Leechburg rallies past Apollo-Ridge in season-opener

By: George Guido
Saturday, December 7, 2019 | 12:08 AM

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It was a successful return to the coaching ranks for Leechburg’s Damian Davies, helped by Blue Devils point guard Dylan Cook’s foul shooting.

Cook hit 10 of 11 free throws in the fourth quarter as Leechburg erased an eight-point deficit to defeat Apollo-Ridge, 47-42, in the Blue Devils tip-off tournament Friday before a huge crowd at Lewis Hicks Gym.

Leechburg led throughout the first three quarters, twice by nine points.

But the Vikings went on a 12-0 run that straddled the third and fourth quarters to take a 42-34 lead. Jake Fello led the Vikings with 18 points, including four 3-point field goals.

Connor McDermott hit a 3-pointer with 1 minute, 24 seconds to go to give the Blue Devils the lead for good. Leechburg blanked the Vikings the final 4:40.

Leechburg will face Saltsburg at 8 p.m. Saturday in the tournament final for unofficial supremacy of the Kiski River Valley.

Apollo-Ridge will play in the consolation game at 4 against Winchester-Thurston.

“It was an exciting game,” said Davies, who was away from the bench for three seasons. “These are a couple of hard-scrabble public schools. It was a good game, all around.”

“We finally started hitting some shots,” Apollo-Ridge coach Greg Fox said of his team’s big surge. “We were doing a real nice job on defense, giving them just one shot. Nothing really changed, we just hit some shots.”

Cook made just two shots from the field, but did major damage from the free throw line.

Said Davies: “To Dylan’s credit, he does so many good things on the court, defensively. He wasn’t knocking down shots in the beginning, but he finds a way to contribute. Basketball’s about getting to the hoop and get some buckets that way. That’s what got us going.”

Keighton Reese’s basket five seconds into the fourth quarter gave Apollo-Ridge its first lead of the game, 35-34. A 3-pointer by Reese gave the Vikings the 42-34 advantage with 4:40 left before Leechburg’s defense went into shut-down mode.

The game was still up for grabs when Apollo-Ridge called a timeout with 24 seconds to go.

The Vikings couldn’t get the ball in bounds within 5 seconds and turned possession over to Leechburg.

“We were hoping to get the ball in Jake’s hands,” Fox said. “We wanted to get it in and take the ball to the basket, but it didn’t work out. They switched their screens and were very aggressive.”

“It felt like 10 seconds,” Davies said. “Braylan Lovelace had great, active defense on the ball. Just switch the screens, buckle down and play some great defense.”

Zach Hreha, however, stole the ball and was fouled by McDermott. Hreha missed the free throw, but Fello gathered the rebound and put up an off-balance 3-point try to tie the game.

The rebound went out of bounds and Leechburg took over with 10.6 seconds left.

Cook had five assists for Leechburg, while Jake Blumer scored 10 points and pulled down 13 rebounds.

Reese had 11 for the Vikings; Klay Fitzroy added 10 and had a strong third quarter to keep Apollo-Ridge in the game.

Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Leechburg