Burrell boys get unlikely additional residence recreation in PIAA playoffs – TribLIVE.com

By: Bill Hartlep
Sunday, March 3, 2024 | 6:06 PM
Burrell’s Tucker Bitar drives to the basket previous Deer Lakes’ Wayne Love Jr. and Nate Moore throughout the WPIAL Class 3A championship recreation on Friday, Mar. 1, 2024, at Petersen Occasions Middle.
Burrell’s Macky Bennis celebrates after hitting a 3-pointer in opposition to Deer Lakes throughout the WPIAL Class 3A championship recreation on Friday, Mar. 1, 2024, at Petersen Occasions Middle.
Burrell’s Joey Discello celebrates after scoring in opposition to Deer Lakes within the WPIAL Class 3A championship.
Burrell’s Macky Bennis drives to the basket previous Deer Lakes’ Nate Moore throughout the WPIAL Class 3A championship recreation Friday.
The Burrell scholar part cheers on the Bucs throughout the WPIAL Class 3A championship recreation in opposition to Deer Lakes on Friday, Mar. 1, 2024, at Petersen Occasions Middle.
It’s been practically a month since Burrell’s boys basketball staff performed a house recreation.
After their 58-44 win over rival Valley on Feb. 9, the Bucs had been anticipated to be highway warriors for the rest of the season.
Because the No. 11 seed for the WPIAL playoffs, they upset No. 6 Seton LaSalle, No. 3 Shady Side Academy and No. 2 Mohawk en path to reaching the Class 3A championship recreation.
Burrell battled to the very finish with top-seeded Deer Lakes however fell simply brief because the Lancers defended their title 55-49 on Friday at Petersen Occasions Middle.
By reaching that time, nonetheless, Burrell earned one other recreation on its residence ground for the beginning of the state playoffs.
The Bucs (16-9) will host District 6 third-place finisher Bishop Guilfoyle (23-4) at 1 p.m. Saturday within the PIAA first spherical.
“Nobody anticipated us to be right here. We had been right here on the very finish of the sport,” Burrell coach Mike Fantuzzo mentioned after the championship loss.
“Though we misplaced, we nonetheless have quite a lot of constructive issues to feed off of and a strong week to prepare for a state recreation at our place. We’ll come again on Monday. The motivation will nonetheless be there. There’s nonetheless extra work to do.”
Burrell is 7-1 on its residence court docket, the place it has leaned on a deep senior class and a number of other gifted scorers.
Senior guard Macky Bennis had 17 factors within the WPIAL finals. Fellow senior guard Joey Discello added 9 factors and three assists, and senior forwards Ryan Croushore and Esau King-Buchak mixed for 13 factors and 6 rebounds.
Bishop Guilfoyle is coming off a 72-58 win over Tyrone within the District 6 third-place recreation. Jude Haigh had 36 factors, and Trevor Rehm added 15 factors and 15 rebounds.
The winner of Girard (23-2) and Derry (15-7) awaits the winner within the second spherical. Burrell must attain the semifinals for a doable rematch with Deer Lakes.
Burrell misplaced twice to the Lancers throughout the common season, and the groups actually had some familiarity with each other Friday evening.
After taking part in to an 8-8 tie within the first quarter, Burrell pulled forward 17-8 by way of a 13-0 run. Deer Lakes counted that run, nonetheless, to take a 21-17 lead at halftime.
“I used to be thrilled,” Fantuzzo mentioned about Burrell’s begin to the sport. “We had some momentum. We had been performing some good issues, penetrating on them, ducking in and getting some layups. They made some changes and form of closed that off.”
The Bucs managed the tempo with half-court units and managed to maintain Deer Lakes from getting second-chance factors. That modified later within the first half, nonetheless.
“Within the first quarter we had been all proper, and we went on that 13-0 run,” Fantuzzo mentioned. “Then, they went on a 13-0 run and that tempo form of received away from us for that little time frame. It confirmed that wasn’t precisely what we wished to do at the moment.”
With these classes realized and loads of playoff expertise, the Bucs will attempt to keep it up their season in entrance of their residence followers Saturday afternoon.
Invoice Hartlep is the TribLive sports activities editor. A Pittsburgh native and Level Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, masking highschool sports activities. He held numerous enhancing roles earlier than assuming his present place in 2019. He may be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.
Tags: Burrell

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