Mike Mastovich
The Tribune-Democrat
JOHNSTOWN —
The situation looked bleak for the Greater Johnstown all-star team after their Cambria-Somerset counterparts opened the fourth quarter on a 10-0 spurt to break open what had been a tie game in the third annual AmeriServ Senior Hoops Showcase.
But the Greater Johnstown squad maintained its composure after coach Garry Lupek of Conemaugh Valley called a timeout midway through the final quarter of Saturday’s boys contest at the Pitt-Johnstown Sports Center.
Suddenly, long-range bombs began to find the net for Greater Johnstown thanks to sharpshooters Josh Konar of Johnstown High and Jason Preuss of Conemaugh Valley.
The 10-point deficit gradually disappeared and Greater Johnstown came back to win 70-66 in a game that wasn’t really decided until the final possession.
“We knew we’d get hot,” said Preuss, who scored all 14 of his points in the second half – nine in the fourth quarter – while earning the boys MVP honor. “We finally caught fire. We were shooting bad the whole game. Finally we started making some shots and that got us back into it.
“We picked up the defense too. Playing full-court defense we picked up a couple steals.”
The game was tied at 11-all after one quarter, and Cambria-Somerset led 33-28 at intermission. Greater Johnstown evened the score at 48-all through three.
But Cambria-Somerset appeared to pull away early in the fourth quarter (the all-star game used 10-minute quarters).
Cambria-Somerset made it difficult inside thanks to Cambria Heights’ 6-foot-8 third-team all-state pick Ian Vescovi. The big center had
17 rebounds and an impressive eight blocked shots as well as nine points.
Penn Cambria’s Joe Dziabo, who is 6-6, had
12 points, and Shade’s Tyler Smith hit three 3-pointers and scored 15 points, all in the opening half.
“It’s not really a big man’s game in all-star games but it’s fun to get out with everyone and enjoy everything. It was a good day,” said Vescovi, who will enroll at UPJ next year. “It was fun being in front of everyone and playing where I’m going to be the next five years.”
The Greater Johnstown team also had a balanced attack. Johnstown High’s Quayshawn Thompson had 15 rebounds as well as nine points and one blocked shot.
“We just buckled down on defense and played as a team,” Thompson said of the late comeback. “We came together and got the job done.”
Thompson made his presence felt in the paint against the bigger Cambria-Somerset squad.
“It was tough playing against him,” Thompson said of Vescovi. “He boxes out good. He’s got a big body so it's tough to get around him.”
Preuss and Konar didn’t have to get around the big guy once their long attempts started to fall. Konar had three 3-pointers among his 11 points. Preuss made two 3-pointers, and Johnstown High’s Richard Agurs had a pair of 3’s and netted 12 points. Conemaugh Valley’s Jimmy Lupek had 10 points, with one 3-pointer, while playing in his final game for his father and coach, Garry Lupek.
“We had to get our shots going,” said Preuss, who also had his final game with his father, Jim Preuss, the longtime Conemaugh Valley assistant coach. “They finally started falling. There were five minutes left and we were down by 10.
“Our shots started falling and we came out and won.”
Vescovi would have preferred to be on the winning side while playing for coach Jack Loya of North Star.
But the Heights senior appreciated the effort by both teams. “It was great competition,” Vescovi said.
“For the first three quarters and five minutes you don’t really care about winning but at the end you try your hardest and hope for the win. We came up a little bit short.”
