Fifth-seeded Wilson defeated 12th-seeded Cedar Crest 50-41 in a District 3 Class 6A first round game Tuesday night at West Lawn.
The Bulldogs advance to play fourth-seeded Chambersburg (18-3) in the quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Friday at Chambersburg.
This was the Bulldogs’ second victory at home against the Falcons (17-8) this season, but this time, it was much more of a dogfight.
The Falcons immediately took control of the game in the first few minutes, gaining a 9-2 lead behind Isaac Wolfe’s five points.
Correll Akings and Madyx Gruber each knocked down a three-pointer to get the Bulldogs offense rolling at the end of the first quarter.
However, to start the second, the Falcons quickly scored five points on easy looks, taking a 16-8 lead, which led to head coach Matt Coldren to call a timeout for Wilson.
“I think it was a little bit about just waking up,” Coldren said of the slow start. “We had a call time out to yell at them a little bit. Like they’re great kids, but their personality is so laid back. They were like, ‘It’s all right.’ No, it’s not all right. But they did what they needed to do. They’re competitors, they’re a tight-knit group. I just think their togetherness got them back in the game.”
The timeout is exactly what the Bulldogs (21-5) needed to generate a comeback.
Akings hit his second three-pointer of the game off an assist by Tommy McFadden to get things going.
“Definitely pick up the pace, because we were very sluggish,” Akings said of what was said during the timeout. “We just needed to stay focused on what we need and know that our season is on the line tonight.”
Trailing 18-13 midway through the quarter, Akings stayed hot, knocking down his third three-pointer of the half.
“I had to rebound from Santander,” Akings said reflecting on his slower games last week in the BCIAA playoffs. “I know I didn’t perform the best, but as a confident player, I just had to leave that out of my mind and just come to play the game. No matter what.”
However, Akings’ three-pointer was quickly answered by the Falcons’ RJ Young on the next possession, giving them a 21-16 lead.
Unfortunately for Cedar Crest, that would be their final points of the half.
Bulldogs’ Cam Zullinger assisted Luke Levan and Gruber on back-to-back buckets to begin their run.
Then with 2:00 remaining, Gruber drove to the basket and was fouled in his shooting motion. Some extracurricular activities followed, resulting in a technical foul on Dylan Groff of Cedar Crest.
Gruber stepped up to the free-throw line to shoot four free throws and shot flawlessly.
After a Falcons turnover, the Bulldogs got the ball back and held on to possession passing the ball around for over a minute and a half.
“The kids didn’t want to (drain the clock), but in my thinking, they had the momentum in the first half, and that (taking the last shot) kind of shifted the momentum,” Coldren said of his decision to hold on to the ball. “We wanted to make sure that we left the half with the momentum going into halftime, and Madyx scored the shot with three seconds left, which was huge. So, yeah, we wanted to go for the last shot. I know a lot of people aren’t fans of it, but it was a bad first half, and we just wanted to get to halftime.
As time wound down, Gruber drove to the basket through traffic and finished with a left-handed layup from the right side, elevating over the 6-7 RJ Young.
The Bulldogs led 26-21 at halftime, a lead they maintained for the rest of the game.
The Falcons forced three turnovers in the third quarter, trimming their deficit to 34-31 going into the fourth.
Wolfe got the scoring started in the final quarter with a mid-range jumper, bringing his team within one.
Akings then hit his fourth three-pointer to silence the Cedar Crest crowd for the time being.
With under three minutes remaining, the Bulldogs led 42-36 looking to close the game out but Jackson Cluster knocked down a three-pointer to come within striking distance once again.
But McFadden responded with a three-pointer of his own, as the Falcons struggled to get a much-needed stop.
With just over a minute left and a 45-41 lead, the Bulldogs were sent to the foul line three times, converting 5-of-6 attempts and putting the game out of reach as the Falcons missed several opportunities.
“I thought we were really good at the foul line at the end of the game which was huge,” Coldren said. “We had seniors step up which is what you want your seniors to do at the end of the game.”
Gruber had a game-high 18 points. Akings had 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from deep.
For the Falcons, Wolfe had a team-high 14 points and Young had 10.
Wilson advances to the District 3 Class 6A quarterfinals and will travel to face four-seeded Chambersburg on Friday at 7 p.m.
The Trojans secured a 50-37 win over the Bulldogs on December 23rd in their first matchup.
“I think we’re a better team now,” Coldren said looking ahead to Chambersburg. “It was a tight game till about three or four minutes ago. We did some foolish things, but we’re going to be prepared. They’re a good team. They have a Division-I player (JJ Kelly, Ohio University commit) and you know, we’re gonna focus on him a little bit. But I think we’re a better team offensively and we’re gonna go down there and give them all kinds of fits.”
“Just come off strong at the start of the game like we did last time, and just show that we can play with them and just be confident in ourselves,” Akings said on what it’ll take to come out with a win.
Chambersburg beat 13th-seeded Carlisle, 66-46, on Tuesday night, in the first round. Chambersburg is led by JJ Kelly, a 6-6 guard/forward who is an Ohio University commit, who scored 26 points in the win over Carlisle.
Source: Berkshire mont
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