By Pete Chiodo
March 13, 2010 — JOHNSTOWN — It’s one thing to be big. It’s quite another to be able to use that size effectively.
The Conemaugh Valley boys basketball team possessed both size and ability. And that meant trouble for Linesville, which fell to the towering Blue Jays 67-33 in the first round of the PIAA Class A playoffs, held Friday at Richland High School.
“You get in the state playoffs and you’re going to get the best of the best,” said Linesville coach Steve Mickle. “And that’s a great team right there. They had some good offensive shooters and they’re great inside.”
Yet, the Lions looked good out of the gate, piling up an 11-4 lead in the early going. Walt Litwin started things off with a jumper on the baseline. A.J. Thompson had a 3-pointer during the run and Brennan Miller added three buckets of his own.
There were four minutes left in the first and Conemaugh head coach Garry Lupek had to call a time out to get his guys focused.
“At this stage of the season, you can’t be unsure of yourself,” said Lupek. “You have to be ready even before you step on the transportation to get to the game. We were a little too overzealous in the beginning.”
The Blue Jays turned things around in a big way.
How big?
A 14-0 run big. Conemaugh started asserting itself down low, worked the offensive glass hard, and kept Linesville off the scoreboard for the next 6:11.
“Above all we had to control the boards,” said Lupek.
According to Conemaugh’s stat sheet, the Blue Jays had 37 total rebounds — 18 of them were on offense. They scored 18 points on direct put-backs.
“They were pretty tough on the boards, weren’t they,” said Mickle. “They were just animals inside. They’re coming off, getting the ball and tipping it right back in. It was tough for us to box them out.”
Conemaugh’s 6-foot-4 sophomore Dalton Uncapher led the Blue Jays with 10 rebounds. He also scored 17 points.
Jimmy Lupek, a 6-4 senior, led the Jays in scoring with 26 points. He was hitting from inside and outside both, knocking down three 3-pointers in the game.
His performance made him the second-leading scorer in Conemugh Valley’s history with 1,468, surpassing his older brother Josh.
Early in the third quarter, Linesville trailed by just eight points at 30-22. But Lupek answered with back-to-back treys to kick off a 14-point run by the Blue Jays.
Linesville then went 0-for-10 as the third period wore on and didn’t score again until there was 18 seconds left in the frame.
This one was all but over.
Conemaugh Valley (23-3) now moves on to the state’s sweet 16 round where it will face the winner of DuBois Central Catholic and Neshannock on Tuesday at a site and time to be announced.
Linesville’s season ends at 17-7.
“They had a great season — Region 3 champs, district runner-up,” said Mickle. “No one can take that away from them. It’s unfortunate that it comes to an end like this. But the kids have a lot to be proud of.”
For the Lions last night, Eric Schell led the team with 10 points, scoring seven of those points in the fourth quarter. Miller followed with eight points and Litwin had seven.
It was the final game for a nice senior class, including Litwin, Miller, Schell, Wes Hershelman, Trevor Litwiler and Dane Laird.
“You know what, these seniors had a successful year in football and a very successful year in basketball,” said Mickle. “It’s been a fun year. And we had a great group of fans that have been supporting this team all year. And it really meant a lot to these guys.”
