Uniontown stuns Berks Catholic with second-half surge
Trisha Uphold
Uniontown无毛视频檚 Notorious Grooms (00) passes to Tanner Uphold for a fast-break layup during Friday night无毛视频檚 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无毛视频檛 mind the long ride to Reading to play Berks Catholic on Friday night.
无毛视频淲hen you go on the bus for a four-and-a-hour trip it helps that our school made everything first class for us,无毛视频� 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.
无毛视频淲e无毛视频檇 drive 15 hours to win a game like that,无毛视频� Kezmarsky said. 无毛视频淭he kids are just so excited.无毛视频�
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无毛视频檚 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.
无毛视频淭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,无毛视频� Kezmarsky said.
无毛视频淭hat无毛视频檚 a very big win for our basketball program. It was an emotional win for us. Now we无毛视频檒l be playing our sixth playoff game.无毛视频�
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).
无毛视频淭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,无毛视频� Kezmarsky said.
无毛视频淐alvin did an excellent job. Tanner had his best game of the year. K无毛视频橝drian McLee and Levi both played really well as did Tori. It was a total team effort.无毛视频�
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.
无毛视频淲e had a good first quarter and then they made their run,无毛视频� Kezmarsky said. 无毛视频淭hey无毛视频檙e a really good team so we knew that无毛视频檇 be coming.无毛视频�
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无毛视频檚 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无毛视频檛 get closer than three the rest of the way as the Red Raiders rode their defense, ball handling and foul shooting to victory.
无毛视频淲e handled the ball so well, and we made our foul shots,无毛视频� Kezmarsky said. 无毛视频淭hat was the key.无毛视频�
While the Red Raiders stayed composed, the Saints were hit with two technical fouls in the second half 无毛视频� the first when a Berks Catholic player chest bumped Winfrey 无毛视频� 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.
无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 proud of our kids to be able to come here and come through in a game like this against a really good opponent,无毛视频� said Kezmarsky, who also appreciated all those who came to support his team.
无毛视频淲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.
无毛视频淚t was just a great night all the way around.无毛视频�