- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,144,085
- Reaction score
- 59
POTTSVILLE — Old Forge trailed by eight points at halftime.
However, the Blue Devils refused to fail, because this game was for No. 2 — their senior leader Ryan DeMarco who suffered a brutal leg injury in the second quarter.
Cameron Parker led the third-quarter charge, scoring 15 of his 21 points, as Old Forge defeated District 3 runner-up Delone Catholic, 51-39, on Saturday afternoon at Martz Hall to advance to the PIAA Class 2A boys basketball semifinals.
“When he went down, we all thought our season was over. We were all down crying,” Parker said. “Our coaches got us together. We had to settle our emotions. We went on the court and said we’ve done this before against Dunmore. We went in there, upset win. We knew we were going to be able to get this win.”
The District 2 champion will face the District 6 champion United, a 71-61 winner over District 12 runner-up Paul Robeson, on Tuesday at a site and time to be determined.
The Blue Devils started slow with, trailing, 13-6, after the first quarter with Camren Krushnowski hitting two 3-pointers.
DeMarco tried to rally Old Forge with a tough layup in traffic and cut the deficit to 15-11. When he hit the floor, he suffered a brutal leg injury and was taken off in a stretcher.
During the long break to attend to DeMarco, his teammates were shaken and surrounded him as he exited in the stretcher. In the silence, a fan screamed, “We love you, DeMarco.”
The Blue Devils struggled to bounce back after seeing their teammate’s injury and trailed, 23-15, at the half.
A Parker bucket and Logan Fanning putback got the Blue Devils moving in the third quarter and Arthur Askew drilled a 3-pointer at the top of the key to the roar of the crowd.
The fans only got louder.
Parker was fouled and knocked down two free throws, and once again brought the fans to their feet when he drilled a 3-pointer from the wing, was fouled and completed the four-point play to cut the deficit to 27-26.
He didn’t stop there, sinking a layup on an and-1 and hitting the free throw for a 29-27 lead.
“The first half I was coming out slow. Our defense was kind of lacking. They were getting in there and getting easy baskets, but that third quarter came around and we settled our emotions,” Parker said. “As soon as that first shot went in and the second one, the and-1 layup, my confidence went through the roof and I knew my teammates and coaches believed in me and I wanted the rock every time we went down the court.”
Then Krushnowski had a couple nice passes to Nick Salerno and Parker, which they turned into layups, and Parker added two more free throws, as Old Forge outscored the Squires, 20-6, in the third quarter for a 35-29 lead.
The Blue Devils (21-6) kept the momentum going in the fourth quarter, as Robby Solfanelli and Krushnowski knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead to 41-31 and force a timeout. Krushnowski, who finished with 14 points, added his fourth 3-pointer of the game a minute later after a Liam O’Brien basket for a 44-33 advantage.
“I hit that shot, and I turned to coach (JJ Thomas) and he’s looking at me and the crowd is erupting, it’s a great crowd,” Krushnowski said. “They almost filled out the gym and it’s a huge gym. It was just great hitting the first one and then just hitting the second one. From there, we had it. I knew we had it. I trusted our guys to make our free throws, win the game, go out and finish on top for Ryan.”
Parker slammed the door with a reverse layup and sent Old Forge, which has eight-straight wins, to the state semifinals for the first time with 2022.
“It’s awesome,” Krushnowski said. “I’ve never felt more alive in my life. Ryan went down. He’s our point guard. He’s our captain. Wherever we need a bucket, we look to him. He’s our guy, and he went down and it was an emotional moment. Guys were crying, everyone’s upset, but we knew the thing Ryan would want most was for us to get out there and win it for him, give it our all and that’s what we did.
“I couldn’t be more grateful for this team and the guys in that locker room because, man, this is really special.”
O’Brien led Delone Catholic (25-3) with 18 points, while Luke Rebert tacked on 12.
Continue reading...
However, the Blue Devils refused to fail, because this game was for No. 2 — their senior leader Ryan DeMarco who suffered a brutal leg injury in the second quarter.
Cameron Parker led the third-quarter charge, scoring 15 of his 21 points, as Old Forge defeated District 3 runner-up Delone Catholic, 51-39, on Saturday afternoon at Martz Hall to advance to the PIAA Class 2A boys basketball semifinals.
“When he went down, we all thought our season was over. We were all down crying,” Parker said. “Our coaches got us together. We had to settle our emotions. We went on the court and said we’ve done this before against Dunmore. We went in there, upset win. We knew we were going to be able to get this win.”
The District 2 champion will face the District 6 champion United, a 71-61 winner over District 12 runner-up Paul Robeson, on Tuesday at a site and time to be determined.
The Blue Devils started slow with, trailing, 13-6, after the first quarter with Camren Krushnowski hitting two 3-pointers.
DeMarco tried to rally Old Forge with a tough layup in traffic and cut the deficit to 15-11. When he hit the floor, he suffered a brutal leg injury and was taken off in a stretcher.
During the long break to attend to DeMarco, his teammates were shaken and surrounded him as he exited in the stretcher. In the silence, a fan screamed, “We love you, DeMarco.”
The Blue Devils struggled to bounce back after seeing their teammate’s injury and trailed, 23-15, at the half.
A Parker bucket and Logan Fanning putback got the Blue Devils moving in the third quarter and Arthur Askew drilled a 3-pointer at the top of the key to the roar of the crowd.
The fans only got louder.
Parker was fouled and knocked down two free throws, and once again brought the fans to their feet when he drilled a 3-pointer from the wing, was fouled and completed the four-point play to cut the deficit to 27-26.
He didn’t stop there, sinking a layup on an and-1 and hitting the free throw for a 29-27 lead.
“The first half I was coming out slow. Our defense was kind of lacking. They were getting in there and getting easy baskets, but that third quarter came around and we settled our emotions,” Parker said. “As soon as that first shot went in and the second one, the and-1 layup, my confidence went through the roof and I knew my teammates and coaches believed in me and I wanted the rock every time we went down the court.”
Then Krushnowski had a couple nice passes to Nick Salerno and Parker, which they turned into layups, and Parker added two more free throws, as Old Forge outscored the Squires, 20-6, in the third quarter for a 35-29 lead.
The Blue Devils (21-6) kept the momentum going in the fourth quarter, as Robby Solfanelli and Krushnowski knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead to 41-31 and force a timeout. Krushnowski, who finished with 14 points, added his fourth 3-pointer of the game a minute later after a Liam O’Brien basket for a 44-33 advantage.
“I hit that shot, and I turned to coach (JJ Thomas) and he’s looking at me and the crowd is erupting, it’s a great crowd,” Krushnowski said. “They almost filled out the gym and it’s a huge gym. It was just great hitting the first one and then just hitting the second one. From there, we had it. I knew we had it. I trusted our guys to make our free throws, win the game, go out and finish on top for Ryan.”
Parker slammed the door with a reverse layup and sent Old Forge, which has eight-straight wins, to the state semifinals for the first time with 2022.
“It’s awesome,” Krushnowski said. “I’ve never felt more alive in my life. Ryan went down. He’s our point guard. He’s our captain. Wherever we need a bucket, we look to him. He’s our guy, and he went down and it was an emotional moment. Guys were crying, everyone’s upset, but we knew the thing Ryan would want most was for us to get out there and win it for him, give it our all and that’s what we did.
“I couldn’t be more grateful for this team and the guys in that locker room because, man, this is really special.”
O’Brien led Delone Catholic (25-3) with 18 points, while Luke Rebert tacked on 12.
Continue reading...
