Imposing their will: Gators take charge early, roll past Eagles, 70-33
Photos: Rob Burchianti | 无毛视频-Standard
Geibel Catholic无毛视频檚 Tre White puts up a shot as Avella无毛视频檚 Colton Burchianti defends during Friday night无毛视频檚 WPIAL Class A playoff game at Charleroi. White scored a game-high 25 points in the Gators无毛视频� 70-33 win.
Rob Burchianti | 无毛视频-Standard
Geibel Catholic无毛视频檚 Jaydis Kennedy brings the ball upcourt as Avella无毛视频檚 Westley Burchianti defends during Friday night无毛视频檚 WPIAL Class A playoff game at Charleroi. Kennedy scored 18 points in the Gators无毛视频� 70-33 win. Burchianti led the Eagles with 22 points.
Rob Burchianti | 无毛视频-Standard
Geibel Catholic无毛视频檚 Jeffrey Johnson (5) scores the first basket of the second half against Avella during Friday night无毛视频檚 WPIAL Class A playoff game at Charleroi. Johnson scored 15 points in the Gators无毛视频� 70-33 win.
Geibel Catholic coach Don Porter talks to his players during a timeout in Friday night's WPIAL Class A playoff game against Avella at Charleroi.
Geibel Catholic's Jaydis Kennedy (3) scores two of his 18 points in front of Avella's Bryce Wright (1) during Friday night's WPIAL Class A playoff game at Charleroi.
CHARLEROI 无毛视频� Don Porter made it clear to his fourth-seeded Geibel Catholic boys basketball team not to look past the first round of the playoffs.
The Gators listened to their coach and took care of business against No. 13 Avella on Friday night, riding their three big guns 无毛视频� Jaydis Kennedy, Tre White and Jeffrey Johnson 无毛视频� to a convincing 70-33 victory at Charleroi Area High School.
无毛视频淭hat无毛视频檚 the whole thing, this is their Super Bowl,无毛视频� Porter said of the Eagles. 无毛视频淚f they can knock us off, even if they didn无毛视频檛 win another game, their season was complete.无毛视频�
Geibel (16-6), the Section 2-A co-champions along with Monessen, extended its winning streak to 14 games and advanced to Wednesday无毛视频檚 quarterfinals when it will play No. 5 Neighborhood Academy, which defeated No. 12 Mapletown, 70-41, also at Charleroi.
The Gators defeated the Bulldogs, 70-61, at Geibel on Jan. 21.
无毛视频淚t should be a fun game,无毛视频� Porter said. 无毛视频淲e无毛视频檙e going to take a day off, get back in the gym Sunday, get working Sunday, Monday, Tuesday.无毛视频�
The Gators went to work right from the start against Avella (6-17), imposing their will in exploding to a 16-4 lead. They stayed in command the rest of the game.
White led the way with a game-high 25 points. Kennedy and Johnson followed with 18 and 15 points, respectively.
Geibel dominated the offensive boards.
无毛视频淲e did get a lot of second-chance points,无毛视频� Porter said.
Porter assessed that Avella was using a box-and-one defense, focusing on slowing down Kennedy.
无毛视频淧eople have to understand Geibel Catholic is more than Jaydis Kennedy,无毛视频� Porter said in reference to the WPIAL无毛视频檚 third-leading scorer. 无毛视频淚 mean, Jeffrey Johnson, Tre White, the surrounding cast, they can also do things. I looked at halftime and we were pretty well balanced in the scoring column. You don无毛视频檛 want to rely too much on your big horse to have to always score 40 to win.无毛视频�
Geibel led 21-6 after the first quarter and was up 50-13 at halftime. The Eagles showed some fight in the third quarter, outscoring the Gators 17-13 but that still left Avella down 63-30.
Westley Burchianti was a bright spot for the Eagles, hitting a pair of 3-pointers in scoring a team-high 22 points. The junior had nine in the first half, including all seven of the Eagles无毛视频� second-quarter points, and put up 11 in the third quarter.
无毛视频淲estley played his heart out like he always does,无毛视频� Avella coach Mike Macik said. 无毛视频淗is brother does, too.无毛视频�
Senior Colton Burchianti played in his final game and drew praise from his coach.
无毛视频淲e无毛视频檒l miss Colton as a leader,无毛视频� Macik said. 无毛视频淗e brings it every day in a different way. He talks to everybody. He无毛视频檚 a perfect senior. He无毛视频檒l be tough to replace.无毛视频�
Macik, who also commended seniors Ryan Marker and Gavin Frank, was happy to see his youthful team get a taste of the postseason.
无毛视频淲e thought it would be good experience for our team and show them where we want to be,无毛视频� said Macik whose rotation includes five freshmen and two sophomores. 无毛视频淲e无毛视频檝e got to put in the work and the time and then I think there无毛视频檚 potential for that to happen.无毛视频�
Bryce Wright was Avella无毛视频檚 second-leading scorer with three points on one 3-pointer.
Macik, whose team finished in a tie for fourth place in Section 1-A behind second-seeded Union and third-seeded Carlynton, puts the Gators in the same category.
无毛视频淭hey can play with them,无毛视频� Macik said. 无毛视频淭hey无毛视频檝e got three really good players. They were very tough for us to match-up with. We like to play man but we couldn无毛视频檛 really play man against them so we tried a few other defenses but they still got into the paint and they still beat us down the court.无毛视频�
The biggest cheer of the fourth quarter came when Porter inserted Geibel fan-favorite Zander Zimmerman into the lineup.
无毛视频淥ur practice players are important to us, too,无毛视频� Porter said. 无毛视频淭hat无毛视频檚 what championship teams are about, family and bonding.无毛视频�