| 02/28/09 06:41 PM |
#7
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Russ Frederick
For All!
The following is from Friday's (2/27) Post-Gazette:
City League Boys' Championship: Perry shoots down Allderdice for crown
Friday, February 27, 2009
By Mike White, PIttsburgh Post-Gazette
Matt Freed/Post-GazettePerry players celebrate their City League title victory against Allderdice last night.Through three quarters, Perry made only 27 percent of its field-goal attempts. No problem.
The Commodores still got what they were shooting for -- a City League title.
Although Perry didn't shoot it well, the Commodores did some other things successfully and won the City League boys' basketball title last night with a 61-35 blowout of Allderdice at the Palumbo Center.
Perry's win means someone other than Schenley won the City championship for the first time since Perry won it in 2004. Schenley had won the past four.
And a couple of former stars from those Schenley teams were in the rafters at Palumbo for the changing of the guard. DeJuan Blair and Deandre Kane watched as Perry (21-4) kept Allderdice (20-5) from winning its first City championship since 1988.
"It certainly wasn't pretty," Perry coach Marco Corona said. "But what we do best is play defense, and I think that's what really turned it on for us. Sometimes, we don't shoot it too well. But we always, always play good defense."
Allderdice had 21 turnovers, many forced by Perry's pressure defense. Perry also hammered Allderdice on the boards, outrebounding the Dragons, 58-38. Hard to believe this was the same Allderdice team that beat Perry by two points in mid-January.
"I think we just wanted it more this time than the last time we played them," Perry senior forward Vaughn Morgan said.
Morgan certainly played like he wanted a championship as he scored 18 points, pulled down 17 rebounds, blocked 5 shots and threw down 4 dunks.
He outplayed Allderdice's 6-foot-6 Will Clarke, who scored 24 points against Perry in the previous meeting. This time, Clarke got into early foul trouble and finished with only six points and five rebounds. Ishmael Swain led Allderdice with 13 points.
"This time, I think we played with a lot more tenacity," Corona said. "We named drills after Will Clarke this week in practice because the last time we played them he killed us."
What also helped Perry was that while the Commodores did not shoot well, Allderdice shot worse. If Perry's shooting was bad, then Allderdice's was horrific. Perry finished shooting 38 percent (24 of 63). Allderdice shot 23 percent (14 of 61).
Allderdice was on the wrong end of the second-most lopsided City League final in the past 25 years. The Dragons also were on the wrong end of the worst, losing to Blair, Kane and Schenley, 82-46, in 2006.
Perry never trailed, jumping to a 14-2 lead with 4:58 left in the first quarter. Allderdice trailed at halftime, 29-16, but Clarke scored two baskets in the first four minutes of the second half and sliced the deficit to 31-24. But Andrew Forse had a four-point play (a 3-pointer and a free throw) to put the Commodores ahead by 11. Allderdice never recovered.
Perry also got 16 points from freshman guard Greg McGhee --"He's going to be our next stud," Corona said -- Darryl Harrington added 11 and Forse 10.
Both teams will compete in the PIAA playoffs next weekend. Allderdice will play in the Class AAAA bracket against the loser of the WPIAL final between Peters Township and Mt. Lebanon. Perry will play the Class AAA No. 4 team from the WPIAL -- Chartiers Valley or Moon.
GO COMMODORES!
On the web at:
http://www.pittsburghpostgazette.com/pg/09058/952052-361.stm
Russ Frederick
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