Strong 1st quarter leads No. 8 North Allegheny past No. 9 Baldwin in WPIAL playoff opener
By:
Tuesday, February 22, 2022 | 11:33 PM
North Allegheny’s Joey Dopirak (22) celebrates with Robby Jones after scoring against Baldwin during their WPIAL Class 6A first round playoff game on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, at North Allegheny High School.
North Allegheny’s Joey Dopirak works against Baldwin’s Chad Cochran during their WPIAL Class 6A first round playoff game on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, at North Allegheny High School.
North Allegheny’s Matt McDonough scores past Baldwin’s Nathan Richards during their WPIAL Class 6A first round playoff game on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, at North Allegheny High School.
North Allegheny’s Matt McDonough shoots a three-pointer against Baldwin during a WPIAL Class 6A first round playoff game on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, at North Allegheny High School.
North Allegheny’s Matt McDonough drives to the basket to score against Baldwin during a WPIAL Class 6A first round playoff game on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, at North Allegheny High School.
North Allegheny’s Matt McDonough blocks a shot by Baldwin’s Anthony Cherico during their WPIAL Class 6A first round playoff game on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, at North Allegheny High School.
North Allegheny’s Anthony Sciote pressures Baldwin’s Nathan Wesling during their WPIAL Class 6A first round playoff game on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, at North Allegheny High School.
North Allegheny’s Matt McDonough shoots a three-pointer against Baldwin during a WPIAL Class 6A first round playoff game on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, at North Allegheny High School.
North Allegheny’s Connor Casten pressures Baldwin’s Joseph Carr during their WPIAL Class 6A first round playoff game on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, at North Allegheny High School.
North Allegheny’s Connor Casten celebrates after a Baldwin timeout during their WPIAL Class 6A first round playoff game on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, at North Allegheny High School.
North Allegheny’s Joey Dopirak scores against Baldwin during a WPIAL Class 6A first round playoff game on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, at North Allegheny High School.
North Allegheny’s Joey Dopirak celebrates with Anthony Sciote after defeating Baldwin, 71-59, in their WPIAL Class 6A first round playoff game on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, at North Allegheny High School.
North Allegheny head coach Dave DeGregorio (right) talks with Baldwin head coach Jeff Ackermann before their WPIAL Class 6A first round playoff game on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, at North Allegheny High School.
North Allegheny’s Matt McDonough follows through on a three-pointer a three-pointer against Baldwin during a WPIAL Class 6A first round playoff game on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, at North Allegheny High School.
North Allegheny’s Connor Casten celebrates after a Baldwin timeout during their WPIAL Class 6A first round playoff game on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, at North Allegheny High School.
Tuesday marked the playoff opener for the North Allegheny boys, but the Tigers felt they’d already had a postseason mindset for a while now.
For that, they credit life in Section 1.
So, when the postseason officially arrived, senior Matt McDonough made four 3-pointers in the first quarter, the team’s defensive pressure was disruptive, and No. 8 seed North Allegheny ran away with a 71-59 victory over No. 9 Baldwin that the Tigers led from start to finish.
North Allegheny (15-8) had little trouble transitioning to playoff mode.
NA sophomore Joey Dopirak scored a game-high 27 points and McDonough finished with 21. The Tigers led by 16 points after the first quarter, 16 again at halftime and held a 21-point edge late in the third.
“We feel that we’ve been playing playoff basketball for about three weeks now,” NA coach Dave DeGregorio said. “We were a game away from not being in the playoffs. Every team is our section was good. I don’t know if a lot of people can say that. And you had to play them three times.”
NA’s reward is a fourth matchup this season with rival North Hills (22-0), the No. 1 seed in the WPIAL Class 6A bracket. The teams meet at 7 p.m. Friday at North Hills.
It’s a quarterfinal matchup that neither team relishes, having already played one another three times this winter. When they last met Feb. 11, North Hills escaped with a 60-59 victory.
“It is what it is,” DeGregorio said. “I’ll leave it at that.”
Baldwin (12-11) was trying to win a playoff game for the first time since 2003 but fell behind immediately. The Highlanders made one basket in the first six minutes and trailed 15-3.
NA’s quick start was fueled by McDonough, who went 4 for 5 from beyond the arc in the first quarter. His fourth 3-pointer came in the final seconds of the quarter, giving North Allegheny a 23-7 lead after one.
“We were trying to take them out of the dribble-drive, but it didn’t matter because we just turned the ball over like crazy,” said Baldwin coach Jeff Ackermann, whose team started in a zone defense. “I don’t think it really mattered what defense we played tonight the way we took care of the ball. You’re not going to beat a good team like that when you turn the ball over like we did.”
Joey Carr led Baldwin with 13 points, Evan Lavelle had 12, and James Wesling added 10. Robby Jones added 10 for North Allegheny.
With 10 days between the regular-season finale and Tuesday’s playoff opener, North Allegheny used some of that time to work on a new zone-press defense.
“Our pressure was good,” DeGregorio said. “I thought early on it set a tone.”
North Allegheny led 59-42 after three quarters behind Dopirak, who scored eight points in both the second and third quarters. The sophomore is a reliable scorer in the paint, using what DeGregorio described affectionately as “old-man” moves seen at the YMCA.
“He’s unbelievable because he finishes with both hands,” DeGregorio said.
Dopirak, wearing No. 22, scored a dozen 2s on a day dubbed “Twosday” by calendar aficionados.
Ackermann, in his second season as Baldwin’s coach, said his team has inexplicably struggled on the road at times this winter. Against section teams, the Highlanders were 4-1 at home and 2-3 on the road.
Baldwin also fell behind early in last season’s playoff opener at Hempfield and lost by only three.
“We just have some kind of mental block on the road,” Ackermann said. “I can’t figure it out myself.”
Ackermann said he thought the WPIAL basketball committee should have awarded his team a home game as the third-place qualifier from Section 2. North Allegheny finished fourth in Section 1.
“We know our section was given no respect all year,” he said. “I told these guys the only way to get respect is to earn it. We did not earn it today.”
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: Baldwin, North Allegheny
More High School Basketball
• Derry boys basketball team looking for big season with key players coming back• New Derry girls basketball coach faces huge challenge with inexperienced roster
• Burrell boys hope to use long playoff run as building block
• Burrell girls boast exciting mix of youth, experience
• New coach among many changes for Apollo-Ridge girls basketball this season
