Pine-Richland loses in OT, denied return trip to Hershey

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, March 24, 2018 | 4:30 PM

Previous Next

Previous Next

Tied with 72 seconds left, Pine-Richland held the ball and Roman Catholic held its breath.

The Rams were holding for a last-second shot that would send them back to Hershey, but the contested layup by junior Dan Petcash bounced off the rim as the fourth quarter ended Saturday. Roman Catholic capitalized on its second chance and defeated Pine-Richland in overtime, 81-73, in a PIAA Class 6A semifinal at Chambersburg.

Phil Jurkovec followed Petcash’s miss with a one-handed tip off the backboard, a miss that Petcash rebounded but couldn’t convert at the buzzer.

“We needed to win it there,” Pine-Richland coach Jeff Ackermann said. “If we were going to win it, we needed to do it there. I think I should have done a better job calling our plays there at the end. … I’m a little disappointed in myself.”

Pine-Richland’s last shot of regulation doesn’t fall. #TribHSSN pic.twitter.com/5uj2Xb4Lto

— Chris Harlan (@CHarlan_Trib) March 24, 2018

Roman Catholic’s victory creates an all-Philadelphia final in the state’s largest classification. A rematch with District 12 champion Lincoln awaits Roman Catholic (23-6) in the PIAA Class 6A championship Wednesday night at Giant Center.

Roman Catholic won PIAA Class 4A titles in 2015 and ’16.

Pine-Richland (23-7) was trying to reach the PIAA finals for the second year in a row after finishing as state runner-up last winter. The Rams had rallied back from a loss in the WPIAL finals to reach the state’s final four.

Jurkovec led Pine-Richland with 17 points and 13 rebounds, and Petcash scored 16. Andrew Kristofic added 12 points and Greg Shulkosky had 10. The Rams used their size and strength to work inside against a team that had five starters 6-foot-3 or taller.

“That was the most physical game we played all year,” Roman Catholic coach Matt Griffin said. “Those (Pine-Richland) kids bang underneath, they’re strong and I give them a lot of credit.”

Ackermann’s post-game message to his team was simple.

“I just thanked them for all they did,” he said. “I thanked them for the opportunity to play in this game. The last two years, we’re 51-9. Just a great run.”

The Rams called timeout twice in the fourth quarter’s final minute, once with 37.3 seconds and again with 13.9. Plan A was to score off the inbounds, but Roman Catholic read Pine-Richland’s pass and knocked the ball out of bounds.

Plan B was to spread the floor and work for a shot.

Pine-Richland junior Greg Shulkosky drove to his right, found Kenny White in the corner and then White passed to Petcash near the foul line. Petcash split two defenders on his way to the basket, but his driving layup missed right.

“We tried to go with a high ball-screen at the end,” Ackermann said. “We didn’t get a great look. We got the ball in the paint, but we didn’t get it up quick enough and there were a bunch of bodies around it.”

“It was a huge sigh of relief,” Griffin said, “a chance to reorganize and regroup.”

Roman Catholic started overtime with a 7-1 run sparked by consecutive steals by Hakim Hart, a 6-foot-5 junior who scored 25 points. Allen Betrand, a 6-4 senior and Towson recruit, also scored 25 points for the District 12 runner-up, which led 67-61 with 2:25 left in overtime.

Roman Catholic went 10 for 12 from the foul line in overtime and outscored Pine-Richland, 21-13, in the extra period.

“We weren’t aggressive and they were,” Ackermann said. “They were ripping the ball off us. They were the much more aggressive team in overtime and it showed.”

Pine-Richland had show aggression in the fourth and used a trapping defense to spark a 9-2 run. White had consecutive layups and two steals, and the Rams’ lead peaked at 57-50 when Petcash made a 3 with 5:40 left in the fourth.

But Roman Catholic rallied back.

After a Hart 3 forced a 60-60 tie, Roman Catholic had a chance to win in regulation when Shulkosky missed the front end of a one-and-one with 90 seconds left. Betrand lost the ball out of bounds on a drive at the 72-second mark.

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

Tags: Pine-Richland