Vincentian Academy boys defeat Union to capture third WPIAL Class A championship
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Thursday, March 1, 2018 | 8:30 PM
This will be a game Vincentian Academy boys basketball coach Tim Tyree won't soon forget.
The No. 1-seeded Royals captured their third WPIAL championship by defeating No. 4 Union, 54-51, in the Class A title game Thursday night at the Petersen Events Center.
“You only get one time to do something one time,” Tyree said. “So coming into my first year with such a good group of seniors, we wanted to take them out on top. This one is going to be special for the rest of my career. I will never forget this.”
Tied 51-51 with less than two minutes to play, senior Kyler Fedko drove to the hoop and broke the stalemate to give the Royals a lead they would not surrender.
The Scotties had a final chance to score trailing by three with 3.3 seconds left but were unable to get off a shot.
The teams tied or traded the lead a total of 16 times throughout the game.
Vincentian Academy built its largest lead of the opening half midway through the second quarter as a Zach McDonough jumper put the Royals ahead 23-17.
But the Scotties relied on their outside shooting to stay close throughout the game — Union finished with 10 3-pointers. A pair of deep shots from Evan Pinkerton and Nathan Meeks kept Union close before halftime.
Meeks sunk a 3-pointer at the buzzer to draw the Scotties even with the Royals, 28-28, at the break.
“We have a confident group whether we are winning or not,” Union coach Mark Stanley said. “Being down three with (Tre Charles) on the bench with two fouls, we hit it and we're feeling good. And we're thinking it is going to go down to the wire.”
Vincentian Academy tried pulling away again in the second half as a pair of free throws from McDonough early in the fourth quarter built a 43-38 advantage.
“We just had to go through the game plan coach gave us,” McDonough said. “We had to run our sets right. Our big thing in the second half was to stop (Charles), get on their shooters and just play good defense.”
But strong shooting kept Union in it as a Charles 3-pointer tied the game with 4:05 to play. Two minutes later, Pinkerton's basket in the paint put the Scotties ahead, 51-49, for the first time since midway through the third frame.
But the Royals scored the final five points of the game to another title to the trophy case to go along with championships in 2011 and 2013.
“I loved this experience,” McDonough said. “Being a senior, there is no better way to go out.”
McDonough led Vincentian Academy (18-7) with 25 points. Fedko added 15. Angelo Reeves chipped in nine, including five points in the fourth quarter.
Charles and Meeks each finished with 14 for Union (17-6).
“They always answer the bell,” Stanley said. “They have a chip on their shoulders. They get after you. We are 6-foot at our tallest, but we battle.”
Nathan Smith is a freelance writer.
Tags: Union, Vincentian Academy
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