Pine Richland rights the ship with a tough road win over City League power, Allderdice, by a score of 52-46. Grant Spacciapolli had a game-high 15 points for the Rams.
Both of these teams came into this one looking to break their three game losing streaks, as it’s been a tough start to the season for these programs. Pine Richland got things started right away as they ran a set play off of the opening tip for an easy layup. Allderdice would answer with a shot in the lane over the outstretched hand of 6’8” Doolin Stober.
It was a back and forth game early with each team finding success inside. Keith Taylor and Lukas Stead of Allderdice were working a nice two-man game that led to baskets for each of them on back to back possessions. Eli Catalano answered back for the Rams, scoring on a drive and a corner three to give him 7 points in the quarter and his team a 9-7 lead midway through the first.
Allderdice began to bring a full-court press towards the end of the quarter, which really caused some issues for Pine Richland. As the Dragons used their athleticism on the press, they were able to force the Rams into some turnovers which led to points on the other end.
Once Pine Richland did manage to break the press and set up the offense, Spacciapolli hit Stober underneath for the and-1 to retake the lead. The Rams would stretch that lead on the next possession with a steal and score to make it 14-10 late in the quarter.
Allderdice may have been the smaller team, but they were the more aggressive team on the boards. Stead had two offensive rebounds and putbacks late in the quarter, and was a one-point game after one with Pine Richland leading 15-14.
The second quarter got off to a slow start scoring wise for both teams, but Pine Richland senior guard, Grant Spacciapolli, got things going with a floater in the lane and another basket shortly after to push the Pine Richland lead to 19-14 midway through the quarter.
Allderdice got their first points of the quarter by way of another offensive rebound and putback from Stead, who was a load to deal with inside all night. He’s a big strong kid who is a three-sport star for the Dragons and he’s always very active on the boards.
Stober used his height and athleticism on the rim run to convert the alley-oop in what was becoming a back and forth game.
Allderdice Senior, Keenu Brooks, provided a huge spark off the bench for Allderdice with his energy and scoring output in the quarter. He had multiple steals and acrobatic finishes through traffic and he had his squad up one late in the half.
On the final play of the half, Allderdice junior, Anthony Abrahms, threw up a perfect alley-oop pass from the corner of the floor over the rim and into the hands of Brooks who laid it in to give Dice a 26-23 lead at the half.
Allderdice had been the tougher team so far in this one, with their press really causing problems for Pine Richland. The Dragons took that momentum into the half and out on to the floor in the third quarter as they drained a corner three early to give them their largest lead of the game.
The Rams began to settle down though as they broke the press much more calmly than they had been doing in the first half, which led to an easy layup inside for Stober. Things were starting to click for Pine Richland as Spacciapolli got hot in the quarter. He drained a pullup jumper from the left side and splashed a catch and shoot three in transition from the right to retake the lead for the Rams.
Spacciapolli stayed aggressive, taking it to the hole and getting fouled, where he made both free throws. Allderdice stayed tough though as Abrahms found Stead on a beautiful pocket pass inside for the finish.
Pine Richland continued to lean on Spacciapolli in the third, who scored on the drive in what was a nine-point third quarter for him. Stober chipped in with another bucket to push the Pine Richland lead to 38-31.
As Pine started to pull away, Brooks gave Allderdice another spark with a huge LeBron James style chasedown block to put some energy back in the building for the Dragons. The final moments of the quarter were all Allderdice as senior Zach Coffey knocked down a corner three and Abrahms got the fall away jumper to go as time expired in the third. The 5-0 run to end the quarter cut the lead to just two points, with Pine Richland leading 38-36 going into the final frame.
After neither team scored for the first two minutes of the quarter, the 6’8” Ohio State volleyball commit, Doolin Stober, scored on the drive and again on the putback where in volleyball fashion he set the ball into the hoop. Stober didn’t play hoops last season, but he’s back this year and will be an important piece for the Rams moving forward.
First year Head Coach, Steve McNeese, spoke about Stober after the game saying, “He’s an x-factor for us”. He went on to say, “He’s different than a lot of the WPIAL in some of the things he can do physically, so we’re certainly going to need him to do some big things for us”.
Pine Richland had stretched the lead back to seven as we passed the halfway point in the final quarter without Allderdice scoring a point. Allderdice junior, Keith Taylor, put the team on his back the next several possessions for the Dragons, scoring on three straight drives and cutting the Pine Richland lead to just one point late in the game.
Michael Pifer answered for the Rams with a huge three from the right corner to stop the bleeding and give the Rams a 46-42 lead with 1:44 left to play.
On the next possession down the floor, Stober came over to get the help side block, but Stead would score inside off the baseline out of bounds on the following play. Dice put on the full-court press once again, but Pine Richland finally broke it with ease and it led to a wide-open layup for Pifer on the other end.
The Rams were able to get a stop the next time down the floor and it was their ball up four with just over 30 seconds to play.
Pine Richland would make their free throws down the stretch and take care of business the rest of the way to close out the game and get the 52-46 win.
This was a much-needed win for the Rams and McNeese hit on it after the game saying, “I think it’s big for our crew, the players and coaching staff, to feel like we’re capable of inching one out. I think we needed to taste winning a little bit”.
Pine Richland improves to 2-4 while Allderdice falls to the same record after starting the season 2-0. The Rams will be back in action on Monday against Sewickley as part of our Pittsburgh Holiday Classic at PPG Paints Arena. Allderice is back at it Friday as they open City League play against Perry.