Schenley Coach Fred Skrocki wore blue jeans, hiking boots and a black turtle neck. So maybe he wasn't all dressed up, but at least he has somewhere important to go.
Schenley is headed to Hershey for the PIAA Class AAAA championship game. The Spartans earned a ticket with a thrilling 83-77 victory over George Jr. Republic last night in a semifinal game at Slippery Rock University.
In short, George Jr. got hit by a Jack hammer. Jack Higgins was the hero for Schenley, hitting an off balance 3-pointer with two seconds left in overtime to break a 77-77 deadlock. After a George Jr. turnover, Schenley made three free throws -- two on technicals -- for the final margin in what was a marvelous game witnessed by a capacity crowd.
"Phenomenal game," said George Jr. Republic Coach Bob McConnell.
You could say Higgins' shot was heard 'round the City because Schenley is the first City League team to make it to the PIAA Class AAAA title game since Brashear in 1989. Schenley hasn't been to the title game since 1978. The Spartans will play for the championship Saturday night at Hersheypark Arena against Coatesville, which defeated Chester, 80-65, in the other semifinal last night.
But don't expect to Skrocki to be wearing different coaching attire in Chocolatetown.
"I'm superstitious," Skrocki said. "I've been wearing this outfit ever since the state playoffs started. I'm not even wearing underwear. Look, I'm wearing a City League swimming suit under these pants."
Not that anyone wanted to know.
"But that's what I wore at the start [of the playoffs]. That's just the way I am," Skrocki said.
Higgins' winning shot came after George Jr. Republic's Tyrique Glasgow made a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left to tie the game, 77-77. Schenley called a timeout a few seconds later. Skrocki didn't necessarily want his team to hold the ball for the last shot, but it ended up that way. After the timeout, George Jr. switched to a 1-3 chaser defense, with four players in a zone and Matt Anderer guarding Higgins man-to-man. Higgins had trouble getting the ball.
"We wanted to keep it out of the corners," Skrocki said.
But with 10 seconds left, Higgins got the ball and was trapped in the corner. He was able to pass to a teammate, though, who quickly gave it back to Higgins on the left wing.
"I looked up at the clock and saw four seconds left," Higgins said.
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Schenley's Shawn Hawkins, left, and Nate Gerwig celebrate their semifinal victory. (Matt Freed, Post-Gazette) | |
He took a dribble.
"Then I just tried to jump as high as I could and shoot," said Higgins.
With Anderer and another defender on him, Higgins, a 6-4 senior guard, launched a high-arching a shot that rattled in.
"Looking back, maybe I should have had a taller defender on him so he couldn't leap over him," McConnell said.
George Jr. called a timeout with 1.7 seconds left, but then threw the ball out of bounds without any time going off the clock. Schenley's Nate Watkins made one free throw with .01 second left, and McConnell was then hit with a technical. McConnell was arguing with an official who made Schenley's Larry Bryant leave the game for taunting an opponent.
"How can you make the kid leave the game? It should've been a technical on him, two shots and our ball out of bounds," McConnell said. "But I don't want that to sound like sour grapes. Schenley is a great team."
Schenley won despite starting center Nate Gerwig and starting point guard Charles Jackson fouling out in the fourth quarter. The Spartans won mainly because of the one-two attack of Higgins, a 6-foot-4 senior guard, and Hawkins, a 6-6 senior forward. Hawkins scored 31 points and grabbed eight rebounds. At one point in the second half, he scored 14 points in a row for Schenley. He made 13 of 19 shots from the field.
Higgins scored 29 points, making 11 of 15 shots from the field, including six of nine from 3-point range. Higgins made two 3-pointers in overtime. Higgins and Hawkins scored 12 of Schenley's 13 points in the extra period.
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Schenley's Charles Jackson, top, wrestles a loose ball from a George Jr. Republic player. (Matt Freed, Post-Gazette) |
"Big-time players make big shots. I wanted to take the shots," Higgins said.
Skrocki said, "Maybe it's magic with this team, but I kept preaching to them that I think we're due."
But it looked like Schenley was due to lose after blowing a seven-point lead in the final minute of regulation. Hawkins scored off a rebound to give the Spartans a 70-63 lead, but George Jr. guard Cedric Horace made a basket and one free throw to make it 70-66 with 50.1 seconds remaining.
Hawkins was called for traveling before Tyrique Glasgow scored off a rebound. Higgins missed two free throws with 19.1 seconds left and Horace tied the game on a basket with 10 seconds remaining. Schenley never got off a final shot.
"It looked bleak heading into overtime," Higgins said.
But George Jr. also had two starters foul out.
"I didn't know what to do to stop George Jr.," Skrocki said. "I tried every defense."
Horace and Glasgow led George Jr. with 22 points each, guard Bradley Warner added 15 and forward Roger Randolph 10.
But the biggest shot belonged to Higgins.
"I was ready for both speeches, the winning and the losing," Skrocki said. "I'm just glad I wasn't on the wrong side."
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