Derry denied elusive playoff win thanks to Blackhawk’s late surge
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Wednesday, February 20, 2019 | 10:15 PM
Derry Area’s Aiden Bushey scores over Blackhawk’s Ryan McClymonds during their WPIAL Class 4A first round playoff game Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, at North Allegheny High School.
Blackhawk’s Ryan Heckathorn scores past Derry’s John Kerr during the fourth quarter. Heckathorn led all scorers with 30 points.
Derry Area’s John Kerr scores between Blackhawk’s James Darno (45) and Carmen Campagna during their WPIAL Class 4A first round playoff game Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, at North Allegheny High School.
Blackhawk’s Ryan Fedisin shoots over Derry Area’s Tanner Nicely during their WPIAL Class 4A first round playoff game Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, at North Allegheny High School.
Derry Area’s Aiden Bushey and John Kerr meet on the bench after they were removed from the game late in the fourth quarter of their WPIAL Class 4A first round playoff against Blackhawk Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, at North Allegheny High School.
Derry Area’s John Kerr scores over Blackhawk’s James Darno during their WPIAL Class 4A first round playoff game Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, at North Allegheny High School.
Derry Area’s Aiden Bushey drives past Blackhawk’s Carmen Campagna during their WPIAL Class 4A first round playoff game Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, at North Allegheny High School.
Blackhawk’s Ryan Heckathorn works against Derry Area’sTanner Nicely during the fourth quarter of their WPIAL Class 4A first round playoff game Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, at North Allegheny High School.
Derry Area’s Ryan Bushey shakes hands with John Kerr after they removed from the game late in the fourth quarter of their WPIAL Class 4A first round playoff against Blackhawk Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, at North Allegheny High School.
Derry Area’s Aiden Bushey scores over Blackhawk’s Sammy Fusetti during their WPIAL Class 4A first round playoff game Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, at North Allegheny High School.
Neither Derry nor Blackhawk had school Wednesday because of the early morning snow storm.
Their first-round boys basketball playoff game went on as scheduled, but Derry still ran into some tough sledding in its long-awaited return to the WPIAL postseason.
The Trojans will have to wait a little longer for their first playoff victory in school history.
No.7 seed Blackhawk used a fourth-quarter surge to finally pull away from No. 10 Derry and claim a mostly back-and-forth Class 4A opener, 59-45, at North Allegheny.
Junior forward Ryan Heckathorn had a heckuva game: He powered the Cougars (10-13) with 30 points, 18 in the second half. Teammate Sammy Fusetti, a senior, added 14.
“It had nothing to do with coaching,” Blackhawk coach Brooks Roorback said. “(Heckathorn) took it upon himself to switch men and guard a guy who was scoring for them (Aidan Bushey). … He got a steal and an and-1 and took over; he almost single-handedly won the game. He was tremendous.”
Derry had not been to the playoffs since the 2007-08 season but looked poised for much of the night. Despite some sloppy play at times, the Trojans forced 17 lead changes before Blackhawk pulled away.
With standout 6-foot-6 senior center John Kerr feeling under the weather, the Trojans weren’t quite themselves energy-wise, but fought through the adversity in spurts to keep it close for three-plus quarters.
“It was like a heavyweight fight. … Our program pushed the door pretty wide open tonight,” Derry coach Tom Esposito said. “To take a sleeper that’s supposed to win this whole darn thing … People are going to see the final score, but that is a one or two possession basketball game. I thought we had them.”
Kerr still managed 11 points, seven rebounds and seven blocks.
“My hat’s off to John,” Esposito said. “The poor kid is very sick. He gave us everything he had. Not one person lost this game. I commend all our guys; they play their hearts out. We’ll be back.”
Junior Aidan Bushey led Derry with 19 points but battled foul trouble.
Blackhawk, which has a rich history in basketball, also got reacquainted with the playoffs. The Cougars had missed qualifying in four straight seasons.
Blackhawk moves on to play No. 2 Ambridge (14-8) in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
“We started focusing more on defense and getting stops,” Heckathorn said. “We ran out in transition and got some easy baskets. One of our goals coming into the season was reestablishing Blackhawk basketball, making the playoffs and getting wins. It was nice to do that tonight.”
The back-and-forth play continued well into the fourth before the Cougars finally gained some spacing with an 10-0 run. The surge gave them their largest lead at the time, at 54-44, with 1:37 to go.
“Our legs got tired in the fourth,” Esposito said.
Derry managed just three field goals in the final period when it was outscored, 19-7.
After Tanner Nicely tied it 44-44 for Derry, Blackhawk finished the game on a 15-1 run.
Derry led by six early in the third, at 27-21, after a drive by Bushey.
But Blackhawk regained control, at 34-31, on a three-point play by Heckathorn.
Derry took momentum into halftime after Bushey rang up a 3-pointer to beat the second-quarter buzzer, giving the Trojans a 23-21 edge.
Bushey had 12 in the first half, which tied Heckathorn for the first-half high.
The advantage see-sawed over the first two quarters with 12 lead changes and a couple of ties.
Esposito said the first three minutes would be key. His team fell behind 7-1 over that time, but rallied to tie it 9-9 early in the second.
Kerr’s dunk with 1:45 left in the second gave the Trojans a 18-17 lead.
Heckathorn, active around the rim all night, made a layup to give Blackhawk a 21-20 edge before Bushey’s 3.
Derry led at the half despite 10 turnovers.
Tags: Blackhawk, Derry Area
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