Peters Basketball player punched during game: P-G 2-19-12

WPIAL Boys Playoffs: Peters Twp. scores upset
Punches thrown; Woodland Hills loses
2/19/2012 12:22:00 AM
From local dispatches
Peters Township upset No. 4 seed Woodland Hills, 67-56, in a WPIAL Class AAAA first-round playoff game Saturday at California University, but the outcome of the game was not the big story.

Woodland Hills standout Shakim Alonzo was ejected for throwing an elbow in the fourth quarter and then punching Peters Township's Gabe Pritz in the head before being restrained by Woodland Hills coaches and administrators, as well as California University security.

"What I saw was a guy out of control and I'm going to leave it at that," Woodland Hills coach Mike Decker said. "I'm completely embarrassed by the situation. That's not the way I coach and that's not the image I want my team to portray."

Alonzo, a senior, is a University of Cincinnati football recruit.

The incident occurred with 3:38 remaining in the game and Peters Township holding a 52-44 lead.

After the punch, Peters Township's Trent McPherson was called for a technical foul for throwing the ball at a Woodland Hills player.

Pritz laid on the court bleeding from his ear for several minutes.

"I saw my player get blatantly hit with as cheap of a shot as I've ever seen," Peters Township coach Gary Goga said.

Pritz returned and finished with a game-high 30 points for the Indians (12-11), who rallied from an early 15-2 deficit.

Peters Township made 19 of 24 free throws in the fourth quarter and 26 of 31 for the game.

Woodland Hills (17-6), which was seeking its first playoff win since 1995, finished 4 of 9 from the line. Alonzo scored a team-high 15 points.

The playoff game began 45 minutes late after the Woodland Hills team bus mistakenly drove to IUP, instead of California.