Leechburg shrugs off slow start, puts Springdale’s playoff plans on hold

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, February 2, 2018 | 11:36 PM

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There's nothing like having another key player emerge for a team's stretch run.

At Leechburg, sophomore Connor McDermott, getting more playing time as the season moves on, scored 17 points as the Blue Devils defeated longtime rival Springdale, 61-44, on Friday night.

Leechburg used a 21-5 advantage in the third quarter to take control at Lewis Hicks Gym.

The Blue Devils (12-5, 7-4) solidified their hold on third place in Section 1-2A. Leechburg earlier clinched its 27th WPIAL playoff berth.

“He's our best shooter on the team,” Blue Devils coach Corey Smith said of McDermott. “It's funny. My (assistant) coach said he felt like Connor was going to have a big game tonight, and he did.”

Fourth-place Springdale (10-7, 5-5) is still in the postseason hunt. The magic number is one for the Dynamos. Any Springdale win or Greensburg Central Catholic loss puts the Dynamos in the postseason for the 33rd time.

Springdale led the entire first half and for the first 2½ minutes of the second half, jumping out to leads of 8-1 and 11-3.

Leechburg didn't register a field goal until McDermott hit a 3-pointer with 1 minute, 19 seconds left in the first quarter.

Christian Hack was held without a basket until the 4:47 mark of the second quarter. The senior hit a 3-pointer with 1:10 left in the half to pull Leechburg to within 22-21 at the intermission.

“We had half a JV team out there in the third period,” Springdale coach Seth Thompson said. “We got in foul trouble early and got in foul trouble badly. We had three players in foul trouble. When you're trying to play a good team on their court with three second-teamers, it generally doesn't work out.”

Two early offensive foul calls in the second half and Josh Harmon's third personal with 4 minutes, 9 seconds left in the third quarter helped open the door for the Leechburg surge.

“We were in our ‘32' defense, and we wanted to pick up the pace,” Smith said. “We wanted to play Leechburg ball and start trapping. We decided to run, make or miss, and not play Springdale ball, where they're trying to slow us down.”

John Miskinis had nine points and McDermott eight in the pivotal third quarter.

With Leechburg ahead 30-25, Miskinis drove into the key and picked up a foul while scoring. He converted on the three-point play with 3:27 left in the third quarter. Soon after, Hack stole a pass and drove the other way with Miskinis hitting on the put-back to give the Blue Devils a 40-26 lead.

“I always tell our guys the first three minutes of the third quarter is very important,” Smith said. “But it lasted tonight for the whole third quarter.”

Leechburg extended its lead to 20 late in the game before both coaches cleared their benches.

“The first-half pace was definitely helping us,” Thompson said. “This year, we've played fast. So it's not like we didn't want to, but we took ourselves out of it by fouling excessively.”

Springdale will face first-place Serra Catholic at home Tuesday before finishing Friday at Riverview.

Greensburg Central, one game behind Springdale at 4-6 in the section, has games left with Summit Academy and Jeannette. The Centurions are gunning for their 18th consecutive playoff berth.

Blumer had a big night on the boards for Leechburg, picking up 17 rebounds and scoring 13.

Hack had 12 points, and Miskinis added 11 points with four assists.

Dylan Zezza led Springdale with nine points, hitting a trio of 3-point shots.

George Guido is a freelance writer.

Tags: Leechburg, Springdale