Moon comes alive in 3rd quarter, races past Thomas Jefferson in Class 5A 2nd round

By: Liam Belan
Tuesday, March 10, 2026 | 11:38 PM

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There’s been something about the Moon basketball team and third-quarter success during the first two rounds of the PIAA Class 5A playoffs.

One game after the Tigers used a run in the third to pull away from Hershey, they blew an even game with Thomas Jefferson wide open Tuesday night en route to an 87-77 win.

“We started getting stops, and anytime we get stops, we usually get out in transition and the flow of the game starts to get going,” Moon coach Gino Palmosina said of the 14-0 scoring spurt. “We caught some in rhythm and drilled them. But yeah, that was probably the most pivotal part of the game.”

That might be putting it lightly.

The Jaguars went ahead 44-42 on a triple from Justin Fry when Moon suddenly made its move, forcing turnovers from TJ and turning them into offense. For the next few possessions, the Jaguars couldn’t get out of their own way, and the Tigers couldn’t miss. Ultimately, the run decided the game and sent Thomas Jefferson home for good.

“They had that run. We turned the ball over, and they were live-ball turnovers, and that killed us,” TJ coach Dom DeCicco said. “They went up by 10. That put us in a deep hole, and they’re too good at the guard position to try and trap. So that’s why I thought we lost.

“Listen, I couldn’t be prouder of a group. They had the most wins in school history. They went 4-2 in the playoffs, WPIAL finalists, 12-0 in the section. We only had four seniors, but I told them that they set a really high bar for next year.”

Those four seniors, Nick Trklja, Josh Gardiner, Brady Kraus and Jeff Raible, anchored a strong group for the Jaguars. Thomas Jefferson finished the season with a 24-4 record.

“Josh, he’s come such a long way,” DeCicco said. “He ran my point last year and this year. He struggled at times last year, but he got better and better. I just thought he did a great job. Jeffrey Raible off the bench, he’s our energy guy. Brady’s been in the program forever, and he would always get the ball to the right people and defend people. Nick’s obviously been tremendous over his whole career here.”

Justin Fry led TJ with 30 points while Trklja scored 21 and Kane Eggerton added 15 more.

As for Moon (22-5), it will move on to play District 3 champion West York, which defeated Penn Hills, 56-42, on Tuesday night. Brody Bauman led all scorers with 28 points while Caden Kopay had 19, Jackson Bauman scored 18 and AJ Buford chipped in 11.

“(Brody was) special tonight,” Palmosina said. “When they got hot, he was the answer. His brother (Jackson) gets a lot of the attention, and rightfully so, but he was big tonight.”

Brody Bauman put the Tigers ahead by one early in the third quarter before Fry fired back with a 3-pointer to put Thomas Jefferson up 44-42. From there, it was all Moon the rest of the way.

Kopay started the scoring run for the victors, sinking two free throws and then drilling a triple to give the Tigers a lead. After Buford made a layup, Jackson Bauman finished a strong take and connected from beyond the arc to suddenly put Moon ahead 54-44. Jackson Bauman came alive in the second half with 17 of his 18 points coming in the final two frames.

One more turnover from TJ led to a layup from Brody Bauman, and the Tigers found themselves up 56-44.

Eggerton stopped the bleeding for the Jaguars with a free throw, but Caleb Waclawski and Brody Bauman added four more points before Eggerton nailed another jumper for TJ. Eggerton started the night hot offensively but slowed down a bit when he picked up his third foul midway through the second quarter.

The two sides traded points over the rest of the quarter to make the score 64-52 in favor of Moon entering the final frame.

Trklja and Gardiner scored four of the first six points in the fourth quarter to cut TJ’s deficit to 10, but it never got closer than that.

Trklja and Fry began trading points with the Bauman brothers as the four combined for 20 of the next 24 points. Once Fry made two free throws, he brought the score to 79-66.

Kopay, Brody and Jackson Bauman and Buford got on the board for the Tigers the rest of the way while Fry, Trklja, Eggerton and Gardiner did the same for the Jaguars. Gardiner finished off the scoring at 87-71 with a tough runner.

Tags: Moon, Thomas Jefferson