1

A victory slipped through the New Castle High boys basketball team’s grasp Tuesday night.

Quaker Valley’s Adou Thiero hit a game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game to overtime. The visitors then scored all five points in the extra period to post a 79-74 WPIAL Section 2-4A win over the Red Hurricane at the Ne-Ca-Hi Field House.

“A ball fake got us off our feet,” New Castle coach Ralph Blundo said of Thiero’s shot. “They reset and knocked down a clean look.

“We didn’t execute very well. We’re not going to foul there on a baseline play out of bounds. You risk fouling a 3-point shooter in that situation.”

The loss pushes New Castle (6-3 section, 11-6 overall) into a tie with the Quakers (6-3, 12-5) for third place. Quaker Valley swept the season series.

Boys basketball | Quaker Valley at New Castle

1 of 17

New Castle's Michael Graham goes up for a layup during a home game against Quaker Valley.

• Ambridge (7-2, 11-5) and Blackhawk (7-2, 7-9) are tied for first place. The ‘Canes won the first meeting with the Bridgers and own a season split with the Cougars.

“For us, it’s about the end game,” Blundo said of the section race. “We’re trying to get better.

“If we win the section, we win the section. We want to clinch a playoff berth and have a shot at winning a WPIAL championship.”

The ‘Canes have lost five straight regular-season meetings with the Quakers. However, New Castle has defeated Quaker Valley three straight times for the WPIAL championship.

“They just played better to beat us,” Blundo said of the regular season losses. “Every time we play them we try to beat them.

“They came into our place and beat us. As hard as that is to take, we have to respond to it. We have another game on Friday.”

Markus Frank put Quaker Valley up 71-70 with a pair of foul shots with 1:15 to go in regulation.

The ‘Canes had a chance for the lead on their next possession, but fired up an errant 3-pointer and the Quakers corralled the carom.

New Castle’s Donny Cade fouled out with 38.3 seconds left in regulation, sending Jack Gardinier to the line. Gardinier missed the front-end and the ‘Canes’ Michael Wells pulled down the rebound.

Wells drove down and made a basket off the glass for a 72-71 lead with just 28 ticks left.

Coming out of a timeout, Sheldon Cox got a steal and was fouled with 9.7 seconds remaining. He made both foul shots for a 74-71 New Castle lead.

Cox blocked a shot on the other end with five seconds remaining and the ball trickled out of bounds with 4.5 ticks to go. The ‘Canes’ Isaiah Boice deflected the inbound pass, bringing the clock to 3.9 left.

Quaker Valley got the ball in and fed Thiero, who drained a trifecta as the buzzer sounded, knotting the count at 74.

Cox won the overtime tip and Michael Graham held the ball near midcourt until close to 2:45, when he looked for a teammate to get the ball to.

Cox fired up an errant shot with 2:30 remaining and the score still tied at 74. Quaker Valley secured the rebound.

“(Quakers coach Mike Mastroianni) went into a diamond-and-one on Michael Wells,” Blundo said of the start of overtime. “If he was going to do that, we were going to force them to come out and guard us.

“We had two opportunities and we just didn’t cash in. I’m proud of the effort.”

K.C. Johns dropped in a field goal with 1:45 to give the Quakers the lead for good at 76-74.

Cox missed a shot on the other end and Thiero split a pair of freebies with 26.7 seconds left.

Graham turned the ball over for the ‘Canes with 20 seconds left and Gardinier made two foul shots for Quaker Valley to close the scoring.

Cox launched a 3-pointer with less than 10 seconds to go that was off the mark. Frank grabbed the rebound and Quaker Valley ran out the clock.

Wells led the ‘Canes with 23 points and Cox was next with 22. Boice chipped in with 20. Cox made all six of his free-throw attempts.

“Sheldon was obviously just solid all night,” Blundo said. “He hit huge free throws all night and he rebounded the basketball; he just played a solid game and he lets the game to come him in a way that allows him to be efficient offensively.

“Boice and Wells did a lot right. They weren’t flawless, but that’s part of being young. You have to respect the plays they made in a big-time environment. Not all young players can do that.”

Thiero led all scorers with 29 points for Quaker Valley. 

The ‘Canes return to action at 7:30 p.m. Friday when they travel to Beaver (1-8, 5-12) for a section matchup.

“When you go on the road, it’s hard,” Blundo said. “For me, it’s about getting ready for Beaver, having a good practice on Wednesday and moving forward.”

 rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com