Damian Harrison absorbed contact from a defender and somehow launched a 3-point attempt toward the glass that went crashing off the boards and through the net.
The 6-foot-4 New Castle senior forward put some of the Red Hurricanes’ offensive frustration to rest when he made the ensuing free throw to convert a four-point play with 2 minutes, 51 seconds remaining Friday night at Fox Chapel.
“When I released it, I realized it was going to go in,” Harrison said. “I was going to kick it to the corner one more time, but then I saw it was open and let it fly.”
New Castle may like to move a little faster but demonstrated with a 48-42 Section 1-6A win over the Foxes that it isn’t flustered by a change in tempo.
Red Hurricanes coach Ralph Blundo said New Castle (11-0, 6-0) handled the pace change well and isn’t afraid to dig in on defense and wait for their opportunities to score.
“Just fine,” Blundo said. “We’ll guard as long as we have to guard. They played at a deliberate pace, but we bothered them enough. They do good actions on offense.”
New Castle’s previous season low in points scored came during a 51-41 win over Woodland Hills on Dec. 15 at home. The Red Hurricanes have only been held below 60 points four times, and three of those games have come in section play.
“During halftime, we changed up how we play our defense,” said Harrison, who finished with 10 points. “They are a gritty team. Defensively, we just want to work. We want everything.”
The Foxes (7-6, 2-4) have lost three straight but didn’t make things easy on New Castle. Fox Chapel tied the score at 37-37 with 3:10 remaining when John Rehak collected an offensive rebound and laid the ball in.
“I thought this was by far the most competitive (we’ve been) in a basketball game,” Foxes coach Zach Skrinjar said. “That’s what we have to take from this is that our season starts right now. If we can use the competitiveness, the togetherness and the desire we showed in this game we have good things in our future.”
The lead changed seven times during the game, and Fox Chapel led twice. The Foxes’ final lead came when Joe McGivney, who scored a team-high 12 points, made a 3-pointer with 5:20 left before halftime to put Fox Chapel ahead 17-15.
Jackson Heigert also scored in double figures for Fox Chapel, finishing with 11 points.
“I thought we did a good job,” Skrinjar said. “We followed our game plan. They are tough to defend because they can get to the rim. They made a couple of uncontested 3s, but that is basketball.”
Following Rehak’s game-tying make, New Castle surged back ahead when Cox drew a foul and made one of his two free-throw attempts 13 seconds later. On Cox’s miss, New Castle was able to chase down the loose ball and find Harrison.
Harrison made the 3-pointer to convert what was a five-point possession and give the Red Hurricanes a lead they would never lose. Marino Graham, who scored a game-high 17 points, made key free throws down the stretch to help seal the win.
“We don’t care if the final score is 2-0,” Blundo said. “On the road in this section, winning a basketball game is difficult. We were able to do enough to win tonight.”