Montour shakes off rust, pulls away from Burrell in Class 4A quarterfinals

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, February 23, 2022 | 9:44 PM

Purchase Photo Options

The Montour boys basketball team is moving on.

The Spartans, the No. 2 seed in the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs, overcame an early challenge from No. 7 Burrell in Wednesday’s quarterfinal matchup and went on to a 70-50 home victory.

The game was Montour’s first in 12 days. Burrell came into the game off a dominant 63-42 victory over No. 10 Elizabeth Forward in the first round last Friday.

“We knew what they were going to run, but until you see it live against the guys who know how to run it, it’s different from what you try to do in practice,” Spartans coach Bill Minear said. “We knew if their feet were set, they could shoot it well, and they did just that. But our guys were able to settle into their game, get rebounds, make shots and do the things we need to do to win.”

Montour improved to 19-4 and will take on No. 3 Belle Vernon (19-3) in the semifinals Saturday at a site and time to be determined. The Leopards topped Freeport, 62-42, on Wednesday.

Montour defeated Belle Vernon by 17 at the Hoops for a Cure showcase at North Allegheny on Feb. 6.

The Spartans, who won their seventh game in a row, also clinched a spot in the PIAA playoffs.

“I am glad we qualified for states because last year we made it to the semis, and I thought we kind of got cheated out of it because of covid,” Minear said. “I felt it would’ve been a good experience for that team.”

Despite the loss, Burrell (14-9) is not done.

The PIAA takes six Class 4A teams from the WPIAL, and under the follow-the-leader format for determining state qualifiers, a win by Montour in Saturday’s semifinal puts the Bucs in the PIAA tournament.

“We’ll give them these next two days off, and I’m sure we’ll go watch the game Saturday,” Fantuzzo said. “We’re the biggest Montour fans in the world right now.”

Things looked good for Burrell early. The Bucs had a seven-point lead in the closing seconds of the first quarter.

Freshman Tucker Bitar came off the bench and drained a 3-pointer to put the Bucs up 16-9 with 39 seconds on the first-quarter clock.

On Montour’s ensuing possession, Burrell senior Brandon Coury blocked a Spartans 3-point shot attempt with 3 seconds left. But he then was called for a technical foul.

Diaun Pinkett sank free throws. Montour retained possession, and Dante Deltondo sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer to draw the Spartans to within 2.

Montour continued its run by scoring the first nine points of the second quarter. The 14-0 run gave the Spartans a 23-16 lead with 5:56 to go until halftime.

“The one official said Brandon said some language, and they thought it was inappropriate and derogatory towards the other team,” Fantuzzo said. “It definitely swung the momentum to their side. You never like to see a call like that determine what happens in a game. Unfortunately, it did. You would hope that a warning could be given in that situation. We had to live with it and try to not let it affect us like it did.”

Pinkett hit four 3-pointers and finished the first half with 17 points. He scored a game-best 28 points. He nailed a shot from long range with 7 seconds left in the first half to give Montour a 33-22 advantage at the break.

“In the second quarter, you could see how well we can play defense,” Minear said. “They only scored six points there, and I thought that turned the game.”

Montour led by 13 at the end of three, and built its largest lead of the game – 23 at 56-33 – with 4:02 to play.

But the Bucs forced several Spartans’ turnovers and missed shots to cut the deficit to 14 with 2:26 to play.

“We’ve preached to the guys to never quit in a game, and I didn’t really have to say anything this time,” Fantuzzo said. “I knew they were going to fight until the final buzzer. You never know what could happen. Unfortunately, Montour is just too good of a team to dig that big of a deficit.”

Minear said: “We have to do a little bit better job of finishing out the game. I think we lost our focus a little bit. With being off for two weeks and not being as game sharp as I would’ve liked, I think it showed up in different parts of the game.”

Coury led Burrell with 22 points to go with eight rebounds.

Sophomore Macky Bennis added 13 points, and junior Donovan Callahan scored nine for the Bucs.

In addition to Pinkett’s big night, Montour got 14 points and eight rebounds from senior Vason Stevenson and 11 more from senior Tyriq Eleam.

“We knew Montour was so athletic,” Fantuzzo said. “They are a deep team with a lot of good shooters. Their two guys (Stevenson and Eleam) are super strong in getting to the hoop, and (Pinkett) is so dangerous from everywhere. We knew we had a battle ahead of us, but the guys didn’t back down.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Burrell, Montour