Team effort guides No. 5 Highlands past No. 4 Uniontown in Class 4A quarterfinals
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Saturday, February 23, 2019 | 3:47 PM
Highlands’ Johnny Crise grabs a rebound over Uniontown’s Bryant Grady during quarterfinal WPIAL action Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019 at Norwin High School.
Highlands’ Luke Cochran and Uniontown’s Isiah Melvin fight for a loose ball during quarterfinal WPIAL action Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019 at Norwin High School.
Highlands’ Johnny Crise scores over Uniontown’s Isiah Velvinduring quarterfinal WPIAL action Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019 at Norwin High School.
Highlands’ Johnny Crise drives to the hoop past Uniontown’s Isiah Melvin during quarterfinal WPIAL action Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019 at Norwin High School.
Highlands’ Luke Cochran scores past Uniontown’s Bryant Grady during quarterfinal WPIAL action Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019 at Norwin High School.
As dynamic as Luke Cochran and Johnny Crise are, Highlands operates at a higher level when it gets a group effort.
The Golden Rams’ stars shone again on Saturday, but just as importantly, so did their role players.
Four players scored in double figures, spurring Class 4A No. 5 Highlands to a 69-61 victory over No. 4 Uniontown in a WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal game at Norwin and sending the Golden Rams to the semifinals for the third time in four seasons. They will play No. 1 New Castle (19-4) at 8 p.m. Wednesday at North Allegheny.
“We’re a good team because we’re still growing, we’re still learning,” Highlands coach Tyler Stoczynski said. “We’re still learning how to handle end-of-game situations. The key was Luke being calm because when Luke’s calm, we’re calm, and his demeanor and body language is so important to how the rest of our team responds.”
Highlands (17-7) needed that calmness late in the fourth quarter, after Uniontown cut what was a 16-point Golden Rams lead down to four.
“We came together when things started getting a little hectic,” said Korry Myers, who scored 15 points and sank a 3-pointer that extended Highlands’ lead to seven points with just over four minutes remaining. “(We) just bonded together and got a win.”
Crise scored 22 points and pulled down 18 rebounds for Highlands, Cochran added 17 points and 11 rebounds, Myers had 15 and Antoine McDaniel chipped in with 11. After making just one 3-pointer in a narrow first-round win over Belle Vernon, Highlands hit six Saturday.
“Highlands is a very good basketball team, and the other night they didn’t make their 3s against Belle Vernon,” Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky said. “They have two really good players that did what they’re supposed to do, but their other players stepped up.”
Uniontown (19-4), the highest-scoring team in the Class 4A playoffs, came out hot: The Raiders answered Crise’s game-opening dunk with an 8-0 run that included a pair of 3-pointers.
But Highlands responded with a 12-0 spurt to take the lead, which it never relinquished. Crise scored 10 points in the first quarter and 14 in the first half, and Myers hit a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to give the Golden Rams a 39-28 lead. The team made four 3-pointers in the second quarter.
“I feel like when we make shots early, it just sets the pace for the rest of the game,” Myers said.
Highlands’ big run began after Uniontown star Billy DeShields, who averages 22 points, went to the bench with his second foul early in the first quarter.
Kezmarsky said he believed the officials called the infraction on the wrong player, and the Raiders couldn’t find their usual rhythm with DeShields on the bench.
“You try to keep him in as much as you can because he’s such a good player, but that’s really tough because he does so much for us,” Kezmarsky said. “It’s tough. Then you’re trying to keep him on the floor and protect him, and you need him there because he’s such a good player for us. But our other kids played so hard the whole game.”
A 10-2 run midway through the third quarter gave Highlands its largest lead at 55-39, but Uniontown rallied. The Raiders scored 15 of the next 18 points, cutting their deficit to 58-54 on Raymond Robinson’s 3-pointer with 4:50 remaining in the game.
Then came Myers’ 3, and after a Uniontown free throw, a key Highlands possession in which every Golden Rams player touched the ball before Cochran found Chrise for a three-point play.
Highlands also focused its defense on DeShields and guarding the perimeter. Uniontown made seven 3-pointers, but the Raiders also had a costly turnover on the play right before Myers’ 3.
“They’re the best rebounding team we’ve faced all year, and we were just trying to do everything we could to box out,” Stoczynski said. “They’ve got some athletes, some big boys. They pounded us on the glass a little bit, but (senior Seth Cohen) stepped up and got some big rebounds late.”
Andre Ash scored 15 points off the bench to lead Uniontown, and DeShields added 13 and Jahmere Richardson and Isaiah Melvin had 11 apiece.
“We kept coming back, kept coming back, but we just ran out of gas a little bit at the end,” Kezmarsky said. “That’s a good basketball team.”
With Saturday’s win, Highlands clinched a berth in the PIAA playoffs, while Uniontown remained alive for a berth. The Raiders would get into the state tournament with a Highlands WPIAL championship.
“(We have to) focus on our next game, just come in ready,” Myers said.
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