Van Dyne’s clutch shot lifts Pioneers over Avella
West Greene蘑菇视频 Ian Van Dyne takes a jump shot during Tuesday night蘑菇视频 game against Avella. Van Dyne scored 18 points, including the game-winning shot as time expired, in the Pioneers鈥� 70-69 victory. (Photo by Brooke Burchianti)
Brooke Burchianti
West Greene蘑菇视频 Casey Miller (33) contests a shot by Avella蘑菇视频 KJ Rush during Tuesday night蘑菇视频 game at West Greene.
Brooke Burchianti
West Greene蘑菇视频 Lane Allison takes a jump shot as Avella蘑菇视频 Westley Burchianti (front) and KJ Rush defend during the final seconds of Tuesday night蘑菇视频 game at West Greene. Allison missed the shot but Ian Van Dyne (24) was in position to grab the rebound and put in the game-winning basket as time expired to give the Pioneers a dramatic 70-69 victory.
West Greene蘑菇视频 Kaden Shields (12) gets off a shot as Avella蘑菇视频 Camden Georgetti defends during Tuesday night蘑菇视频 game at West Greene. (Photo by Brooke Burchianti)
ROGERSVILLE 鈥� Ian Van Dyne was in the right place at the right time.
That made for a happy ending for West Greene coach Jim Romanus and the Pioneers in their Section 2-A boys basketball battle with visiting Avella on Tuesday night.
Van Dyne蘑菇视频 offensive rebound and short jump shot just before the final buzzer gave West Greene a thrilling 70-69 victory over the Eagles.
鈥淭hat was obviously a big shot by Ian,鈥� Romanus said. 鈥淗e was in the right spot.
鈥淚 thought that both teams played hard enough to win and both played opportunistic also. We just got the last basket. That蘑菇视频 what it came down to.鈥�
Van Dyne wound up with 18 points and Corey Wise followed with 17 points, including four 3-pointers, for the Pioneers (2-3, 4-10).
The win puts West Greene in sole possession of fourth place in the section. The top four teams qualify for the WPIAL playoffs. The Pioneers are seeking to extend their school-record run of postseason appearances to seven.
West Greene rode nine points by Wise to an 18-12 advantage after the first quarter but Brandon Samol scored 10 of his game-high 23 points in the second to help the Eagles (0-4, 1-13) take a 33-25 halftime lead.
鈥淚 told the guys at halftime, because we were down eight, if we lose tonight we鈥檝e dug ourselves a huge hole in the section,鈥� Romanus said.
The Pioneers responded but cutting the gap to 53-49 by the end of the third quarter and then outscoring Avella 21-16 in the fourth to earn the win.
The tide shifted back and forth in the final minutes.
Lane Allison assisted on Nathan Reed蘑菇视频 layup to put West Greene up by three but Camden Georgetti hit the last of his three 3-pointers to pull the Eagles even at 68-68 with 1:32 remaining. Westley Burchianti made one of two free throws 22 seconds later to put Avella ahead 69-68.
The Pioneers turned the ball over on their next two possessions, the second coming when Burchianti tipped a pass that was saved from going out of bounds by Gavin Frank to Burchianti with 16 seconds left. West Greene then fouled Georgetti with 11 seconds on the clock but he missed both free throws and Wise gathered in the rebound to give the Pioneers one last chance.
As the clocked ticked down, Allison蘑菇视频 contested jump shot from the left side was off the mark but Van Dyne was in position to grab the rebound and put in the winning basket.
鈥淥ur kids kept battling and battling and battling, and that蘑菇视频 important,鈥� Romanus said.
Kaden Shields added nine points for West Greene and Patrick Durbin made a pair of 3-pointers in scoring eight points.
Georgetti and Rush followed Samol in the Avella scoring column with 13 points apiece and Burchianti contributed 10 points.
Romanus feels the battle for third and fourth in the section behind Bishop Canevin and Geibel Catholic could come down to the final game.
鈥淩eally, us, Avella, Propel (Montour) and Mapletown are about the same, except Avella has Samol, who蘑菇视频 a heck of a scorer, and Mapletown蘑菇视频 got (Landan) Stevenson, where we have to sort of spread it out all over offensively,鈥� Romanus said.
Nine different players scored for the Pioneers against the Eagles.
鈥淲e play a lot of young kids, including three freshmen, and it蘑菇视频 tough sometimes,鈥� Romanus said. 鈥淲e made enough plays to win tonight. I just thought it was a really good high school basketball game.鈥�