Coach Doug Kelly has been waiting for his team to go on a run. Maybe this is the start of something big for the Penn-Trafford boys basketball team.
Brayden Stone scored 20 points, including the first 10 of the game, and Penn-Trafford completed a season sweep of its series with archrival Franklin Regional, beating the host Panthers, 52-44, on Friday night.
It is the first time Penn-Trafford (7-6, 4-4 Section 1-5A) has won back-to-back games this season.
“We just had a conversation about that tonight,” Kelly said. “At some point, you’ve got to start putting a streak together. A couple guys came off the bench and gave us a nice spark. We need that. We’ve been looking for that.”
Kelly said Derek Carr and Peyton Mastro came off the bench to give his team a lift.
“When you need to send a message early because guys aren’t playing hard, it’s nice that guys came in and did exactly what you needed them to do,” he said. “Very proud of them.
“If nothing else, we made them work. It was a methodical game, and we need to learn how to play sometimes that way. We made our free throws. That was big.”
Stone connected on three 3-point shots during the first 4 minutes as Penn-Trafford led from the start. The Warriors made all of their six 3-pointers in the first half en route to a 29-22 lead at the break.
Evan Gross added 12 points for Penn-Trafford, which stayed in the thick of things for a WPIAL playoff spot, moving within a game of third-place Gateway in the section.
“They know the situation we’re in,” Kelly said. “We’ve got to scratch and claw to get ourselves into the playoffs. But it’s what you’re supposed to do. You’re supposed to come out and play and compete like they did. I was very proud of them.”
Connor Crossey led Franklin Regional (6-8, 2-5) with 17 points. Jonah Johnston added 14 for the Panthers, who dropped a double-overtime, 59-54 decision at Penn-Trafford on Dec. 13 after blowing a 13-point fourth-quarter lead.
Penn-Trafford didn’t need any extra time on the clock this game. The Warriors led by as many as 13 points in the third quarter on a driving layup by Stone that give P-T a 37-24 cushion.
“They wanted it more than we did,” Franklin Regional coach Jesse Reed said. “They came out from the very beginning and showed it. They were the hungrier team, the team that came out with a little bit more fight, a little bit more intensity, a little bit more urgency.”
Franklin Regional tried to rally, scoring the next seven points to close within 37-31 at the start of the fourth quarter.
But the Panthers couldn’t get any closer. They trailed 50-44 on Johnston’s tip-in in the final minute before Nick Ponko converted two free throws for Penn-Trafford, which went 6 for 6 from the stripe in the fourth.
Mastro made two more for the Warriors with 4 seconds left to seal the victory. Overall Penn-Trafford finished 7 for 8 from the free-throw line.
“They made it tough for us offensively,” Reed said. “You can’t keep playing from behind all game and hope that you’ll get in front late. You don’t follow the scouting report, and you give up six 3s in the first half. Then you get blown by. They’re getting to the rim, getting free throws. They executed exactly how they needed to.”