City of Basketball Love

Corky Blake (@CorkyBlake)
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CATASAQUA — Dynamic sophomore point guard Fareed Brown went to the bench with his fourth foul less than two minutes into the third quarter.

Brown’s backcourt mate, sophomore Matthew McField, limped off the court with a game-ending knee injury with 3:46 still remaining in the same stanza.

Enter 6-foot, 155-pound junior reserve Teon Smith to the rescue for Carver Engineering & Sciences boys basketball against Danville in the PIAA Class 4A second-round game Tuesday night at Catasauqua High School.

With the Engineers reeling, Smith followed his errant 3-point shot from the right corner, grabbed the long rebound and threw up a shot blindly over his head.

Smith’s prayer was answered. The shot miraculously banked in, and he drew a foul. Smith sank the free throw with eight seconds left in the quarter for the biggest three-point play of his varsity career.

Engineering & Sciences used that momentum to fend off Danville over the final eight minutes for a 45-38 victory to advance to the state quarterfinals for the first time in school history. 

The District 12 runner-up will play Archbishop Carroll, which ousted District 11 champion Allentown Central Catholic 62-56. Carroll is the third-place team from District 12. 

Smith said he probably would’ve watched most of the game from the bench if Brown and McField were on the court. Circumstances dictated otherwise, and Brown seized the moment. The three-point play gave his team a 32-27 lead.

“It’s about bringing energy and hustle when I get in,” Smith said. “We were struggling, and the and-one brought back the energy, especially on defense, in the fourth quarter.” 

Smith wasn’t the only Engineer who needed to adjust his role. Sophomore swingman Sahin Rodriguez moved to the point to run E&S’s offense for most of the second half. He matched junior swingman Aaron Williams with a team-high 11 points.

“That was a different role for me; I usually don’t play on the ball,” Rodriguez said. “We were two guys down, and I had to step up.”

Early in the second quarter, it didn’t seem as if there would be any second-half drama for E&S. The Engineers led 20-7, and their defense held Danville scoreless for the first 5:20 of the game. 

Senior forward Tali Simpkins pumped in six of his eight points during the early push, Brown drained a 3 for his only points, and McField cashed in a steal for a layup, his lone field goal.

But in the final three minutes of the half, E&S failed to score and committed three turnovers, including Brown’s second foul at the offensive end. 

The District 4 champion Ironmen closed the half with seven straight points and opened the third quarter with Carter Heath’s drive and Luke Huron’s 3 for a 23-22 advantage. 

Brown collected two more quick fouls and went to the bench. He didn’t return until less than four minutes were left in the game. A pair of Rodriguez free throws halted E&S’s nearly six-minute scoreless drought. The sophomore’s layup off a feed from Williams with three minutes remaining put the Engineers back in front for good, 29-27.

Still, E&S could only wonder what might’ve been if not for Smith’s and-one and a stifling defense that held the Ironmen to a pair of free throws for the last six minutes of the quarter.

“I think this showed the depth we have,” Simpkins said. “Everyone is ready to step up, from one to 15. We all kept our composure.”

And that’s what the Engineers did in the fourth quarter. They pumped the brakes offensively, looking for only layups or put-backs as Simpkins, senior reserve forward Anthony Brown and Williams pounded the glass.

“We slowed it down, and it became about executing on offense,” Simpkins said. “It was crunch time.”

Now, the Engineers, who won their first state playoff game last week since 2006, will get a second shot at Archbishop Carroll, which defeated them 61-27 on Dec. 11, on Friday at a site and time to be determined.

“We were a young, developing team when we played them,” Smith said. “We’re a lot more together.”

“We’ve come together since then,” said Rodriguez, who was a JV player a year ago.

“Our chemistry is a lot better; that first game was a tough one,” Simpkins said. “We’ll be ready to compete and show them how much better we’ve gotten.

By Quarter

Danville: 7 | 11 | 9 | 11 || 38

E&S: 15 | 7 | 10 | 13 || 45

Scoring

Danville: Daniel Walker 9, Carter Heath 8, Hayden Winn 7, Luke Huron 6, Ethan Morrison 5, Nicholas Hand 3.

E&S: Sahin Rodriguez 11, Aaron Williams 11, Tali Simpkins 8, Teon Smith 5, Anthony Brown 5, Fareed Brown 3, Matthew McField 2.

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PIAA 4A Boys (local games)

First Round (Fri., March 8)
12-1 Neumann-Goretti 86, 3-6 Littlestown 63
12-4 Overbrook 53, 1-1 Pope John Paul II 49 (OT)
12-2 Engineering & Science 51, 11-3 Pottsville 44
12-3 Archbishop Carroll 66, 3-2 Big Spring 59
11-1 Allentown Central Catholic 68, 12-5 School of Future 33

Second Round (Tue., March 12)
12-1 Neumann-Goretti 72, 3-3 Berks Catholic 51
2-1 Scranton Prep 71, 12-4 Overbrook 61
12-3 Archbishop Carroll 62, 11-1 Allentown Central Catholic 56
12-2 Engineering & Science 45, 4-1 Danville 38

Quarterfinals (Fri. March 15)
12-1 Neumann-Goretti vs. 2-1 Scranton Prep
12-3 Archbishop Carroll vs. 12-2 Engineering & Science