Second-quarter run lifts Cardinal O’Hara boys basketball over Fleetwood in PIAA tournament opener

FLEETWOOD >> After allowing 17 points in the first quarter, the Cardinal O’Hara Lions knew they had to do better than that the rest of the way Friday night at Fleetwood. They increased their defensive intensity in the second quarter, forcing seven Tiger turnovers, and went on an extended run at the end of the half that proved to be decisive in a 62-50 win in the opening round of the PIAA Class 6A Tournament.

Izaiah Pasha scored 23 and Pearse McGuinn 17 for O’Hara (18-8), which will face the winner of Saturday’s game between Allentown Central Catholic and E&S Carver in the second round on Tuesday. Aiden Soumas scored 20 and Jake Karnish 19 for the Tigers (22-5), who were making their first state appearance since 1990.

“We came out really flat defensively,” said Pasha. “We gave up 17 points. We picked up our defense after the first quarter. We wanted to keep them under 10.”

The Lions did better than that in a 17-6 second quarter that ended with a 15-2 run for a 34-23 advantage at the half.

“We knew that they were very good,” said Cardinal O’Hara coach Ryan Nemetz. “We had to come out with energy. They knocked down shots and we didn’t execute the game plan initially.”

Fleetwood led 17-15 after a quarter and 21-19 three minutes into the second after a basket by Soumas. But McGuinn tied it with a layup, Pasha sank a jumper and then drove the middle for a basket at the end of a fast break and Josh Coulanges (13 points) scored after a steal by Pasha. A 3-pointer by Coulanges off a pass from Pasha (11 rebounds, 4 assists) completed an 11-point run and the Lions were on their way.

“A four-minute stretch of the second quarter, we gave up five or six turnovers,” said Fleetwood coach Terry Sitler. “I give them all the credit in the world.”

“We knew they were tough and really athletic,” said Soumas. “All we could do was come out and play our game. It worked pretty well against a pretty good team.”

Pasha scored off an offensive rebound to open the second half scoring and give the Lions their largest lead of the night at 36-23. Then the Tigers ran off eight straight points as Karnish knocked down a 3-pointer and scored on a drive and then hit another trey from the top of the circle to make it 36-31. But McGuinn made a pair at the line and Pasha took control again with three baskets the rest of the quarter to boost the lead back up to 10.

O’Hara sank seven of eight free throws down the stretch to put the game away.

There were five lead changes and four ties in the opening quarter as Fleetwood tried to slow down the Lions by playing a 3-2 zone. Nate Herb lobbed a cross-court pass from the left sideline with 1.2 seconds left to Karnish, who sank a right baseline jumper at the buzzer for the 17-15 advantage.

“We just wanted to come out and do the best we could,” said Sitler. “We had never run a 3-2 before. We knew we could not play man against them.”

But the Lions went 8-for-15 from the field in the second quarter to turn the game around, with Pasha scoring eight.

“It’s really tough to guard a guy like that,” said Soumas. “They got turnovers and a couple fast break points.”

“We kept executing on the offensive end and running the floor,” said Pasha. “Defense wins games. We played smart and did a good job of executing on the offensive end. We played smart and played together.”

And while forcing the seven Fleetwood miscues in the second quarter, the Lions had only one turnover of their own.

“In the half court, we were a little more disciplined,” said Nemetz. “We got out on the break and got some easy baskets.”

O’Hara, the third-place team from District 12, wound up at 45.8 percent from the floor for the night and made 14 of 16 free throws while turning the ball over 10 times. Fleetwood shot 34.6 percent on the night with 15 turnovers and a 36-29 advantage in rebounds.

The Tigers had finished second in District 3 and were hosting a state game for the first time in program history.

“I’m so proud of my guys,”said Sitler.

“It was a dream of ours,” said Soumas. “We dreamt it in reality this year. A great season. We played almost a month longer than we should have. We couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

Cardinal O’Hara 62, Fleetwood 50

Cardinal O’Hara: Hobbs 0 2-2 2, Pasha 8 6-8 23, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Coulanges 5 2-2 13, Williams -Bey 0 0-0 0, McGuinn 6 4-4 17, Cervellero 3 0-0 7, Totals 22 14-16 62
Fleetwood: Hilburt 0 0-0 0, Soumas 9 0-1 20, Williams 0 0-0 0, Herb 1 2-3 4, Karnish 6 4-4 19, Svoboda 2 3-6 7, Totals 18 9-14 50
Cardinal O’Hara 15 19 10 18 – 62
Fleetwood 17 6 11 16 – 50
3-point goals: Pasha, Coulanges, McGuinn, Cervellero, Soumas 2, Karnish 3