Penn Hills baffles North Hills with 3-pointers, alley-oops in WPIAL semifinal win
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Saturday, February 25, 2023 | 6:52 PM
Penn Hills’ Julian Dugger (2) celebrates after drawing a foul during the second half of a 67-51 victory over North Hills in the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball semifinal game Feb. 25, 2023, at Peters Township.
Penn Hills’ Demar Kelly (3) finishes a jam during the second half of Penn Hills’ 67-51 victory over North Hills in the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball semifinal game Feb. 25, 2023, at Peters Township.
Penn Hills’ Lamire Redman (right) scores two points through heavy contact from North Hills’ Royce Parham (left) during the second half of Penn Hills’ 67-51 victory over North Hills in the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball semifinal game Feb. 25, 2023, at Peters Township.
Penn Hills’ Noah Barren (left) celebrates as time expires on Penn Hills’ 67-51 victory over North Hills in the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball semifinal game Feb. 25, 2023, at Peters Township.
North Hills’ Royce Parham (left) fights for a loose ball during the second half of North Hills’ 67-51 loss to Penn Hills in the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball semifinal game Feb. 25, 2023, at Peters Township.
Penn Hills’ Julian Dugger (2) finishes a jam off an alley-oop during the first half of a 67-51 victory over North Hills in the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball semifinal game Feb. 25, 2023, at Peters Township.
Penn Hills coach Chris Giles argues a call during the first half of a 67-51 victory over North Hills in the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball semifinal game Feb. 25, 2023, at Peters Township.
Penn Hills’ Julian Dugger (left) exchanges words between free throw attempts with teammate Daemar Kelly (3) during the second half of a 67-51 victory over North Hills in the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball semifinal game Feb. 25, 2023, at Peters Township.
North Hills’ Royce Parham (left) dunks during the first half of North Hills’ 67-51 loss to Penn Hills in the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball semifinal game Feb. 25, 2023, at Peters Township.
The Penn Hills boys basketball team celebrates during a timeout after extending their lead to double-digits to open the second half of Penn Hills’ 67-51 victory over North Hills in the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball semifinal game Feb. 25, 2023, at Peters Township.
Penn Hills’ Robert Thomas (5) scores two points on a pull-up jump shot during the second half of a 67-51 victory over North Hills in the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball semifinal game Feb. 25, 2023, at Peters Township.
North Hills’ Royce Parham (44) scores two points off a hook shot during the first half of North Hills’ 67-51 loss to Penn Hills in the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball semifinal game Feb. 25, 2023, at Peters Township.
Penn Hills’ Jeremy Safran (13) scores two points during the second half of a 67-51 victory over North Hills in the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball semifinal game Feb. 25, 2023, at Peters Township.
Penn Hills teammates Daemar Kelly and Julian Dugger have perfected their high-flying alley-oop this winter, mastering a play that shows their rare athleticism.
Five times they connected Saturday.
But it was a 6-foot junior who stayed far away from the rim who left North Hills coaches shaking their heads. Lamire Redman made five 3-pointers and tied Kelly with a team-high 17 points as No. 2 seed Penn Hills defeated No. 3 North Hills, 67-51, in a WPIAL Class 5A semifinal at Peters Township.
Perimeter shooting usually isn’t high on opponents’ scouting reports, but Redman gave defenses another wrinkle to worry about by making 5 of 8 from beyond the arc.
“I missed the first one but my teammates told me to keep shooting,” Redman said. “I shot the second one — it went in — and I felt great after that.”
Redman made three 3s in a row in the third quarter, accounting for 11 of his team’s 13 points in those eight minutes. North Hills had narrowed its deficit from 15 points to 10, before Redman’s third-quarter shots turned momentum back in Penn Hills’ direction.
Redman also had a 3-pointer in the second quarter and one in the fourth.
“He was a guy that we saw on film that took a lot of 3s,” North Hills coach Buzz Gabos said, “but percentage wise, we didn’t think it was very good.”
So against a team with a great knack for getting to the basket, Redman wasn’t a top priority.
“We don’t want Kelly going to the rim,” Gabos said. “We don’t want (Noah) Barron. We don’t want Dugger on the lobs. You’ve got to pick your poison at some point.”
Penn Hills (20-3) will face No. 1 Peters Township (22-3) in the WPIAL Class 5A final at 9 p.m. Thursday at Petersen Events Center. Peters Township defeated Gateway, 62-55, in the other semifinal.
This Penn Hills vs. North Hills matchup was a trendy preseason pick for the finals. Instead, North Hills (19-6) faces No. 4 Gateway (17-6) in a third-place game Tuesday.
“That’s a very good team,” Penn Hills coach Chris Giles said. “Both of us were 1 and 2 (in the rankings) for a long time.”
Royce Parham led North Hills with 15 points, but the 6-foot-8 junior was limited to seven shots. Zach Pollaro and Eric James each had 14 points.
Penn Hills’ Michai Oliver added 10 points.
Parham had averaged almost 30 points for North Hills, but was held to eight points in the first three quarters. Penn Hills often countered him with Dugger, a 6-3 junior with Division I football offers. Parham went 5 for 7 shooting.
“If there’s one thing we can point to that we can do better, we’ve got to get him the ball more,” Gabos said.
As a team, Penn Hills had made only 14% of 3-point attempts in its previous four games, converting 4 of 29, but the Indians found their touch here in the semifinals. Kelly was 1 for 3 on 3-pointers, and the team shot 43%.
“Yesterday, we got up a lot of shots (at practice) and I was feeling it,” Redman said. “I came in with great energy. The team had great energy.”
Penn Hills has had other good shooting nights. The team went 11 for 22 from 3-point range in a Feb. 7 win over Plum, and 5 for 11 last month against South Fayette. But overall they’ve shot 26% from the arc.
Giles said his team has players who can make 3s, they just don’t prioritize them.
“We want to be efficient on offense, so we can get out and run our stuff on defense,” Giles said. “We have guys who are capable of shooting the ball. I think people need to know that. We don’t shoot as many 3s because of our offensive philosophy, not because we can’t.”
The score was close until Penn Hills sparked a 16-1 run in the second quarter, led by Kelly with nine points. The team led 36-18 just before half when Dugger dunked a lob pass from Kelly, a 6-4 guard and Quinnipiac recruit.
North Hills rallied with eight consecutive points including 3s from Pollaro and Jayden Thomas to narrow Penn Hills’ lead to 39-29. But Penn Hills pulled away when Redman made three 3s in a 2-minute span, and North Hills trailed 49-33 entering the fourth.
“North Hills did a good job of packing in,” Giles said. “Those shots were open and he made them with confidence.”
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.
Tags: North Hills, Penn Hills
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