McKeesport out-toughs Norwin boys basketball for victory

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, December 27, 2018 | 8:42 PM

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Coaches always talk about getting stops on the defensive end.

It can be the fuel that revs up a key run, turns control in a team’s favor or even decides the outcome of basketball games.

Norwin kept coming back Thursday against Class 5A No. 5 McKeesport, but the stops were limited as the Tigers attacked the basket with little resistance and turned away Norwin, 73-68, during the first day of the Penn-Trafford holiday tournament in Harrison City.

While it never led, Norwin (5-2) rallied from 16 down in the third quarter to trim the deficit to four (72-68) late in the fourth, but could not overtake the Tigers (5-2).

“We are nowhere near the satisfactory level of tough,” said Norwin coach Lynn Washowich, a McKeesport graduate. “We have to play tougher. We got pushed around and didn’t do anything to stop it.”

McKeesport had a 72-62 advantage with just more than a minute to play, but Norwin kept it tight. Sophomore forward Jayden Walker, who scored a career-high 28 points, made a free throw, and senior teammate Gianni Rizzo tipped in his miss on Walker’s second attempt to make it 72-65.

Sophomore guard Ty Bilinsky put back a rebound, and Walker made another foul shot to get the Knights within 72-68.

But Norwin could not finish its comeback as senior guard Logan Liebdzinski’s free throw was its final point.

Norwin shot 10 for 22 from the foul line. Walker, who scored 11 in the fourth, was 4 of 11 from the stripe.

Still, the crux of this loss was defensive lapses, giving the Tigers room to stretch out in the lane.

“We had to rebound, we couldn’t let them get to the rim so easily,” Washowich said, “and we couldn’t turn the ball over like we did.”

Junior 6-foot-5 do-it-all swingman Deomontae Diggs led the Tigers with 26 points, 10 in the third when McKeesport built a 53-37 advantage. He hit two 3s in the quarter and made four shots from 3 for the game.

Sophomore Brison Kisan’s bank shot at the third-quarter buzzer made it 55-45.

“We’re not a great shooting team so we wanted to get to the rim,” McKeesport coach Kevin Kovach said. “We were able to get inside and score on a lot of layups. Norwin is a tough team. I watched that sophomore class coming up since they were fifth-graders.”

Rizzo fouled out with 13 points, and Bilinsky scored 11.

Senior Justin Todd added 15 points for McKeesport, which played without senior guard Christian Moore, who was away on a family trip.

Senior guard Damon Hertzler left in the first half and was taken to a hospital with a possible concussion, Kovach said. Hertzler hit his head on the floor after taking a charge.

Walker had one of his best games, scoring on a number of high-percentage shots inside. But he needed more offensive help to push Norwin over the top.

“We had to go to a half-court matchup zone in the second half,” Kovach said. “Walker might have gone for 40.”

The round-robin tournament resumes Thursday with the McKeesport and Penn-Trafford girls at 1 p.m., Plum vs. Norwin boys at 2:30, Ringgold vs. Norwin girls at 4 and McKeesport vs. Penn-Trafford boys at 5:30.

Bill Beckner is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: McKeesport, Norwin