Herald roundup: SSA boys basketball wins opener, eliminated in quarterfinals

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, February 26, 2018 | 12:06 AM

Previous Next

Previous Next

Shady Side Academy opened the first round of the WPIAL Class 3A basketball playoffs with a 71-55 win over Avonworth on Feb. 19. The Indians used a balanced scoring attack as Skyy Moore scored 18 points, and Frankie Fuhrer and Grady Munroe scoring 16 each. Nine players scored for SSA.

“Any playoff win is a good win,” coach David Vadnais said. “I thought we played hard and executed our game plan. Without our depth, I think we would have been in a lot of trouble.

“Our defense was really good throughout the game, especially in the second quarter. We held them scoreless for the first seven minutes. But the second quarter was excellent. We held them scoreless the first seven minutes. Unfortunately, we gave up a 6-0 run to end the quarter.

“Frankie played great throughout the second half. He hit two big 3s in the third quarter that helped us maintain our lead. The first half of the fourth quarter, he was able to penetrate and score at the rim. Skyy had a big fourth quarter and did a nice job of getting to the rim and finishing.

“Different guys stood out at different times, but in the end it was a team win.”

SSA's hopes of a WPIAL championship vanished Feb. 22 as Seton LaSalle came out strong to take a 26-15 lead at the half en route to a 74-52 win. Fuhrer led the Indians (14-9) with 11 points.

“They were very good,” said Vadnais. “They're a veteran team that is balanced and can play any type of game. Having said that, I thought we did a lot of good things. Unfortunately, we struggled to make shots. That prevented us from getting into consistent pressure. They did an excellent job of attacking us in transition when we missed shots or turned the ball over. What impressed me most was their ability to get offensive rebounds. That was a focus of ours in practice leading up to the game. Unfortunately, it's impossible to duplicate how they crash the offensive glass.”

SSA needed a win by Seton LaSalle in the semifinals to qualify for states.

“I'd love to have another opportunity to coach this team. They have been a pleasure to be around and have worked hard all year. We will wait and see.” Monday's game ended too late for inclusion in this edition.

• There's never a good time for a bad shooting day, but with the way the Fox Chapel boys played defense and rebounded against a bigger Pine-Richland team Saturday, it could not have come at a worse time for the Foxes.

Fox Chapel's defensive intensity forced a tie going into the fourth quarter, but the Foxes could not remedy their cold shooting.

The No. 3-seeded Foxes made only two field goals in the fourth quarter and lost to No. 6 Pine-Richland, 48-39, in a WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinal.

The Foxes only made 15 field goals, two of which were 3-pointers. They were 7 for 10 from the free-throw line.

Hockey

Fox Chapel improved to 11-7-2 as it hammered Beaver, 15-3, on Feb. 22. Seth Krhovsky scored four goals, and Chase Villani had a hat trick. Villani leads the team with 30 goals and 26 assists.

With the win, the Foxes secured a playoff berth.

“We're in!” FC coach Jason Silver said. “We're waiting for the seedings to come out at the end of the week. Our regular season is over, and it was a solid year.”

Marty Stewart is a freelance writer.

Tags: Fox Chapel