Leechburg boys hand Jeannette its 1st section loss
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Saturday, January 20, 2018 | 10:19 PM
When Leechburg standout Christian Hack is being guarded closely, Blue Devils coach Corey Smith urges John Miskinis to pick up the slack.
That's what happened Saturday afternoon as Miskinis scored three crucial baskets in the fourth quarter as Leechburg handed Jeannette its first Section 1-AA loss of the season 47-42.
The tension-filled contest at Lewis Hicks Gym was postponed twice earlier this month because of inclement weather.
Miskinis finished with 16 points as the Blue Devils (9-4, 4-3) pulled to within 1½ games of the Jayhawks (9-2, 5-1) in the section race.
“John is coming along and stepping up big for us right now,” Smith said. “When they take Christian Hack away, he's our go-to guy. He accepted the challenge today, and he kept attacking the rim.”
Miskinis drove for one basket and took bounce passes in the key for the other two. The junior also assisted on a key basket by Jake Blumer.
“We just tried to run the clock down,” Miskinis said. “We were playing good defense and were running our sets over and over. They got lazy, and that opened passing lanes and lanes toward the hoop.”
Hack finished with 10 points but didn't score a field goal after the first quarter as he was blanketed by Jayhawks senior Robert Kennedy.
Leechburg only trailed for 4 minutes and 50 seconds, but the Jayhawks, ranked third in Class AA, kept the game close.
Jeannette's Anthony Johnson showed why he's one of the top players in the WPIAL, scoring 16 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.
The junior scored six points in fourth quarter, including the last Jeannette basket with 1:27 remaining.
“Anthony's the best player in the section, without any doubt,” Jayhawks coach Adrian Batts said. “But he can't do it by himself. Our shots weren't falling. When you want to win a WPIAL title, these things happen. You've got to find a way, and we didn't find a way today.”
For awhile, it looked like free-throw shooting might prevent a Leechburg win. The Blue Devils missed their first four free throws of the second half before Hack and Blumer hit a pair in the final minute.
“We've got to get better at that,” Smith said about his team's free-throw shooting. “We've been taking that seriously in practice. Not talking, not playing around on the foul line. A foul shot can win or lose a game for you.”
Blumer had eight rebounds for Leechburg.
Kennedy's only two baskets of the game were big ones in the fourth quarter.
Fans won't have to wait long for the rematch as the Blue Devils play Jan. 30 at Jeannette.
George Guido is a freelance writer.
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