Fantastic finish: Wallace’s last-second 3-pointer lifts Red Raiders into PIAA semifinals
Rob Burchianti | 无毛视频-Standard
North Catholic无毛视频檚 Matt Ellery (hands up) can无毛视频檛 prevent Uniontown无毛视频檚 Bakari Wallace from launching a game-winning 3-pointer just before the final buzzer which gave the Red Raiders a dramatic 55-54 win in Friday night无毛视频檚 PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game at Charleroi High School.
Rob Burchianti | 无毛视频-Standard
Uniontown无毛视频檚 Bakari Wallace is mobbed by teammates as the Red Raiders, including K无毛视频橝drian McLee (4), celebrate their stunning 55-54 victory over North Catholic in Friday night无毛视频檚 PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game at Charleroi High School. McLee inbounded the ball on the final play which led to a pass from Calvin Winfrey III to Wallace who sank a game-winning 3-pointer as time expired.
Rob Burchianti | 无毛视频-Standard
Uniontown无毛视频檚 Jamire Braxton puts up a shot against North Catholic during Friday night无毛视频檚 PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game at Charleroi High School. Braxton scored a team-high 23 points in the Red Raiders无毛视频� 55-54 victory.
Rob Burchianti | 无毛视频-Standard
Uniontown fans celebrate at Charleroi High School after watching Bakari Wallace hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Red Raiders a dramatic 55-54 win over North Catholic in their PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game Friday night.
Uniontown's Calvin Winfrey puts up a driving shot against North Catholic during Friday night's PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game at Charleroi High School.
Uniontown's Levi Garner (11) scores between three North Catholic players during Friday night's PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game at Charleroi High School.
North Catholic's Max Rottman (24) defends Uniontown's Notorious Grooms聽during Friday night's PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game at Charleroi High School.
Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky directs his players during Friday night's PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game against North Catholic at Charleroi High School.
Uniontown's Calvin Winfrey III (2) dribbles the ball up court as North Catholic's Matt Ellery (5) defends during Friday night's PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game at Charleroi High School.
Rob Burchianti | 无毛视频-Standard
Uniontown无毛视频檚 Jamire Braxton hits a baseline jump shot over North Catholic无毛视频檚 Andrew Maddalon during Friday night无毛视频檚 PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game at Charleroi High School. Braxton scored a team-high 23 points in the Red Raiders无毛视频� 55-54 win.
Rob Burchianti | 无毛视频-Standard
Uniontown无毛视频檚 Bakari Wallace sets up to take the final shot after receiving a pass from Calvin Winfrey III during Friday night无毛视频檚 PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game against North Catholic at Charleroi High School. Wallace无毛视频檚 3-pointer went in to give the Red Raiders a dramatic 55-54 victory.
CHARLEROI 无毛视频� Bakari Wallace let go of the shot and everyone inside Charleroi High School followed its flight.
Uniontown trailed North Catholic by two points with 2.5 seconds left when K无毛视频橝drian McLee inbounded the ball to Calvin Winfrey III who took a couple dribbles and whipped a pass to the open Wallace who released an NBA-range 3-pointer.
无毛视频淲hen it left his hands it was nice and high and it looked good,无毛视频� Winfrey said.
无毛视频淚 thought, hey that无毛视频檚 got a good chance,无毛视频� Red Raiders coach Rob Kezmarsky said. 无毛视频淚t looked on target.无毛视频�
Wallace, on the other hand, wasn无毛视频檛 as confident.
无毛视频淚t wasn无毛视频檛 like I knew it was going in, not really,无毛视频� Wallace said. 无毛视频淚 just grabbed it and shot it and watched it like everybody else.无毛视频�
The ball descended through the hoop with a swish, giving the Red Raiders a dramatic 55-54 win in Friday night无毛视频檚 PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game, setting off an explosion from the large throng of Uniontown fans on hand.
Wallace simply stood still after the shot went in but was engulfed by his teammates seconds later.
The stunning win propelled the Red Raiders (23-5) into Monday无毛视频檚 PIAA semifinal game, also at Charleroi at 7 p.m., against Lincoln Park (28-1) with a berth in the state championship game on the line. The Leopards defeated Laure Highlands, 69-66.
Jamire Braxton sparked Uniontown with a team-high 23 points and Notorious Grooms followed with 10 points. Wallace wound up with seven points.
It looked like it would be North Catholic moving on to face Section 4 foe Lincoln Park in a rematch of the WPIAL final 无毛视频� won by the Leopards, 78-68 无毛视频� after Andrew Maddalon was fouled with 2.5 seconds left and calmly sank two free throws to break a 52-52 tie.
After two consecutive timeouts, Uniontown set up for a final play.
无毛视频淲e had K无毛视频橝drian taking it out,无毛视频� Kezmarsky explained. 无毛视频淲e ran 无毛视频�14 high.无毛视频� We had Jamire and Tori cutting to the basket and Bakari spotted up, Calvin saw him and gave him a perfect pass and the rest is history.无毛视频�
无毛视频淐oach told us don无毛视频檛 rush, it无毛视频檚 plenty of time, find the open man and knock the shot down,无毛视频� Winfrey said. 无毛视频淚 saw Bakari. They might无毛视频檝e been thinking he hadn无毛视频檛 scored much and left him open. A lot of times a guy having a bad game hits a big shot at the end. That无毛视频檚 what I was thinking when I threw him the ball.无毛视频�
Matt Ellery lunged at Wallace but couldn无毛视频檛 alter the senior无毛视频檚 clutch shot which spoiled what was a gutsy rally by the Trojans, who trailed by seven after a Braxton basket with about 5:30 left.
无毛视频淭hey无毛视频檙e talented, resilient kids,无毛视频� North Catholic coach Jim Rocco said of his squad.
North Catholic (21-8) whittled the gap to two on Maddalon无毛视频檚 layup and, after Braxton made one of two free throws with 2:49 remaining, Max Hurray tied it with the last of his six 3-pointers on the night 15 seconds later.
Braxton passed to Grooms for a layup to put Uniontown back up by two but Hurray, who ended up with a game-high 29 points, scored again to tie it with 1:48 remaining.
After securing the rebound from a missed Red Raiders shot with 1:28 left, North Catholic called timeout with 30 seconds on the clock to set up its offense. The Trojans took the clock under five seconds when Maddalon drove to the basket, was fouled and made the go-ahead free throws for the last of his 15 points.
无毛视频淥ur kids are really good at reading situations and Andrew read the situation and did what the situation dictated,无毛视频� Rocco said.
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 not about running plays, it无毛视频檚 the ability to adjust and think and learn and see what无毛视频檚 going on and do what you think is best in that moment and that无毛视频檚 exactly what Drew did. He无毛视频檚 just a super player and a super kid.无毛视频�
That only set the stage for the Red Raiders and Wallace, though.
无毛视频淲e did not play well at all, to Uniontown无毛视频檚 credit,无毛视频� Rocco said. 无毛视频淭hey attacked really well and 34 (Braxton) had a really good game.
无毛视频淲e had a little miscue at the end there, somebody got loose and he threw in a pretty amazing shot.无毛视频�
The game was drastically different than the first meeting between the two in the WPIAL quarterfinals when the Trojans rolled to a 20-point halftime lead on their way to a 73-58 victory.
无毛视频淲hen we lost to them the first time I knew we didn无毛视频檛 play our best game,无毛视频� Winfrey said. 无毛视频淲e studied them all week and were more ready for what they do this time.无毛视频�
无毛视频淲e changed some things around from the defense we played last time,无毛视频� Kezmarsky said. 无毛视频淲e picked them up more on the 3-point line and didn无毛视频檛 chase them.无毛视频�
Grooms sank back-to-back 3-pointers to give Uniontown an early 6-0 lead. North Catholic answered with a 10-2 run to go up by two but Winfrey无毛视频檚 basket made it 10-10 after one quarter.
There were four lead changes and one tie in a back-and-forth second quarter but three late 3-pointers by Hurray helped the Trojans take a 32-28 halftime lead.
The Red Raiders amped up their defense in the third quarter, limiting North Catholic to five points. Braxton scored the final eight of Uniontown无毛视频檚 12 points in the frame to give his team a 40-37 advantage.
Uniontown began the fourth quarter with a 7-3 run sparked by consecutive buckets by Levi Garner to go ahead 47-40 to set up the thrilling final minutes.
无毛视频淔or our kids to win a game like that with four underclassmen and Bakari starting is pretty special,无毛视频� Kezmarsky said. 无毛视频淲hat I always do with this group is thank them. I thanked them for getting us here, for getting me here.
无毛视频淚t was an exciting win. The kids kept their composure. North Catholic made some plays at the end but our kids just made one more.无毛视频�