Ryan Wass and the Burrell boys basketball team wanted to keep the ball in constant motion.
The Buccaneers felt they had identified a weakness in the Freeport defense before their Section 1-4A battle Friday night at Freeport Middle School.
Burrell’s plan was to cycle the ball to soft spots in the zone. The Buccaneers scored the first 15 points en route to a 60-46 win that put them in excellent position for the WPIAL playoffs.
“We knew the zone they played coming in,” Wass said. “We studied the slip. It was there. We had to keep swinging the ball.”
Burrell (9-11, 5-6) had four players make 3-pointers during the first quarter. DJ Consentino opened the scoring with a trey with 5 minutes, 27 seconds left in the quarter. Wass, who scored a game-high 19 points, made two in the opening quarter.
Trey Coury and Adam Wass also connected.
Burrell coach Mike Fantuzzo was happy to see the synergy. The Buccaneers, who had lost four consecutive games, had been ice cold Tuesday night. Burrell didn’t shoot well in a 59-41 loss to North Catholic.
The Buccaneers made 71% (5 of 7) of their first-quarter 3-pointers against Freeport. Burrell made 12 3-pointers in the first three quarters.
“We put a lot of extra effort into our shooting,” Fantuzzo said. “The nice thing was it wasn’t one person. We shared the ball. It wasn’t just one person, and everyone was focused and ready to go.”
Freeport (5-10, 3-6) saw its playoff hopes take a major hit. The Yellowjackets didn’t wilt after the slow start, however.
Freeport went on an 18-5 run to open the second quarter and evened the score at 20-20 following two free throws from Gavin Tola.
Wass made a 3-pointer to stretch the lead back to 23-20. Burrell stretched the lead to 26-23 on a 3-pointer from Gavyn Orr, who finished with 11 points.
The Yellowjackets were then hit with a technical foul for having six players on the floor. The Buccaneers parlayed the momentum to stretch the lead back out to 31-23 by halftime.
“We expelled too much energy there,” Freeport coach Richard Macura said. “I mean, us putting ourselves down 15-0, no matter what, it’s going to be hard to get back.”
“We’ve struggled on the offensive side all year. When we get down, it’s hard to come back. It’s on us at the defensive end.”
Trey Coury also finished with 12 points for Burrell. Ryan Wass said the win was satisfying after Freeport knocked the Buccaneers out of the playoffs last season.
“We knew the pressure coming in,” Wass said. “We knew how much this game meant to us and our playoff hopes. We came in locked in and knew how big this game was.”