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Shady Side Academy tops No. 4 South Allegheny to narrow section title race

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Wednesday, February 2, 2022 | 12:06 AM

Shady Side Academy used quickness and aggression to build a 10-point, fourth-quarter lead Tuesday night, a favorable position where many teams might then slow the tempo.

Hold the ball. Run the clock.

One problem: That’s not in Shady Side’s nature, but the Bulldogs still showed patience down the stretch, grabbed a few key rebounds and controlled the ball well enough to defeat No. 4 South Allegheny, 59-51, narrowing the section title race to a half-game.

Shady Side’s last 10 points were all free throws on a night when neither team shot particularly well.

“We don’t play slow,” Shady Side coach David Vadnais said. “They’re used to playing fast every day in practice. So it’s hard to be like, ‘Hey, don’t score,’ because that’s what they’re used to us doing. But I thought tonight was one of the better nights for us, where we didn’t force shots.”

Shady Side’s Eli Teslovich scored 23 points, Peter Kramer had 14 and Ethan Salvia added 11 for the Bulldogs, who entered the fourth quarter leading 42-32. They never trailed after halftime, but they were never comfortable either.

That’s thanks in large part to South Allegheny’s Bryce Epps, who scored 23 points, including 17 in the second half. Epps’ biggest shot was a late 3-pointer that cut Shady Side’s lead to 49-46 with less than 2 minutes left.

But Shady Side didn’t break.

The Bulldogs made only two baskets in the fourth quarter and none after the 4-minute mark, but they limited South Allegheny’s late-game chances with half-court defense and rebounds.

At the foul line, Shady Side went 11 for 13 in the fourth quarter, including six in a row by Thomson Lau, Kramer and Ethan Salvia to lead 55-46 with 28 seconds left.

“We said tonight was going to be more of a half-court, slug-it-out,” Vadnais said. “Not a pretty basketball game. I thought our guys really matched that physicality and the need to get stops, rebound and execute in the half court.”

Ethan Kirkwood and Mike Michalski each scored 12 points for South Allegheny.

The win keeps Shady Side (12-5, 7-2) in the hunt for the Section 3-3A title. The section loss was the second in a row for South Allegheny (12-5, 8-2), which also lost at home last Thursday to Steel Valley, 55-52.

“It’s probably the first time that’s happened in three years for us, that we lost two in a row,” SA coach Tony DiCenzo said. “It is what it is. We’ve got to learn from it because we have a short season left. We have four games left, and we have to make sure we’re playing our best going into the tournament.”

South Allegheny defeated Shady Side, 50-47, on Jan. 7.

“A loss tonight would have been really costly,” Vadnais said.

Shady Side’s shooters started cold in their own gym, making just 3 for 17 shots in the first quarter. That let South Allegheny take a 12-7 lead after one, while seeking the regular-season series sweep.

However, in the second quarter, South Allegheny missed 10 of its 12 shots, letting Shady Side take the lead. Teslovich scored three consecutive layups late in the quarter, sending the Bulldogs to halftime ahead 22-21.

Teslovich then scored the first six points of the second half on consecutive 3-point plays, pushing Shady Side’s lead to 28-21. Combined, Teslovich provided 12 consecutive points for Shady Side.

“(South Allegheny’s) on-ball defense is really hard for us to attack in our general dribble-drive offense because they just stop dribble penetration,” Vadnais said. “We had to get more ball screens … and he’s excellent in that situation. He’s not going to jump over anyone, but his craftiness and his ability to finish at the rim are second to none.”

After a cold start, Epps went 7 for 10 from the field in the second half, including three 3-pointers. Kirkwood finished with four 3s, but South Allegheny combined went 9 for 27 from beyond the arc.

The Gladiators went 1 for 5 from 3-point range in the third and were outscored 20-11.

“We were kind of stagnant on offense and relied on Bryce to try to create for us,” DiCenzo said. “… We preached it was probably going to come down to who made the tougher plays, and I think they did.”

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.

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