New Castle defeated Butler 64-43 at home in the 6A quarterfinals.
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Both teams hit threes on their first possession of the game with freshman sensation, Kai Cox, draining one for New Castle and senior, Tayt Lucas, answering right back with a three of his own for Butler.
That three from Lucas would be Butler’s only points in the quarter, as New Castle came out on fire. The threes were falling from everywhere and junior, Damian Harrison, threw down a huge two-handed dunk in traffic on the break, as they finished the first quarter up 15-3.
New Castle started the second quarter with another three, making it 18-3 and a 15-0 run. Butler got straight much needed points from junior, Stainton Forbes, to make it 15-8. From here the teams were about even in the rest of the quarter, but that huge lead that New Castle built was keeping them safely ahead.
Lucas would hit two more threes in the quarter to bring his point total up to 9 in the first half. Junior, Andrew Gettinger, would get going for Butler as well, cutting the lead to 7 with a step back two from just inside the three-point line.
New Castle ended the quarter on another flurry with senior, Ralphie Blundo, getting the offensive rebound and put back. At the half New Castle was back up 10 as they led 29-19.
The start of the third quarter was all Butler.
They came roaring back behind 7 points in the first 90 seconds of the quarter by Gettinger. After a triple from Forbes, Butler cut the New Castle Lead down to just 5, as it was 34-29 early in the third.
After another three from Forbes, it was 36-32 and you could feel the energy in the gym start to shift Butler’s way. Their crowd was out in full-force and it looked like we were going to be in for a battle the rest of the way.
Unfortunately for Butler fans, this was as close as they’d get. New Castle was nearly perfect the rest of the way. Blundo quieted the Butler crowd with a three and Cox drained a very tough jumper from the right elbow to push the lead back up to 9 in the blink of an eye.
New Castle point guard, Kyrell Harris, was great in this one as well. He hit another three for New Castle as they continued to pull away. Throughout this run, New Castle upped the intensity and was playing a very physical brand of basketball. The refs were allowing a lot of contact to go and that almost always favors New Castle.
For years I’ve credited New Castle Head Coach, Ralph Blundo, as being the best coach in WPIAL when it comes to gauging how refs are calling a game and adjusting his playstyle to match. They are always disciplined. They never cross the line of physical play, but they always play right up to the line that the refs have set for that particular game, and it worked very well for them in this one. New Castle closed the quarter of a 13-2 run and what was once a close game early in the quarter was looking like a blowout as new Castle led 49-34 heading into the final quarter.
Forbes started off the 4th quarter by punching a dunk to try to get some energy back into this game for Butler, but Blundo answered by hitting a three from the NC logo at half-court and put an end to any hopes Butler had left.
New Castle was now on a 20-4 run as they were running away with this one in the fourth up 56-36. Butler elected to not foul much down the stretch and put their subs in as the clock continued to wind in this one and when the final buzzer sounded, New Castle came out on top by a score of 64-43.
What we most impressive about New Castle in this one was how well they shot the ball from distance. You expect Blundo to hit threes, but Cox, Harris, and Harrison all drained multiple threes as well.
Four of the five starters finished in double figures tonight for them. Cox led the way with 16, Harris and Harrison each had 14, and Blundo had 13.
Harrison spoke after the game and was asked if there’s anyone that can stop them when they shoot it like they did Thursday night. “If I think about it, no. We just shot the ball well. We had good preparation coming into the game in our run throughs and walk throughs. We just did what we had to do to win”.
Coach Blundo talked about their well-rounded performance. “To beat Butler by 20 you have to play well, and I think we did that tonight. I thought everybody contributed. We were clearly ready to play. I was concerned about the layoff. Traditionally we haven’t played well after a layoff like that in the playoffs in my time here, even with some of my best teams, but I thought we played well tonight.
New Castle heads to the 6A semifinals where they will take on Mt. Lebanon for a chance to play for yet another title. That game will be on Monday 2/24 at North Allegheny.