Ellwood City earns validation, upsets Avonworth in WPIAL Class 3A playoffs

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, March 5, 2021 | 12:19 AM

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There was nothing invalid about Monday’s playoff win, a 52-point preliminary-round victory that officially ended Ellwood City’s decade-long postseason drought.

But this one sure felt different.

Suddenly, Ellwood City is a team on the rise. Brothers Alexander and Joseph Roth combined for 29 points and Steve Antuono Jr. added 12 as the 11th-seeded Wolverines upset No. 6 Avonworth, 58-53, in the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs Thursday night at North Allegheny.

Valley had only one win, so Ellwood City coach Steve Antuono Sr. knew critics might discredit Monday’s win a little, but certainly not this one.

Avonworth had won a dozen games.

“We haven’t been where we’re at right now in many years,” Antuono Sr. said. “So you win one and these kids get a taste of it. And now you play a little bit better team in Avonworth. That’s a good basketball team. You look at their scores. You look what they’ve done, their whole body of work.

“Here we come.”

Ellwood City (11-4) visits No. 4 Shady Side Academy (14-2) in the quarterfinals Monday.

Before this year, Ellwood City hadn’t won a playoff game since 2011 and had reached the postseason just twice in the nine seasons since. They’ve now got a two-game winning streak, but this one didn’t come easy.

Ellwood City built a 12-point halftime lead and watched it vanish in the third quarter. Andrew Gannon scored a game-high 21 points for Avonworth (12-5), and Mason Donovan added 13 of his 15 points in the second half as the Antelopes took a 51-49 lead in the fourth.

Fortunately for Ellwood City, the Wolverines have a freshman who knows how to keep things afloat.

Joseph Roth, who doubles as one of the WPIAL’s top swimmers, scored six points in the fourth including a go-ahead 3-pointer with about 4 minutes left.

Now leading 52-51, Roth blocked a shot at the other end, drew a charge on Avonworth’s next possession and eventually added a tough layup to put Ellwood City ahead by three. It was all part of a remarkable 80-second span for the 6-foot-4 forward.

He finished with 13 points, and junior Alexander Roth had 16.

“My coach and also my brother talked to me and said stop playing scared,” Joseph Roth said. “I had to try even harder.”

Roth owns the WPIAL’s top Class AA time in the 100-yard backstroke entering this weekend’s swimming championships.

“I’m happy he’s on my team,” Antuono Sr. said. “I mean no disrespect to anyone, he’s got to be the top freshman in the WPIAL. We’re asking the kid to do an awful lot. He’s 15 years old. He just came out of a swimming pool, comes here and does this.”

Antuono Sr. won’t second-guess the WPIAL basketball committee for awarding his team only an 11 seed, but he did point out that the top four teams from his section remain alive in the playoffs. Neshannock, Beaver Falls and Laurel also won Thursday night.

Avonworth coach Mike Mancuso was willing to say what Antuono wouldn’t.

“In a season like this, that stuff is going to happen. You’re going to miss some seeds,” Mancuso said. “That team is not an 11 seed right there, I’ll tell you that. They can shoot the basketball.”

Ellwood City went 9 for 23 from beyond the arc with five different players making at least one 3-pointer. Combined, the team went 3 for 7 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter.

The Wolverines sealed the win at the free throw line, making 6 of 9 in the fourth quarter. Ryan Gibbons went 3 for 4 from the line in the final 33 seconds.

“It feels great because we were the lower seed — the underdogs,” Joseph Roth said.

Maybe on paper, but his team didn’t play like an underdog. Ellwood City led 15-5 after one quarter and 30-18 at half behind a defense that held Avonworth to just 6 of 16 shooting. Gannon accounted for 15 of the Antelopes’ 18 first-half points, but the 6-3 senior found some help after halftime.

Avonworth opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run that had points from four different players. With that added secondary scoring, the Antelopes ate away at Ellwood City’s lead and eventually pushed ahead late in the third on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Donovan.

Avonworth won the quarter 25-11 and entered the fourth ahead 43-41.

“We talked about never giving up before we got here, and they never gave up,” Mancuso said. “They were down 12 and battled back.”

Ellwood City looked stunned but fought back in a fourth quarter that had five lead changes.

A deep 3-pointer by Donovan gave Avonworth the lead with about 5 minutes left, but the final lead change belonged to Ellwood City about a minute later. That’s when Joseph Roth’s 3 from the left corner put Ellwood City ahead 52-51.

“We’ve got to give these guys credit, they played really well,” Mancuso said. “They hit big shots after big shots — 3s especially. When we were making a comeback, they were hitting shots.”

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.

Tags: Avonworth, Ellwood City