Elijah Hill, South Fayette score hard-earned Class 5A win over Shaler

By: Don Rebel
Friday, February 17, 2023 | 11:09 PM

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South Fayette forward Elijah Hill was held in check for most of the night by the Shaler defense, but when push came to shove, the senior proved who the king of the hill was.

Hill hit a short shot with eight seconds left that turned out to be the game winner in the Lions’ 34-33 victory over the Titans in a WPIAL Class 5A first-round classic.

Ninth-seeded Shaler had a chance after the Hill bucket, but a pass from junior Joey DeSabato to junior Brandon London did not connect and the Titans could not get off a final shot.

Eighth-seeded South Fayette called timeout with 21 seconds left. Was the final play what coach Dave Mislan drew up?

“Exactly, except I thought we would get it to (junior Michael) Plasko,” Mislan said. “We got Elijah the ball off the screen and we had Plasko on the weak side, but Hill had a clear vision of the basket.”

Points were hard to come by throughout the contest thanks to great half-court defense played by both teams.

“We’ve played these guys before,” Mislan said. “I said all week, these guys are not going to be happy with their seed and they are going to be prepared. They know what we do and we know what they do. Our goal was to stay underneath them because their guards can fly and their strategy was not to allow Elijah to make any easy baskets.”

Hill averaged over 21 points per game this season, but was held to 11 points.

“Both offenses were getting frustrated,” Mislan said.

A pair of runs helped set up the dramatic finish.

South Fayette trailed 16-10 late in the second quarter when it went on a 14-0 run that nearly carried through the third quarter.

Plasko scored 11 of those 14 points and finished with a game-high 19.

That South Fayette scoring run ended when Shaler junior T.J. Belles hit a bucket and was fouled with four seconds left in the third quarter. His free throw provided the Titans their only points in that quarter.

Shaler trailed by nine points, 28-19 when the Titans scored the next 10 points, setting the stage for a back-and-forth final few minutes of the game.

Junior Kaden Orga led the Titans with 11 points.

The loss ends the season for Shaler (16-7) and gave South Fayette (14-9) sweet revenge for a first-round playoff loss last year at home against Shaler, 68-64 in overtime.

“Of course there is,” Mislan said of the revenge factor. “We have a whole different team this year, these guys were on the bench watching, but it doesn’t hurt any less. I’m so happy for the kids.”

Seven of the nine losses suffered by South Fayette this season were by six points or less. The Lions needed to win their final four section games just to qualify for the postseason.

“I can’t say enough about the resiliency of our guys,” Mislan said. “We had a lot of close games, tough luck, growing pains, and now they feel comfortable in the moment. They were not frustrated but disappointed. These guys love to compete.”

Now winners of six straight, they will face Class 5A top seed Peters Township in the quarterfinals Wednesday. The Indians beat Penn-Trafford on Friday, 66-54.

Tags: Shaler, South Fayette