PT boys take foe's best punch, win on points: O-R 2-19-12

PT boys take foe's best punch, win on points

2/19/2012 3:32 AM

CALIFORNIA - They have been playing high school basketball in this corner of Pennsylvania for more than 100 years, but there has not been a playoff game in that span with all the interesting elements of the one Saturday afternoon between Peters Township and Woodland Hills at California University.
It started with a directionally challenged bus driver who took the Woodland Hills team to the wrong college campus - two counties away - resulting in a 46-minute delay before play began. After the lengthy wait, the game was stopped twice in the first two minutes, once for a malfunctioning scoreboard then for the college shot-clock buzzer sounding.

That, however, was nothing compared to the chaos of the fourth quarter. After Peters Township had forged an eight-point lead with less than four minutes left, Woodland Hills' Shakim Alonzo, a 6-5 senior, triggered a melee that left Peters Township's Gabe Pritz lying on the court for 10 minutes and bleeding from his left ear.

The fourth quarter alone included five technical fouls, two ejections and 24 free throws attempted by Peters Township.

Somehow, through all the delays and turmoil, Peters Township displayed enough poise and character to wipe away a double-digit first-half deficit and stun Woodland Hills, the Section 2 champion, 67-56, in a Class AAAA first-round game.

"What happened at the end doesn't take away anything from the win. This was a great team win," said PT coach Gary Goga.

The win sends Peters Township (12-11) to next weekend's quarterfinals against Central Catholic (13-10), a 70-44 winner over Hempfield. The Indians, however, will be without senior guard Trent McPherson, who was ejected for throwing the basketball at Alonzo during the fourth-quarter melee. As per WPIAL rules, players who are ejected must sit out their team's next game.

The contest turned ugly when, with Peters Township leading 52-44 and 3:38 remaining, Alonzo was called for an intentional foul away from the ball and immediately ejected.

"The referees said the initial ejection was for throwing an intentional elbow," Goga explained. "I'm not sure because I didn't have a clear line of vision on it."

Alonzo, a University of Cincinnati recruit, had to be restrained by his mother, who ran onto the court, and Woodland Hills head coach Mike Decker. Meanwhile, players from each team began going nose-to-nose at midcourt before the coaching staffs could attempt to restore order.

Alonzo then broke free of Decker's grasp, sprinted from near the foul line across midcourt and landed a punch to the side of the head of Pritz, who didn't see Alonzo approaching.

"It was a blatant sucker punch," Goga said. "One of the worst things I've seen. It was right in front of me. He got away from his coaches and ran up and punched my player in the side of the head. ... I saw him wind up, and Gabe had his back turned, of course, and (Alonzo) cheap-shotted him. That's what it was."

Pritz, a 6-5 junior who scored a game-high 30 points and was a thorn in the side of Woodland Hills all day, lay on the court for 10 minutes while being attended to by trainers. Pritz was bleeding from his left ear.

Meanwhile, Cal security and WPIAL officials cleared the court.

"I just saw a guy (Alonzo) out of control," Decker said. "I'm completely embarrassed. I talked to Gary and apologized. That's not how I coach or how my players are taught to play basketball. It's completely out of character for our team.

"I feel terrible for (Pritz). That's not the image that I want to portray, not only of my teams but also Woodland Hills. I don't know what else to say. I'm sick to my stomach over what happened and feel embarrassed. That's not who I am and who my teams are. ... Nothing good can come out of this."

Pritz, according to Goga, had cartilage torn from his ear by the punch. Pritz eventually went to the locker room. He returned shortly after play resumed, with a bandage wrapped around his head.

Woodland Hills (17-6) made one final surge and pulled to within 57-51 with two minutes left, but RJ Pfeuffer made four free throws around two by Pritz to seal the victory.

Pritz was the key to the win. In addition to his scoring, Pritz grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and blocked six shots.

The Indians, who trailed 16-4 after one quarter, opened the second quarter with a 12-0 run, sparked by a defensive change. The Indians extended their 2-3 zone defense to trap the Woodland Hills guards. The Wolverines scored only five second-quarter points.

Peters Township also took advantage of the Wolverines switching on all ball-screens, which left Pritz one-and-one inside against smaller defenders. The Indians mounted the comeback by getting the ball inside to Pritz, then built their lead with a flurry of three-pointers from Pfeuffer and Dakota Norton.

"They were able to spread us out and get the ball inside to Pritz," Decker said. "They controlled the tempo. We didn't make shots, so we couldn't pressure them with our defense. We played Peters Township's pace and style of game."

Pfeuffer finished with 15 points. Norton and Kevin Glod each scored 10 for PT.

Alozno led Woodland Hills with 15 points. Jeremy McMunn had 13 and Tom Greene 10.

The start of the game was delayed 46 minutes because Woodland Hills' bus driver took the Wolverines to Indiana University instead of Cal.

"I make no excuses. Peters Township beat us," Decker said. "But if you ask me if I'd like to go to Indiana on the way to Cal, I'll say no.

"When I got on the bus, I said Cal U., you have directions? The driver said he did. Then the coaches started talking game plan, and I looked up and saw signs for Indiana. It was 11 o'clock."

Decker admitted he thought Woodland Hills might have to forfeit.

"I didn't know what the rules are," he said. "You can imagine what was going through my mind at that point. Gary Goga and I are friends, so I called him, then started getting in touch with other people here."

The Woodland Hills players put on their uniforms and warmups while on the bus. The players were dropped off at the Convocation Center's loading dock and immediately went on the court to warm up.

"That situation is no excuse," Decker said. "Peters Township just beat us." Copyright Observer Publishing Co.