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By DAVE KONOPKI davek@leader.net
Sunday, March 09, 2003 Page: 1C
WILKES-BARRE – Chris Shovlin slashed his way to the basket, nailed
three-pointers from every conceivable angle, and left the winningest high
school basketball coach in York County searching for adjectives to describe
the play of the GAR junior guard.
But Shovlin’s 39-point performance Saturday afternoon still wasn’t enough
to allow the Grenadiers to advance in the PIAA Class 2A state playoffs.
York Catholic took advantage of several key offensive rebounds and the
Fighting Irish hit 10 of 12 free throws in the overtime period en route to a
63-57 win over GAR in a first-round game at Wilkes University.
The fifth seed from District 3 improved its record to 18-10 and will play
Wyalusing on Wednesday at a site and time to be determined. The Grenadiers,
who won the Wyoming Valley Conference Division III and District 2 Class 2A
championships, end their season at 23-7.
GAR’s Howard Mapp scored a basket to cut the York Catholic lead to 55-54
with 1:01 remaining in overtime and the Grenadiers had a chance to tie the
game or take the lead when York Catholic’s Jon Iati – who finished with 30
points – missed the second of two free throws with 53 seconds remaining.
But Irish forward Chris Becket grabbed the rebound – York Catholic’s fourth
offensive rebound in the overtime period – and proceeded to make three of four
free throws in a 14-second span to make it 59-54 with 39 seconds remaining.
Shovlin drilled a three-pointer with 30 seconds left to make it 59-57, but the
Irish added a Becket layup and two free throws by Andrew Hack to seal the win.
“The ball didn’t go into the basket for us, especially in the first half,”
said GAR head coach Paul Brown. “We had great looks, but the ball just
wouldn’t fall. That, coupled with us letting them get two and three chances at
the basket, it’s tough to win that game.”
The loss overshadowed an outstanding performance by Shovlin, who scored all
13 of his team’s points in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime.
He made two long-range three-pointers and finished the contest with five
baskets from beyond the arc.
“He’s a phenomenal player, outstanding,” said York Catholic head coach Mike
Keesey of Shovlin. The 21-year coach has 464 career wins and is retiring after
the season. “(Shovlin) was terrific. We really made him work and he still
found ways to make baskets. I haven’t seen anybody shoot a three like that,
except at the end of a quarter. And he shoots them regularly.
“He’s a great penetrator, too,” Keesey went on. “There were times I
thought we did a good job of stepping in on him, but he can hang in the air
and make people look silly when he penetrates. He made us look silly a couple
times.”
Both teams got off to a slow start in the first half, with the Irish
holding a 22-19 lead at halftime. But the respective stars of both teams got
hot in the third quarter, Shovlin scoring 10 points and Iati tossing in eight.
York Catholic led by as many as five points in the quarter before a Shovlin
basket gave GAR a 29-27 lead with 5:14 remaining, its first lead since 8-6.
The lead changed hands 11 times throughout the remainder of regulation and
neither team led by more than two points in the fourth quarter.
The GAR coach said the loss won’t tarnish his team’s accomplishments.
“Not many people expected us to win our division or go far in districts,”
said Brown. “But I’m not going to say this team overachieved. This is what
we’re supposed to do at GAR. Our basketball players are supposed to win
championships. I thought our kids did a great job this season.”