Red Raiders celebrate senior night, finish 14-0 in section
Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky, with his team stepping up a classification and losing three key seniors to graduation, didn无毛视频檛 foresee the Red Raiders sweeping through Section 1-5A this season.
无毛视频淲e lost three high-level players (1,000-point scorer Jamire Braxton, K无毛视频橝drian McLee and Jeremiah Hager) and most people didn无毛视频檛 think we无毛视频檇 be able to run the table in the section at 5A,无毛视频� Kezmarsky said of his boys basketball team. 无毛视频淚 even said I thought the first-place team would end up with two or three losses.无毛视频�
That first place team is Uniontown and the Red Raiders did, indeed, romp to a 14-0 section record after rallying from an early 12-point deficit to defeat Franklin Regional, 73-54, on Senior Night at A.J. Everhart Memorial Gymnasium Friday.
Three of those seniors led the way for Uniontown. Calvin Winfrey III scored a game-high 24 points, Kelan Milsom followed close behind with 23 and Notorious Grooms added 19.
无毛视频淭o go 14-0 is a credit to our players,无毛视频� Kezmarsky said. 无毛视频淭he years that Calvin, Tori, Kelan and Isaac (Ellsworth) are having is amazing, and then you put our role players in there and they just complement the rest of them so well.无毛视频�
The Red Raiders, who had already wrapped up the 52nd section championship of the program无毛视频檚 storied history, finished the regular season with a 19-3 overall record and now await the WPIAL playoff pairings which are to be released Monday afternoon.
无毛视频淭he next playoff game we play will be the 16th for Tori and Calvin,无毛视频� Kezmarsky pointed out of his two 1,000-point scorers. 无毛视频淭hat无毛视频檚 a lot of postseason games.无毛视频�
Kezmarsky lauded his senior class which was honored before the game.
无毛视频淎ll seven are great kids,无毛视频� Kezmarsky said. 无毛视频淭hree of them have different roles but I couldn无毛视频檛 be more proud of each and every one of them.
无毛视频淚 wanted to start all seven but obviously you can无毛视频檛 do that so we started Trevor Uphold with our usual senior starters, Calvin, Tori, Kelan and Ayden (Kiefer) and then we put Gary (Smitley) and Leonard (Tucker) in early.无毛视频�
Milsom said the senior ceremonies made him realize his final year is winding down.
无毛视频淚t kind of hits you,无毛视频� Milsom said. 无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 a surreal feeling, kind of crazy, stepping out there on senior night.无毛视频�
The shuffling of the lineup had the Red Raiders out of sync early on.
Franklin Regional, thanks to two 3-pointers by Connor Crossey and a 3-pointer and three-point play by Jonah Johnston, shot out to an early 14-2 lead.
Uniontown answered with a nine-point run, seven of those by Grooms, but still ended the first quarter facing a 19-13 deficit.
The Red Raiders surged in front to stay in the second quarter. Grooms followed a 3-pointer with a fast-break layup to give Uniontown a 24-23 lead with 2:15 left in the half during a 14-2 burst that gave the hosts a 30-23 advantage and they went into intermission up 30-25.
无毛视频淚 told them not to panic, chip at and chip at it, take what the defense gives you,无毛视频� Kezmarsky said of his team无毛视频檚 comeback. 无毛视频淲e didn无毛视频檛 settle for our outside shooting. We drove to the basket. We had a lot of transition points, too.无毛视频�
Defense also keyed the turnaround, according to Milsom.
无毛视频淚t was just a matter of getting the defense going and that would lead our offense, which it did,无毛视频� Milsom said. 无毛视频淲e turned it up a notch and then once we got the lead I felt like we had the game under control.无毛视频�
Milsom made sure of that in the third quarter when he scored 11 points, including nine in a row for his team during an 18-4 run that put Uniontown comfortably ahead, 50-32.
无毛视频淜elan is always good but that无毛视频檚 just two great games in a row he无毛视频檚 had,无毛视频� Kezmarsky said. 无毛视频淜elan is our rebounder inside, he guards the other team无毛视频檚 best player, he scores for us, he hustles 无毛视频� he does everything for us.无毛视频�
无毛视频淚 always try to bring energy to the team and do everything I can to help us win,无毛视频� Milsom said.
The Red Raiders ended the third quarter up 52-37 and were never threatened again, leading by as much as 23 at one point.
Crossey led the way for the playoff-bound Panthers (6-8, 11-11) who also got 12 from Webber Rankin and 10 from Johnston.
Kezmarsky credited Franklin Regional and coach Jesse Reed for the season they无毛视频檝e had.
无毛视频淔ranklin had won four in a row and one of those was over Latrobe,无毛视频� Kezmarsky said. 无毛视频淛esse is a great coach. He had a really good team last year and everyone thought they lost so much and they无毛视频檒l be down and struggle. Well he has them back in the playoffs again.无毛视频�
Uniontown enters the postseason on an 11-game winning streak.
无毛视频淩ight now we无毛视频檙e going to focus on the playoffs, but this was a great night and it can also be emotional when you无毛视频檙e honoring your seniors, especially with what these kids have done,无毛视频� Kezmarsky said. 无毛视频淭hey无毛视频檝e had tremendous careers. They无毛视频檝e reached the WPIAL final four and played in the PIAA Western final two years ago when they were one win from the state championship game.无毛视频�
Uniontown无毛视频檚 senior class has an overall record of 65-14, including 42-4 in section play, and has won three section titles.
无毛视频淣ow we无毛视频檒l do everything in our power when we find out Monday who we play to keep it going as long as we can,无毛视频� Kezmarsky said. 无毛视频淲hoever we无毛视频檙e going to play we无毛视频檒l watch them so many times we无毛视频檒l be sick.
无毛视频淚 believe in these guys. I can promise you this, they无毛视频檒l leave it all on the floor.无毛视频�