Allderdice fends off Brashear to win City League boys title

By: George Guido
Sunday, February 20, 2022 | 9:20 PM

Coming off an upset win over Obama Academy in the City League semifinals, the Brashear boys entered Sunday’s championship game with designs on their first title since 1989.

Instead, Allderdice scored the first 13 points of the game, and the Dragons were on their way to their 16th City championship with a 60-44 victory at Petersen Events Center.

Sophomore Logan Golle led Allderdice with 20 points, and Sam Kelly and Ethan Anish had 12 points each in the victory.

“We knew that Brashear was going to come in well prepared,” Dragons coach Devin Crummie said. “We just played them last week and won. Carey White is a really, really strong coach and we knew he was going to change some things, and he did. Luckily, we got off to that nice start and had a cushion when they made their run in the second period.”

Three-pointers on two consecutive possessions by Anish put Allderdice on top 13-0 and forced Brashear to call its second timeout with 4 minutes, 20 seconds left in the first quarter.

Kelly’s 3-pointer gave the Dragons a 23-7 lead with 21.8 seconds to go in the opening quarter.

But the third of four 3-pointers by Titus Gillett got Brashear within 26-19 with 4:55 left in the half.

Allderdice is 17-7 and will enter a PIAA play-in round against either Erie or McDowell from District 10.

While the Dragons have reached their early goal of qualifying for the state playoffs, the team wants more.

“We’d like to play one of the WPIAL teams,” Crummie said. “All summer long, we go to the summer league and compete against those guys. There are battles. Sometimes the good teams get us, but we want to be able to play consistently at that level. That’s what coach (Buddy) Valinsky and his program did, and we’re trying to get to that level again.”

A win over one of the Erie teams would put the Dragons up against a WPIAL school.

Brashear committed 14 turnovers in the first half.

A 10-1 Allderdice run in the third quarter secured the victory.

For Golle, 14 of his 20 points came in the second half.

“It was my biggest game of the season, and it just happened to be in the championship,” Golle said. “We knew we could come in and get fouled, and we knocked down our free throws.”

Allderdice was 10 of 10 from the foul line in the second half.

Kelly led the Allderdice effort with eight rebounds.

“I think the inside game against Brashear is really important,” Kelly said. “They have a lot of strong football players like Kam (Cheatom) and Jacob Davis. They’re thick and strong players and can move you around a little bit, so I think it’s important to hold your ground.”

Brashear (6-9) awaits a chance to play in a PIAA play-in game against either a District 9 or District 10 Class 5A school.

Cheatom led the Bulls with 15 points and eight rebounds, and Gillett added 14.

Tags: Allderdice, Brashear