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By JAMIE PIERCE Times Leader Sports Correspondent
Saturday, March 08, 2003 Page: 3B
PITTSTON TWP. – Down by nine with five minutes to go, things were looking
grim for Bishop O’Reilly in its PIAA playoff opener at Pittston Area High
School.
Lebanon Catholic 6-foot-6 senior Billy Orr was dominant for more than three
quarters, almost single-handedly keeping the Beavers in the lead for all but
25 seconds of regulation.
But during the last five minutes of the fourth quarter, and for another
four in overtime, the Queensmen defense tightened. They double-teamed Orr,
forcing other Beavers to shoot the ball.
The strategy paid off, as no other Lebanon Catholic player could manage a
field goal during the last eight minutes of the game.
That defense set the stage for senior Chris Lynn. Lynn nailed a clutch
three-pointer with 23 seconds left to force overtime. And in the extra
session, O’Reilly exploded for a 14-2 run and coasted to a 66-54 victory.
The Queensmen face Nativity BVM on Tuesday at a site and time to be
determined.
“With five minutes to go we were down nine and I called for a gut check,”
said O’Reilly coach Mark Belenski. “Our guys really responded well. We have
relied on our defense all season, and it was our defense that got us back in
it tonight.”
The Beavers opened the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run to take their biggest
lead of the game at 44-35. That is when Belenski called a time-out and
challenged his players to tighten up their defense.
The result: a 10-2 O’Reilly run sparked by three Beaver turnovers and the
Queensmen pulled within a point.
David Lohin started the spurt with an easy putback. Lynn followed with a
three and Josh Aciukewicz added a free throw to cut the lead to 44-41 with
4:21 left in the fourth.
Kevin Ruiz hit a short jumper to temporarily halt the run and give the
Beavers a three-point lead, but O’Reilly came right back.
Jumpers by Matt Flanagan and Aciukewicz pulled O’Reilly within 46-45 with
3:32 left in regulation.
The teams traded scores during the next 2:30 until Lebanon Catholic’s Dave
Weaver hit two foul shots to give the Beavers a 52-49 lead with 33 seconds
left.
Reminiscent of his three-pointer earlier in the quarter, Lynn got a wide
open look from behind the arc with 23 seconds left. He never hesitated,
draining the shot from the right wing to tie the score at 52 and force
overtime.
“Although I don’t usually shoot the ball that much, my teammates and
coaches have confidence in me,” Lynn said. “I knew I could hit it, I got
open and just buried it.”
The stingy Queensmen defense just got better in overtime. In fact, O’Reilly
did not allow a field goal in the extra session, and held the Beavers
scoreless for the first 3:11.
A pair of Flanagan free throws with 3:25 left in OT gave O’Reilly its
second lead of the game. About thirty seconds later sophomore Tim Crossin
connected on a three to finally put the Queensmen in control. O’Reilly secured
the victory from the charity stripe, going 7-for-8 in OT.
Orr was fabulous for the Beavers. He displayed an impressive collection of
post moves to totally dominate the first half. At the break he had 15 points
and seven rebounds.
He continued that dominance throughout most of the second half. But Orr got
just one offensive look from inside the three-point line in overtime while his
teammates launched up a number of unsuccessful threes.
Orr finished with 33 points, 13 rebounds and six blocked shots.
O’Reilly was led by Flanagan (18 points), Lynn (17) and Crossin (15).