New Castle boys hand Quaker Valley 1st loss, win WPIAL Class 4A title

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, March 3, 2018 | 3:30 PM

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New Castle boys basketball coach Ralph Blundo said all five of his WPIAL title teams are special.

But this year's team is special because of how far it has come.

The Red Hurricanes won their 12th WPIAL title with a 57-52 victory over previously undefeated Quaker Valley on Saturday afternoon at Petersen Events Center.

New Castle never trailed as Lorenzo Gardner scored 15 points and dished out 10 assists. Marcus Hooker scored 12 and collected 15 rebounds.

“We were so, so bad at the beginning of the year,” Blundo said. “Quaker Valley was so seasoned and so polished. It's where we've come to where we are today. It's just a gritty, tough group of kids.”

Both teams will open PIAA tournament play Friday against District 10 schools at sites and times to be determined.

New Castle (21-4), which won its first WPIAL crown in 1927, will play Fort LeBoeuf.

The Quakers (23-1), going for the second WPIAL title in school history, lost to the Red Hurricanes for the second consecutive season. Quaker Valley will play Grove City.

“I thought New Castle did a really good job of taking us out of our rhythm,” Quakers coach Mike Mastroianni said. “As long as they could shorten the game, they had an opportunity to win.”

Gardner and Georgie Eggleston set the tone with steals and scores in the first five minutes.

New Castle extended its lead to 21-14 with 4 minutes, 16 seconds left in the half and to 35-22 on a banker by Cahlil Dorman with 4:26 to go in the third quarter.

A key factor Saturday was rebounding disparity. The Red Hurricanes controlled the boards, 40-19.

“Everyone on our team was thinking about how badly we wanted the ball,” Hooker said. “We didn't want the ball to get into their hands, so we kept fighting on the boards.”

While the Quakers were trying to come back, Drexel recruit Coltrane Washington picked up his third personal foul, two were for player control.

“Coltrane's third foul cut the rhythm off for us again,” Mastroianni said. “I thought them keeping us off-balanced in the first half kept them in the game. As bad as we played, we were still in the game.”

The Quakers ended the third quarter scoring five points in 5.9 seconds. Ricky Guss converted a basket and a free throw. After a New Castle turnover, Washington rattled home a basket at the buzzer to cut the Red Hurricanes lead to 43-36.

That was important because Quaker Valley got the ball to start the fourth quarter, and Ryan Stowers hit a jumper to narrow the New Castle lead to five.

Washington stole an inbounds pass to slice the Quakers deficit to 49-46 with 3:05 left. After Gardner slipped in the forecourt, Washington tallied on a reverse layup to bring Quaker Valley within a point a 51-50 with 1:16 left.

A putback by Eggleston — made it 53-50. Stowers tried to tie it, but Carrington Smith corralled the 40th and most important rebound for New Castle.

“We have tough kids who care about what they're doing and care about their community and the name on the front of their shirts,” Blundo said. “Maybe we're not the greatest team to win a WPIAL championship but, together, we're pretty good.”

Quaker Valley defeated New Castle twice during the regular season. If both schools win their first two PIAA games, there would be a postseason rematch March 16.

George Guido is a freelance writer.

Tags: New Castle, Quaker Valley