City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
––

BETHLEHEM — Before Jacen Holloway even released the ball with two-and-a-half minutes left in overtime, he heard the sound.

The Devon Prep junior wing rose up for a 3 in front of his bench, with every teammate not in the game on their feet with their hands raised. Holloway's shot, set up by a dart of a pass by Lucas Orchard, caught all net with each guy on the bench making the same sound.

Boom.

Holloway had two monster 3s, one tying the game in regulation and the second causing quite a boom as it put Devon Prep in front for good as the Tide again showed their wealth of heart and guts to outlast Holy Redeemer 73-72 in a PIAA 3A semifinal overtime classic.

"Before I even shot it, they all went 'boom' because they knew it was going in," Holloway said. "We all have confidence in each other, it was a great shot and I just happened to take it. It definitely felt great."

Allen Cieslak celebrated with the team for about five seconds after the final horn. It wasn't that the senior guard wasn't excited about helping the Tide reach its first-ever state title game, but that the celebration on the court didn't include everyone. Cieslak, followed soon after by IV Pettit, made a beeline for The Pit, Devon Prep's devoted student section.

The school's not that big and even if the guys in The Pit aren't on the floor or the bench, the players consider them as big a part of this run as anything they're doing.

"Everyone over there is like a brother to me," Cieslak said. "I see them every day. We're a small school so everyone, you feel like they're your best friend and for that many of them to drive an hour to watch our game, we're grateful to have a student section like that and wanted them to have a part of it."

Holy Redeemer, the District 2 champion, is used to playing late in the postseason. The Royals played an unbelievable game of their own behind a man's effort from Justice Shoats' 29 points and either answered each Devon Prep run with their own or put the pressure back on the Tide to answer their own challenge.

There were so many back-and-forth spells that neither team ever really felt like it was in control. Devon Prep led 18-16 after one, with Shoats responsible for 14 of his team's 16 points, and the Tide led 30-24 with 3:34 to play in the first half.

Holy Redeemer answered that call with a 10-0 run to end the quarter, its last six coming on a pair of no-fear treys by Darryl Wright to give the Royals a 34-30 advantage.

"We trust each other," Tide guard Lucas Orchard said. "We don't care who gets the game-winning shot or who gets the headlines. We've faced adversity before and all five guys on the floor know what it takes to hit a game-winning shot."

Holloway finished with 19 points, Orchard 18, with Pettit scoring 16 and Cieslak 15 for the Tide.

Shoats picked up the second half where he'd left off in the first with two quick scores and Wright hit another trey for a 41-33 lead that prompted a Devon Prep timeout. There was no panic or finger-pointing, just a couple adjustments on defense and reassurance that the offense would be there.

As if on cue, Orchard scored seven points in an 11-0 run that put Devon Prep in front 44-41 on a Ty Mishock layup. Holy Redeemer had a counter to that, getting a buzzer-beating tip from Jacob Hunter to go back in front 50-49 heading to the final frame.

Again, there was no sense of worry as the Tide regrouped at their bench. Holloway chalked it up to a team-wide sense of confidence that has allowed them to get through every challenge in this state run, which included a double-digit halftime deficit against Columbia and an emotional rematch with a West Catholic squad that ended their PCL season.

"We've had to show a lot of leadership in front of adversity," Cieslak said. "We lost to West in the PCL quarterfinals and got them back in the state playoffs. It's all due to adversity through leadership, not just from the seniors, but from everybody."

After trading hoops for six minutes in the fourth, a layup by Pettit had the Tide down just 59-58 and after a turnover, the senior guard had a great look at a go-ahead 3. The shot didn't fall and a foul gave Shoats the chance to knock in two at the line for a three point lead going into the final minute.

A little bounce pass by Mishock found Holloway on the left wing and the junior didn't think twice, swishing a 3 to knot the score 61-61.

"You have to be unselfish if you play for Devon Prep," Holloway said. "We always look for the next teammate. We play as a family. Nobody is here to play for themselves."

Holy Redeemer missed a would-be go-ahead layup, giving the Tide a chance to win it in regulation. Their play faltered at the end and Shoats made a nice play to block a heave at the buzzer, sending the game to overtime and doing nothing to Devon Prep's feelings toward the outcome.

"We didn't make the game winning shot, but who cares? We knew we were just going to win it in overtime," Cieslak said. "We have that mentality that we're going to focus and get that job done."

Holloway found himself in almost the very same spot on the floor in almost the same situation 90 seconds into overtime. This time, his team only trailed by one but he had no doubt he was going to shoot if it came his way and Orchard had no hesitation letting his teammate go for it.

"It's hard to stay in front of us if we spread you out," Orchard said. "We're a smaller team but we make it an advantage because we can drive and kick and find shooters for open 3s.

"We love those moments. To us, they're a lot of fun. We don't fold under pressure, we all trust each other and that's another big part of winning those types of games in tight situations."

Cieslak scored on a drive after a stop following Holloway's go-ahead jumper and Pettit finished strong with four free throws in the final 28 seconds. Holy Redeemer went down swinging, a valiant effort from a worthy opponent in a game that someone unfortunately had to lose.

The Tide will face Aliquippa in the 3A state title game Saturday afternoon at the Giant Center in Hershey. Like the Tide did in District 12, the Quips qualified third out of District 7 and had their own nail-biter of a semifinal in a 54-53 win over South Allegheny.

"It's a blessing, we're very grateful to be given this opportunity but we're also looking forward to it," Cieslak said. "I don't see any pressure. I think we're all going to have the mentality that we're going to win that game next weekend."

By Quarter

Devon Prep:       18 | 12 | 19 | 12 | 12 || 73
Holy Redemeer: 16 | 18 | 16 | 11 | 11 || 72

Scoring

Devon Prep: Jacen Holloway 19, Lucas Orchard 18, IV Pettit 16, Allen Cieslak 15, Ty Mishock 5

Holy Redeemer: Justice Shoats 29, Matt Prociak 13, Darryl Wright 13, Zach Perta 9, Jacob Hunter 5, Chris Papciak 2