Highlands boys come together for section win over Burrell

By:
Friday, January 17, 2025 | 10:13 PM


Troy Bielak remembers being in the stands and being impressed with all of the creative tricks the great Highlands boys basketball teams used to get easy shots. The Golden Rams’ 6-foot-4 junior forward had that in mind when he called a play on the fly Friday night during a road Section 1-4A game at Burrell.

Bielak leapt up and tipped the ball back along the baseline to Carmine Lacava, who had a clear path for a layup during a third-quarter run. The Rams used their timely shot-making to beat the Buccaneers, 40-35.

“Actually, the players who came before us always did that,” Bielak said. “They showed us stuff we didn’t even know about. That’s one of their plays. We practiced it.”

Highlands, which started slowly after several players were removed from the team after an alleged hazing incident early in the season, have started to figure out how to play together. The Golden Rams (3-9, 2-4) have won back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Highlands coach Mike Foster said he trusts his players to make changes to plays when they see openings.

“They loved it when the old teams were doing it,” Foster said. “They called that play. They looked over and said ‘Coach’ and I said ‘Let’s go for it.’ They play for each other, it’s fantastic.”

Burrell (6-8, 3-4) beat Highlands, 44-32, earlier this season. The Buccaneers were stunted this time around by a tough shooting night. Burrell shot 15.8 percent (3 of 19) from the 3-point line.

Highlands guard Preston Foster, who scored 10 points, said the Golden Rams were focused on making sure Burrell didn’t get clean looks from the outside.

“At practice, we worked on no-help defense unless the guys were fully beat,” Preston Foster said. “We wanted to stay on the shooters the whole time.”

The Buccaneers also had a hard time getting to the free-throw line. Burrell didn’t attempt any in the first half and made 30 percent (3 of 10) attempts.

“We’ve been in these situations before,” Buccaneers coach Mike Fantuzzo said. “We preached there are going to be nights when the ball doesn’t go through the hoop, and we have to pick it up defensively. They outworked us in all aspects today.”

The Buccaneers led 18-14 at halftime. However, Highlands opened the second half by intercepting the first pass and Bielak went in for a layup.

“We fixed the wrong stuff and kept the right stuff going,” said Bielak, who finished with 10 points.

The teams traded the lead until Highlands made its move midway through the third quarter.

Bielak made a jumper to put Highlands ahead 22-21. It was the start of a 10-0 run for the Golden Rams that saw Burrell go six minutes without scoring. Gavy Orr led Burrell with 10 points.

Lacava, who finished with a game-high 12 points, saw Highlands dig in on defense to not allow the Buccaneers to surge back.

“We started playing together more and listened to our coaches,” Lacava said. “We didn’t want to get upset and wanted to play together.”

Burrell cut the lead to three points with less than 90 seconds remaining. However, a layup from Lacava pushed the lead back to five with 1:09 remaining.

“These guys have been battling since the start,” Mike Foster said. “They’ve been willing to do everything we ask of them. We try to put them in situations they are comfortable with.”

Tags: ,

More Basketball

Westmoreland H.S. athletes of the week: GCC’s Erica Gribble and Franklin Regional’s Max Firestine
Westmoreland County teams well-positioned for high seeds in WPIAL boys, girls basketball playoffs
As regular season wraps up, Penn Hills boys in position to reach goals
After 3 key section wins, Plum girls look ahead toward WPIAL playoffs
High school roundup for Feb. 7, 2025: Woodland Hills scoops up playoff spot in section finale