Big play at the end sends MCA to victory
MOUNT CARMEL — With the game tied and 3.2 seconds remaining in regulation, Mount Carmel boys basketball coach John Lazicki had to draw up the perfect inbound pass play from under the Red Tornadoes hoop.
He did and it was executed perfectly by Julien Stellar who found Pedro Feliciano with a near-open look and he did not miss, giving the Red Tornadoes a 53-51 win over South Williamsport in the opening round of the District 4 Class 3A boys basketball playoffs.
The Red Tornadoes (14-9) advance to play at top-seeded Loyalsock on Friday.
“It’s a play we run often and Feliciano stepped up, give him all the credit in the world, that’s a big shot,” Lazicki said. “We ran that up in Dunmore and Pedro missed the shot, and now this game he made it. It’s one of those things that the kids ran it well.
“And give Stellar credit, too, because a lot of people sleep on the inbounder, too. Julien went through the checks and found Pedro, and Pedro made the shots.”
Felciano was one of three Mount Carmel players to finish in double figures, scoring 10 points.
Lazicki drew the play up figuring the Mountaineers were going to key in on Cole Spears or Garrett Varano and South Williamsport bit, setting up the game-winning shot.
It was all set up by a game that never teetered in favor of one team with the largest lead of the night belonging to Mount Carmel with seven and saw seven lead changes — six in the first half. It saw another great deal of ties, including all throughout the second half for which the Mountaineers opened with a lead, but relinquished early and never gained back.
The drama was on display all throughout the fourth quarter for two teams that entered with identical records. At one point, the Red Tornadoes looked like they had figured the Mountaineers out, picking up the seven-point lead thanks in large to a big 3-pointer by Varano to start the frame’s scoring and an and-1 from Damen Milewski — who finished with a team-high 17 points.
“When he’s not pressing and he’s just going with the flow, he does well,” Lazicki said of Milewski. “... He stepped up and got us buckets when were in a bit of a dry spell. He’s a very efficient offensive player.”
The Mountaineers, though, kept chipping away with Sequon Roberts twice making game-tying shots. Roberts also had a chance to give the South Williamsport the lead late in the fourth but missed his and-1 opportunity coming off a miscommunication by Mount Carmel on an inbound pass.
Roberts was tasked with stepping up after the Red Tornadoes attempted to take Lee Habalar — who finished with 20 points — out of the picture.
“We bent a lot, but we never broke,” Lazicki said. “We went with a straight 2-3 [in the second half] and stayed home and did a better job of boxing out. They were trying to get the ball to [Habalar], but we did a great job of disrupting things and taking opportunities away.”
His heroic efforts were over as quickly as Cole Spears, who finished with 12 points, cut through the Mountaineers defense, putting Mount Carmel in prime position to seal the game coming out of a timeout.
Lazicki knows the Red Tornadoes’ hands will be full in the quarterfinals, but he’ll take time to appreciate this.
“Any playoff win is a good win,” he said.
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