Brandywine Heights made two field goals in the first half and trailed by 15 points in the third quarter Monday night at New Schaefferstown.
Yet the Bullets rallied and pulled within one of Tulpehocken in the final two minutes, thanks to freshman Jayden Kantner.
“I knew we were going to stay strong,” Trojans senior Bryce Mellen said. “We’re a tough team. We had to get back on our feet. We woke up. We got hungry.”
Mellen took matters into his own hands. He drove for a basket and made two free throws to help third-seeded Tulpehocken hold off sixth-seeded Brandywine Heights 48-44 in a District 3 Class 3A quarterfinal.
The Trojans (18-5) advanced to the semifinals after their third win in as many games over the Bullets (7-16) and will play at No. 2 York Catholic Thursday night at 7
Mellen and guard Nolan Sweitzer scored the final seven points for Tulpehocken, which withstood a career-high 21 points by Kantner.
“Bryce always steps up when he needs to,” Trojans coach J.D. Ricapito said. “It’s great to have a senior captain like that. It’s great to have a player like that who feels he can put the team on his back.”
Tulpehocken built a 24-9 lead midway through the third quarter before Kantner single-handedly rallied Brandywine. He scored all of his points in the second half, including a 3-pointer that cut the Trojans’ lead to 41-40 with 1:45 left.
“He went nuts,” Ricapito said. “He really went off. It was really hard to contain him. He was driving into three guys in the lane and still finishing. It was tough to stop him. We tried to get the ball out of his hands.”
Kantner had 13 points in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Bullets from seeing their season end.
“He’s had an up and down freshman season,” Brandywine coach Dave Moseley said, “but a lot of promising moments like that. He was confident with the ball in his hands. I’m looking forward to the next three years with him.”
Tulpehocken’s swarming defense produced a 12-1 lead after the first quarter and an 18-7 advantage at the half. The Trojans held Brandywine to 2-for-21 shooting in the first half, forced 12 turnovers and generally made life miserable for the Bullets.
Tulpehocken, however, struggled on offense, allowing Brandywine to stay in it. The Trojans made just 8-of-23 field goal attempts and committed nine turnovers.
“Our defense looked great in the first half,” Ricapito said. “I knew they would make adjustments. Our lack of depth hurt us a little bit. I did think it could have been a bigger gap. We did have a lull there when they came back.”
David Bednarczyk scored 10 of his 16 team-high points in the second half to help keep Tulpehocken ahead. Brayden Erb had eight points off the bench, six in the second half.
“We just needed to stay strong, play hard defense and keep running our things,” Bednarczyk said. “We were too lackadaisical in the third quarter. We had to fight through it in the fourth quarter.”
This group of Trojans posted their first District 3 playoff win after losing their opener to Camp Hill last season. They need one win to qualify for the PIAA Tournament.
Mellen, a 1,000-point scorer, relished the moment after his last home game.
“This means a lot,” he said. “It means a lot to everyone. We had a lot of people here to support us.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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