Uniontown stuns Berks Catholic with second-half surge
Trisha Uphold
Uniontown蘑菇视频 Notorious Grooms (00) passes to Tanner Uphold for a fast-break layup during Friday night蘑菇视频 PIAA Class AAAA playoff game at Berks Catholic.
Trisha Uphold
Uniontown fans cheer as the Red Raiders celebrate after their 81-69 victory at Berks Catholic in a PIAA Class AAAA playoff game Friday night.
Uniontown's (from left) Notorious Grooms, Bakari Wallace and Tanner Uphold wait for action to resume during Friday night's PIAA Class AAAA playoff game at Berks Catholic.
Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky didn鈥檛 mind the long ride to Reading to play Berks Catholic on Friday night.
鈥淲hen you go on the bus for a four-and-a-hour trip it helps that our school made everything first class for us,鈥� Kezmarsky said.
It also helps when the team comes up with a tremendous effort that results in a state playoff victory.
Calvin Winfrey III scored 23 points and the Red Raiders rode a strong second half to stun District 3 champion Berks Catholic, 81-69, in a PIAA Class AAAA first-round playoff game.
鈥淲e鈥檇 drive 15 hours to win a game like that,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淭he kids are just so excited.鈥�
Uniontown (21-5) used a balanced attack with five players scoring eight or more points to propel it into the second round of the state tournament. The Red Raiders will face Saturday蘑菇视频 winner between Littlestown and Lewisburg Area in the second round on Tuesday with the site and time to be determined.
The Saints end their season at 22-5.
鈥淭hey won their (district) championship at the Giant Center so if you can go into their home gym and beat them after that it says a lot about your team and what kind of kids we have,鈥� Kezmarsky said.
鈥淭hat蘑菇视频 a very big win for our basketball program. It was an emotional win for us. Now we鈥檒l be playing our sixth playoff game.鈥�
Following Winfrey, a sophomore, in scoring for Uniontown were senior Bakari Wallace (18), sophomore Notorious Grooms (12), junior Jamire Braxton (12) and senior Tanner Uphold (8).
鈥淭o win a game like that with four underclassmen starting is great but all the four seniors (Wallace, Uphold, Levi Garner and Taevian Richardson) that played produced at different times,鈥� Kezmarsky said.
鈥淐alvin did an excellent job. Tanner had his best game of the year. K鈥橝drian McLee and Levi both played really well as did Tori. It was a total team effort.鈥�
Winfrey scored nine points in the first quarter to help the Red Raiders take a 21-14 lead but the Saints outscored Uniontown 22-12 in the second and went into the locker room up 36-33.
鈥淲e had a good first quarter and then they made their run,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e a really good team so we knew that鈥檇 be coming.鈥�
The Red Raiders surged ahead with a 13-2 run early in the third quarter and remained in front the rest of the way.
Winfrey started the spurt with a game-tying 3-pointer and then hit a free throw to put Uniontown up for good, 37-36. Uphold scored with an offensive rebound to make it 39-36, and Grooms assisted on baskets by McLee and Wallace to put the visitors ahead 43-36.
Jaxon Geddio蘑菇视频 layup finally got Berks Catholic on the board in the third quarter but Uphold answered with a 3-pointer to give the Red Raiders a 46-38 advantage.
Uniontown took a 51-46 lead into the fourth quarter and the Saints couldn鈥檛 get closer than three the rest of the way as the Red Raiders rode their defense, ball handling and foul shooting to victory.
鈥淲e handled the ball so well, and we made our foul shots,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淭hat was the key.鈥�
While the Red Raiders stayed composed, the Saints were hit with two technical fouls in the second half 鈥� the first when a Berks Catholic player chest bumped Winfrey 鈥� which proved costly.
Uniontown converted 16 of 21 free throws in the final frame as Winfrey was five of six, Wallace was four of five, Braxton was three of four and Grooms was four of six.
The Red Raiders led 74-69 when Wallace, who scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, was fouled with 34 seconds left and the Saints were also hit with their second technical foul.
Wallace shot all four free throws, sinking three for a 77-69 lead that made it a three-possession game and all but sealed the win for Uniontown.
Berks Catholic was led by Ryan Koch who scored a game-high 25 points. Josiah Jordan had 13 and Josh McCoy added 10.
鈥淚鈥檓 proud of our kids to be able to come here and come through in a game like this against a really good opponent,鈥� said Kezmarsky, who also appreciated all those who came to support his team.
鈥淲e had a great group of fans that made the trip and they made their presence felt, and the cheerleaders went, too, so it was so nice to have them there as well.
鈥淚t was just a great night all the way around.鈥�