defense,” Hutcherson said. “But those three guys hurt us. Oberdorf didn't score against us last time.”

Greensburg Salem took a 19-15 lead into halftime, led by sophomore guard Parsons, who scored 12 points, including a trio of 3-pointers. He scored the Golden Lions' first five points, and his nifty steal-and-pass to McGowan gave Greensburg Salem just before the half put the Lions ahead by four.

Midway through the third quarter, Oberdorf came off the bench to connect on two 3-pointers to help push the Golden Lions' advantage to 28-17.

“I wasn't shooting as well lately, and the coaches kept saying, ‘Keeping shooting. They'll fall,' ” Oberdorf said. “They fell at the right time, and it was a nice section win.”

Big man Baillie — all 6-foot-3, 280 pounds of him — scored a of couple times inside, cutting the margin to 30-24.

“Once we got ahead, I can put five guys out there that can handle the basketball,” Mankins said. “Now they have to come guard you. To Marvel, that's like a shark smelling blood in the water. He loves that. We were smart. I don't remember a bad shot that we took. And we rebounded the ball so well. We made they take tough 2s.”

McGowan cashed in on an and-1 with 21.5 seconds left in the third to make it 33-24.

He was honored before the game for scoring his 1,000th career point on Saturday at Gateway.

“Greensburg played well,” Hutcherson said. “They played like a desperate team and they were. They shot the ball lights-out. Offensively, we couldn't get the ball to go in there in the second half. And we're shooting high 30s (percent) from the foul line for the season.”

Armstrong finished 4 for 14 from the foul line.

In the fourth, McGowan connected on a step-back 3, and Parsons made a driving layup against Baillie. Oberdorf followed with a 3 from the corner, and the Golden Lions led 41-28 with 3:30 remaining.

Parsons had a seizure Jan. 9 during a home game against Highlands but has come back strong.

The River Hawks could only cut it to 12 the rest of the way.

Despite the lack of scorers, Mankins was pleased with how his team shared the ball, defended and finished.

“Three guys scored, and we played team basketball,” Mankins said.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: Armstrong, Greensburg Salem