Stall tactics pay off for Penn Hills in WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinal win over Central Catholic

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, February 24, 2018 | 7:54 PM

Quickness is usually Penn Hills' game.

The Indians use tempo to force other teams into mistakes and use their speed for transition baskets. Yet, earlier than any time this season, coach Dan DeRose had his players slow it down early in the fourth quarter while ahead by seven.

“When I heard him call triangle, I'm like: ‘Whoa!' ” senior Daivon Stephens said. “This is going to be a long fourth quarter.”

It was, particularly for Central Catholic.

No. 5 seed Penn Hills controlled the ball, drew fouls and converted 14 of 22 free throws in the fourth to defeat No. 4 Central Catholic, 59-49, in a WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinal Saturday at Canon-McMillan.

It was a clutch effort from the Indians, who'd made just 3 of 9 from the line in the first three quarters.

“We went to the stall a little earlier than usual because they were doing a good job defensively on us,” DeRose said. “We worked on it for the last couple of days. … I trust the guys to get to the free throw line. Let's spread them out, let's stall and see if we can get some cheap ones.”

Penn Hills, which led 35-33 after the third, started the fourth quarter on a 9-0 run. The teams had been tied 10-10 after one and 23-23 at half. Suddenly, a five- or seven-point lead felt huge, DeRose said, so he decided to slow it down.

The victory advances Penn Hills into a semifinal matchup with No. 1 Mt. Lebanon on Wednesday at a time and site to be determined.

Corey Fulton led Penn Hills' free throw effort. Fulton went 8 for 10 from the line in the fourth and finished with 21 points. It was a resilient effort for the senior, who's typically a solid free throw shooter, but missed six in a row last game.

When Penn Hills decided to win the game at the foul line, Fulton didn't avoid the ball.

“You've just got to knock them down,” he said. “We had to focus mentally. I'd been preparing for it all week — before practice, at the end of practice, just continuously.”

Stephens converted 5 of 10 free throws in the fourth and scored 15 points. Luke Nedrow led Central Catholic with 16 points and Cole Mason added 13.

Central Catholic's shooting woes weren't from the foul line but rather the 3-point line. The Vikings went 0 for 17 from the arc.

“We'd been shooting it really well, that's the funny part about it,” Central Catholic coach Chuck Crummie said. “We had opportunities and didn't make them.”

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

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Penn Hills