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Indiana's playoff hopes dashedIndians let late lead slip awayBy MATTHEW BURGIUNDGazette Sports CorrespondentIn a span of. a little more than three minutes Friday night, the Indiana boys basketball team watched its nfght go from a hard-fought win to a stunning loss that ended its hopes of a playoff berth.“This loss basically eliminates us from the playoffs,” said Indiana coach Bob Rado after his team found a way to lose, 58-50, to Kiski Area. “If there was any pressure on the guys before this game, it’s off now.”The Indians led 47-43 with four minutes to play, but Kiski Area scored five points in the next 50 seconds, capped by Brendan Cru-san's tap-in of a Chris Minarcin miss to take a 4948 lead. Indiana scared only two more points in the game, while the Cavaliers went on a 15-3 run over the last 4:26 to steal the win.The defeat dropped Indiana to 4-5 in WPIAL Section 1-AAAA and 9-11 overall, making any kind of playoff run nearly impossible.“I wish I knew what happened,” said Rado. “AH I know is that we went in the tank.”The. Indians held an eight-point lead, 43-35, entering the final quarter, but they watched as the margin dwindled and turned into an eight-point disadvantage. And that came after they played an excellent third quarter, holding the Cavaliers toKiski Area 58, Indiana 50Game recap: Indiana held-Kiski Area to just five points in the third quarter and led 43-35 going into the final frame. Indiana blew the eight-point lead in the fourth quarter. After an.11-1 Kiski run, the Cavaliers led 54-48 with 2:14 to play. The Indians didn't score in the final 1:50.Key stats: Kiski Area did not shoot any free throws in the first half but hit 8 of 10 in the second half. Kiski had 1-1 fouls in the first half but just five in the second. Indiana's Nathan Fiala had fust two points in the second half afterjust five points.But the fourth quarter, specifically the last three minutes, was a different story than the rest of the game. Everything that Indiana did right in three quarters, it managedto do wrong down the stretch.*'“We played not to lose instead of going out and getting that win,” said Rado.Indiana did everything right offensively and defensively in the first 29of the 32 minutes. The Indians came back from a five-point deficit with 4:35 left in the second quarter and took the halftime lead.Indiana kept the ball away from Kiski Area’s big man, G-foot-5 forward Aaron Waters, and made sure that its own inside threat, 6-6 Nathan Fiala, got the ball in scoring position. He finished the first half with 10scoring 10 in the first half.High scorers: Kiski Area's Chris Minarcin led all scorers with 17 paints. Brandon Crusan added 13. Ben Woodrow led Indiana with 14 points. Fiala finished with 12.Team records: Kiski Area 8-10 (2-5 WPIAL Section 1-AAAA}, Indiana 9-11 (4-5).Quotable: Indiana coach Bob Rado: We're going to bounce back and .we're going to play good basketball the rest of theway,Next game: Indiana travels to Latrobe Tuesday.points. Waters was held to six points on the night, all in the first half.But the Cavaliers found salvation in their guards, as Minarcin and Crugan lit up the scoreboard in the second half against an Indiana defense that gave up drives through the lane and second chances on missed shots.“We let them penetrate and get some offensive rebounds,” said Rado. Their guards hurt us with their penetration.”While Indiana’s defense was losing the lead, the offense wasn’t able to work against the Cavaliers’ man-to-man defense, which Kiski Area used down the stretch. The Cavaliers had played 3-2 and 1-3-1 zonesmost of the night but found that theycould harass Indiana in a man-fo-man set.“We didn’t handle the pressure,” said Rado. “Instead of looking ta score, we looked to not lose the bail. You can’t play like that. You have to play the way that got you the lead.” The lapse in offensive production helped Indiana to lose its lead. While the lead was shrinking, the offense did little to score, as Indiana turned the bail over too many times and took poor shots against the Cavaliers’ pressure, resulting in more Kiski Area offensive opportunities.As the frustration built, Indiana began making mental errors that sealed its fate, The Indians committed just three fouls in the first half— none of which resulted in foul shots — but hacked Kiski Area II times in the second half. The Cavaliers capitalized on their chances, hitting 8 of 10 free throws.“Some games come down to foul shots, and they hit theirs,” said Rado. “We knew that they were a good foul shooting team.”The Indians learned the hard way that it’s the little things that you have to get right as a team if you are to succeed. Those are the things that Indiana didn’t do right in a small, but fateful part of the game.“It’s those little things that build up that can cause you to lose,” said Rado. “It’s not that we didn’t work hard. You have to execute and have good fundamentals because it’s the little things that make a big difference.”NOTES: Indiana led the rebounding 25-17. ... Indiana committed nine turnovers and Kiski Area had eight. ... Minarcin put an exclamation point on the win with a one-handed dunk in the final seconds. ... Indiana’s bench outscored the Kiski bench 10-5.... Indiana won the junior varsity contest, 59-51.
Newspaper Details
Indiana Gazette
Indiana, Pennsylvania, US
Sat, Jan 30, 1999
Page 19
Full Page
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