Westmont vs Beaver Falls
-
THE CHOPS
- Official BleacherCoach
- Posts: 1900
- Joined: October 24th, 2003, 10:42 am
- Location: SCOTTDALE, PA.
Re: Westmont vs Beaver Falls
First Westmont loss ends chase for a P.I.A.A. Boys crown........
BY CORY ISENBERG
The Tribune-Democrat
PITTSBURGH — The Westmont Hilltop boys knew their dream season might end at any time, but were hoping it wouldn’t be for four more games.
Unfortunately for the Hilltoppers, Beaver Falls issued the premature wake-up call, in a physical, come-from-behind 80-72 victory Wednesday night in a PIAA Class (AA) second-round battle at the A. J. Palumbo Center on the campus of Duquesne University.
“We handled them for three and a half quarters, but that sort of physical play just starts to wear you down,” Westmont coach Dave Roman Jr. said. “For 26 or 27 minutes we handled it, but a couple turnovers lead to layups and they got ahead of us. This loss is going to hurt for a while, but when they look back at their senior year, they are just going to say ‘wow’. They are going to have a lot of great memories.”
District #6 champion Westmont, which finished the season 29-1 received 19 points each from Joey Stephenson and Joe Balog. The Hilltoppers’ David Young had nine points and six rebounds, with Zack Trotz and Nick Khuri each adding eight points.
“They wore us out, we were tired and our shots weren’t falling at the end,” Stephenson said. “We don’t usually get much respect in the state, but we set the standard this year. We hung with a W.P.I.A.L. program. There’s nothing to be ashamed of for us. We’re not so sad that we lost as we are that we won’t get to play together anymore. We’ve been doing that for so long, we’ll miss that. We’re not only friends on the court but off the court as well.”
Westmont led for nearly 3-1/2 quarters, moving ahead 10-9 at the 4:42 mark in the first quarter on a Jordan DeMarco basket. The Hilltoppers ended the stanza with a 22-15 advantage.
The District #7-4 Tigers, on the strength of "12" points from sophomore Todd Thomas, pulled to within five, 45-40, at the half.
“We knew we could stay with them, but it was a matter of not letting their athleticism get to us,” Westmont senior guard Adam Watson said. “In the end it did.”
Westmont built its greatest lead, 10 points, on a Young basket at the 6:08 mark and again 61-51 with 49.6 seconds left, heading into the fourth with a 62-57 advantage.
The Hilltoppers began to run out of gas as the fourth quarter started.
The Tigers drew even at 64 on a conventional three-point play at the 5:59 mark by Thomas, who finished with a game-high 33 points and added eight rebounds.
A 3-pointer by David Phillips 30 seconds later put the Tigers ahead and they never trailed again. Phillips finished with 25 points for Beaver Falls, which also got nine points from Kenny Cottman, including seven in the fourth quarter.
“That was kind of like a throwback game for us,” Tigers coach Doug Biega said. “We wore a team down and we haven’t done that for a while. I thought our defense in the first half was absolutely horrific and we gave up 27 points in the entire second half. You’re going to win a lot of playoff games doing that.
“I told our kids the 2007 Westmont team didn’t know how to lose so they weren’t going to lay down for us, we were going to have to beat them and it took us all 32 minutes, but we did it.”
Beaver Falls (21-9) will take on Aliquippa on Saturday in the quarterfinals.
BY CORY ISENBERG
The Tribune-Democrat
PITTSBURGH — The Westmont Hilltop boys knew their dream season might end at any time, but were hoping it wouldn’t be for four more games.
Unfortunately for the Hilltoppers, Beaver Falls issued the premature wake-up call, in a physical, come-from-behind 80-72 victory Wednesday night in a PIAA Class (AA) second-round battle at the A. J. Palumbo Center on the campus of Duquesne University.
“We handled them for three and a half quarters, but that sort of physical play just starts to wear you down,” Westmont coach Dave Roman Jr. said. “For 26 or 27 minutes we handled it, but a couple turnovers lead to layups and they got ahead of us. This loss is going to hurt for a while, but when they look back at their senior year, they are just going to say ‘wow’. They are going to have a lot of great memories.”
District #6 champion Westmont, which finished the season 29-1 received 19 points each from Joey Stephenson and Joe Balog. The Hilltoppers’ David Young had nine points and six rebounds, with Zack Trotz and Nick Khuri each adding eight points.
“They wore us out, we were tired and our shots weren’t falling at the end,” Stephenson said. “We don’t usually get much respect in the state, but we set the standard this year. We hung with a W.P.I.A.L. program. There’s nothing to be ashamed of for us. We’re not so sad that we lost as we are that we won’t get to play together anymore. We’ve been doing that for so long, we’ll miss that. We’re not only friends on the court but off the court as well.”
Westmont led for nearly 3-1/2 quarters, moving ahead 10-9 at the 4:42 mark in the first quarter on a Jordan DeMarco basket. The Hilltoppers ended the stanza with a 22-15 advantage.
The District #7-4 Tigers, on the strength of "12" points from sophomore Todd Thomas, pulled to within five, 45-40, at the half.
“We knew we could stay with them, but it was a matter of not letting their athleticism get to us,” Westmont senior guard Adam Watson said. “In the end it did.”
Westmont built its greatest lead, 10 points, on a Young basket at the 6:08 mark and again 61-51 with 49.6 seconds left, heading into the fourth with a 62-57 advantage.
The Hilltoppers began to run out of gas as the fourth quarter started.
The Tigers drew even at 64 on a conventional three-point play at the 5:59 mark by Thomas, who finished with a game-high 33 points and added eight rebounds.
A 3-pointer by David Phillips 30 seconds later put the Tigers ahead and they never trailed again. Phillips finished with 25 points for Beaver Falls, which also got nine points from Kenny Cottman, including seven in the fourth quarter.
“That was kind of like a throwback game for us,” Tigers coach Doug Biega said. “We wore a team down and we haven’t done that for a while. I thought our defense in the first half was absolutely horrific and we gave up 27 points in the entire second half. You’re going to win a lot of playoff games doing that.
“I told our kids the 2007 Westmont team didn’t know how to lose so they weren’t going to lay down for us, we were going to have to beat them and it took us all 32 minutes, but we did it.”
Beaver Falls (21-9) will take on Aliquippa on Saturday in the quarterfinals.
-
nrawhjtwnfhfan
- Senior
- Posts: 182
- Joined: March 16th, 2007, 8:19 pm
Re: Westmont vs Beaver Falls
Let us be realistic about hoops in the area this year. The L. H. was way down this year andWH was good but benefited from a down year. they nearly lost to Blairsville who was not nearly as good as they were last year as a single A school. And to hear the fans cry about sportsmanship of other programs - please - the first thing WH did was cry about handchecking when his team majored in it all year long - but they did not 'own' the officials against BF. And aliquipa beat BF by like 45 points in one of the 2 wins over bf this year. wh would have been murdered by Aliqup or Janette and probably the team from district 10 - just a bit of reality
-
Dokkenball
- Grad Assistant
- Posts: 229
- Joined: January 9th, 2007, 2:27 pm
-
nrawhjtwnfhfan
- Senior
- Posts: 182
- Joined: March 16th, 2007, 8:19 pm
Re: Westmont vs Beaver Falls
Listened to postgame with your coach. First thing he aired was a complaint of other area officials and how they let bf handcheck his kids and it took its toll.I saw wh several times - they got away with "hands on" more than any team in area.
-
THE CHOPS
- Official BleacherCoach
- Posts: 1900
- Joined: October 24th, 2003, 10:42 am
- Location: SCOTTDALE, PA.
Re: Westmont vs Beaver Falls
Well, There's three guys running the hard~wood floors, with ten guys playing. Weather or not there was hand checking. :roll:
It is irelevant to a good season posted by Westy... All good things come to an end, as do, not so good things :roll:
There can only be one winner in the State Finals. This year it happens to be Aliquippa {hands down}. Unless they stink up a game, I can't see anyone hanging with them..
Westmont's year was a very productive year. They had good shooting ability, which no doubt came from Dave Roman Sr's. expertise.
How do I know this ? Because they all have that pattented swing through motion when shooting the ball. Even the Westy girls have that same shot... This will take you the extra mile in close games....
Dave Roman Jr. is fairly good at teaching defenses & you put one & one together, you come up with a 29-1 season, regardless of hand checking or off~set court playing....
The thing I've stressed over the years is for District #5 /6 teams to play more W.P.I.A.L. teams in their regular scheduled season.
Why :?: because the W.P.I.A.L. plays a more up tempo game. Their more physical & can run the floor all night long. This in~hand, makes you a better team, come playoff time.
{If}, you learn this style of ball playing you'll be more prepared when time comes to square off with them.
The W.P.I.A.L. kinda laughs at our back~yard farm ball {as they call it }...
They look at us, as in the way of them getting to the finals...
Most W.P.I.A.L. teams don't even worry about the District #5 /6 teams very much, simply because they know they have that edge.. Until the District #5/6 teams start to get on the bus & take some traveling road shows off the mountain, they will always be just a little bit on the short side, come play-off time. Right ! W.P.I.A.L. Titan
THE CHOPS.....
It is irelevant to a good season posted by Westy... All good things come to an end, as do, not so good things :roll:
There can only be one winner in the State Finals. This year it happens to be Aliquippa {hands down}. Unless they stink up a game, I can't see anyone hanging with them..
Westmont's year was a very productive year. They had good shooting ability, which no doubt came from Dave Roman Sr's. expertise.
How do I know this ? Because they all have that pattented swing through motion when shooting the ball. Even the Westy girls have that same shot...
This will take you the extra mile in close games....Dave Roman Jr. is fairly good at teaching defenses & you put one & one together, you come up with a 29-1 season, regardless of hand checking or off~set court playing....
The thing I've stressed over the years is for District #5 /6 teams to play more W.P.I.A.L. teams in their regular scheduled season.
Why :?: because the W.P.I.A.L. plays a more up tempo game. Their more physical & can run the floor all night long. This in~hand, makes you a better team, come playoff time.
{If}, you learn this style of ball playing you'll be more prepared when time comes to square off with them.
The W.P.I.A.L. kinda laughs at our back~yard farm ball {as they call it }...
They look at us, as in the way of them getting to the finals...
Most W.P.I.A.L. teams don't even worry about the District #5 /6 teams very much, simply because they know they have that edge.. Until the District #5/6 teams start to get on the bus & take some traveling road shows off the mountain, they will always be just a little bit on the short side, come play-off time. Right ! W.P.I.A.L. Titan
THE CHOPS.....
-
Dokkenball
- Grad Assistant
- Posts: 229
- Joined: January 9th, 2007, 2:27 pm
I taped the radio broadcast for one of the parents and listened to parts of it again last night.
nra.....is definitely misquoting Coach Roman. In the post game interview, he said how proud he was of his kids coming to District 7 to play the 7-4 team even though his kids were district champions. He said the kids were excited about playing in the Palumbo Center. He said he was not going to make excuses because he said they expected the officials to be more liberal with the hand-checking and were able to battle through it for 3 and 1/2 quarters. He said the physical play and BF's athleticism took its tool.
nra.....is definitely misquoting Coach Roman. In the post game interview, he said how proud he was of his kids coming to District 7 to play the 7-4 team even though his kids were district champions. He said the kids were excited about playing in the Palumbo Center. He said he was not going to make excuses because he said they expected the officials to be more liberal with the hand-checking and were able to battle through it for 3 and 1/2 quarters. He said the physical play and BF's athleticism took its tool.
Re: Westmont vs Beaver Falls
[quote="nrawhjtwnfhfan";p="138040"]Let us be realistic about hoops in the area this year. The L. H. was way down this year andWH was good but benefited from a down year. they nearly lost to Blairsville who was not nearly as good as they were last year as a single A school. And to hear the fans cry about sportsmanship of other programs - please - the first thing WH did was cry about handchecking when his team majored in it all year long - but they did not 'own' the officials against BF. And aliquipa beat BF by like 45 points in one of the 2 wins over bf this year. wh would have been murdered by Aliqup or Janette and probably the team from district 10 - just a bit of reality[/quote]
Westmont had a great season, finished 29-1, won the LHAC and won District 6. This team will be talked about for years on the Hilltop. There's the reality.
Westmont had a great season, finished 29-1, won the LHAC and won District 6. This team will be talked about for years on the Hilltop. There's the reality.
-
sportsfan1000
- Official BleacherCoach
- Posts: 985
- Joined: October 22nd, 2006, 9:38 pm
-
WPIAL~Titan
- Official BleacherCoach
- Posts: 3837
- Joined: September 5th, 2003, 6:15 pm
- Location: Titan Town, PA
Re: Westmont vs Beaver Falls
Congrats Westy on a great season. 29-1 with multiple league and district championships is quite an accomplishment. Someday, the local basketball fans will appreciate how good this team was.
This Westy team was the real deal...They had excellent and highly skilled guards (in essence, they ran a 5 guard offense), ran superb motion offensive sets, were an very solid defensive team, and exceptionally well-coached.
Unfortunately, Westy ran into a BFalls team who they had to play zone against and it burned them. I knew Thomas would get his 30+, but the other kid who scored 25-28 points killed them with his outside shooting, which was somewhat unexpected. I still think Westy had a better TEAM than BFalls, but in the end, Thomas was too much. he was able to penetrate and score at will, even vs. a zone defense. This game was an example of a style of play and one superb player just wearing a team down.
Westy was the best AA team to come from District 5 or 6 in the last 10-15 years. In my opinion, they were better than the Windber team that went 29-1, better than the Windber team that blasted GJR, better than the '87 Windber team that went to Hershey, and better than any other team in D-6AA in recent memory.
Top to bottom, this happened to be one of the strongest years ever in western PA class AA boys' basketball. In most other years, Westy would've had a real shot to beat Quippa or whoever else was in AA.
I watched the class A western semi last night at North Hills HS (Kennedy vs. Serra) and Westy was double digits better than either of those two teams, IMHO.
WT
This Westy team was the real deal...They had excellent and highly skilled guards (in essence, they ran a 5 guard offense), ran superb motion offensive sets, were an very solid defensive team, and exceptionally well-coached.
Unfortunately, Westy ran into a BFalls team who they had to play zone against and it burned them. I knew Thomas would get his 30+, but the other kid who scored 25-28 points killed them with his outside shooting, which was somewhat unexpected. I still think Westy had a better TEAM than BFalls, but in the end, Thomas was too much. he was able to penetrate and score at will, even vs. a zone defense. This game was an example of a style of play and one superb player just wearing a team down.
Westy was the best AA team to come from District 5 or 6 in the last 10-15 years. In my opinion, they were better than the Windber team that went 29-1, better than the Windber team that blasted GJR, better than the '87 Windber team that went to Hershey, and better than any other team in D-6AA in recent memory.
Top to bottom, this happened to be one of the strongest years ever in western PA class AA boys' basketball. In most other years, Westy would've had a real shot to beat Quippa or whoever else was in AA.
I watched the class A western semi last night at North Hills HS (Kennedy vs. Serra) and Westy was double digits better than either of those two teams, IMHO.
WT
I respect your opinion but I have to disagree. Who for Westmont would stop Romanchok or Ryan? Also, those teams had defenders. When you have players like Romanchok and Ryan in the middle your guards can overplay the perimeter. Westmont has a good team but if you seriously look at the teams they played this year, it's not real impressive. Johnstown was down, losing 4 starters, Hollidaysburg was down losing 4 starters, McCort was down, losing Cruz and "Wadley", CC was good but didnt have 6'9" kid (and no bench). BF was good but down as far as BF goes. Blairsville is bad, but game them a game.
Also, the 1987 Windber team didn't have the 3 point shot, comparing apples and oranges there. Windber did have guys on that team that could shoot but without the 3 pt shot and Romanchok in the middle they didnt have to. I am not trying to be disrespectful by no means, I just think Westmont, was good, but the schedule was to their favor this year and they did only get to the second round.
Also, the 1987 Windber team didn't have the 3 point shot, comparing apples and oranges there. Windber did have guys on that team that could shoot but without the 3 pt shot and Romanchok in the middle they didnt have to. I am not trying to be disrespectful by no means, I just think Westmont, was good, but the schedule was to their favor this year and they did only get to the second round.