BY JIM PENNA
PITTSBURGH — The Conemaugh Valleys boys basketball team had put together a spectacular season that often saw them start small but finishing big.
This time the early hole was too deep to dig out of, and the Jays fell 62-41 to Neshannock in PIAA Class A playoff action at North Hills High.
“This is going to sting for a while,” said Valley Coach Garry Lupek “We just had a night where the ball would not go through the rim. Twelve or even 14 points down in the fourth, this team can do it, but down by 20-something and we couldn’t hit a shot – it is just too much.”
The Jays had a chance early to take command but missed more than a few open looks from inside the paint. They still managed an 11-11 first quarter draw, however, thanks to a stifling inside defense of their own and balance on offense with all five starters scoring in the opening frame.
“That’s where it started to snowball to be honest. We should have had a lead there, a good lead. Instead we were struggling to stay even,” Lupek said.
Conemaugh Valley continued to struggle in the second quarter with missed shots and unforced errors only this time the Lancers started to solve the riddle of the Blue Jays defense.
Neshannock managed to rack up 21 points in the quarter led by Bob Nittinger’s seven points including his second
3-pointer of the frame to set the halftime deficit for the Jays at 29-20.
“We did a pretty good job on him (Nittinger) all night but the rest of the team managed points while we missed chances inside,” said Lupek.
The game was already on the line when the third frame began with Conemaugh Valley having not scored in the final five minutes of the first half.
The drought continued despite the frantic play of the Jays who needed three more minutes before finally scoring.
By the end of the third, Conemaugh Valley found itself trailing, 49-25.
“That is eight minutes,” Lupek said. “That is an entire quarter where we did not score a point. You don’t win playoff basketball without scoring for eight minutes. The effort was there. The boys ran the offense, worked hard, got good looks. I have just never seen a night where the ball refused to go through the hoop.”
Just as they had so many times before, the Jays came out pushing in the fourth, but once they whittled the Lancers’ lead down to 15, there just was not enough clock left to make a run.
Neshannock closed the deal by hitting seven free throws.
Lupek knew it was over before the buzzer sounded, but the extra time to prepare did not make his postgame talk to the Jays any easier.
“Well this is always the toughest part, the end of a season in a loss, especially for a team that did so much. I told them I was proud of the effort, of the dedication from them and their parents. It just wasn’t their night,” Lupek said.
Lupek said that Dalton Uncapher played the game despite suffering a broken hand.
Jason Preuss led the Jays with 20 points, and teammate Jimmy Lupek had 11.
