With three minutes left in the third quarter of its WPIAL Class 5A first-round game Tuesday, Thomas Jefferson found itself trailing No. 14 Latrobe by eight on its home court before rallying for an 86-79 victory.
Both teams entered the postseason among the top offenses in 5A, with the Jaguars (67.5 points) ranking first in the classification and Latrobe (60.5) leading Section 1-5A. And after Michael Monios netted his second 3-pointer of the game — and the fifth for the Wildcats in the third — Latrobe led 61-53.
After Nick Trklja responded with a 3 of his own, coach Dom DeCicco called a timeout.
“We weren’t getting back,” he said. “We knew what we were supposed to work on all week. And we worked on it, and these guys will tell you we gave up the breakdown on the side, and they hit a couple 3s.
“I think we called a timeout, they got settled down, and then we had three or four stops in a row, and I think that was a changing point of the game.”
The Jaguars came out of that timeout and finished on a 10-2 run in the final 2:45 of the quarter to reclaim a 66-61 lead that they didn’t relinquish. And behind a 20-point fourth quarter, Thomas Jefferson (21-2) put away Latrobe (10-13).
While DeCicco pointed to that 10-2 stretch in the third as the turning point, the Jaguars were in a shootout for most of the game. In fact, Monios’ 3-pointer to give the Wildcats 61 points with 2:45 left in the third was the team’s 23rd point of the quarter. They were also shooting 9 of 15 from deep at that point.
Thomas Jefferson had two players who were more than capable of exchanging blows with the offensive firepower of Latrobe.
To close the third quarter, Trkjla and Justin Fry scored all 10 of the Jaguars’ points. For the game, Trjkla finished with 25, and Fry had 27 points and 10 rebouns.
“I was talking to somebody the other day,” DeCicco said, “and I think in my 21 years, they’re my best one-two combo. And there isn’t a one, there isn’t a two, they’re. Both 1-As.”
After the Jaguars took a 66-63 lead into the fourth, Fry and Trklja scored 10 of Thomas Jefferson’s 20 points to put the Wildcats away for good.
To start the game, both teams had a combined 13 turnovers, a part of the feeling-out process and the nerves. Thomas Jefferson looked out of sync offensively, allowing Latrobe to keep it close. With 1 second left, though, Dom Scarton fouled Jeff Raible, who made 1 of 2 free throws to give the Wildcats a 19-18 lead.
In the second quarter, the offense began to pick up, with the Jaguars edging the Wildcats, 21-20. Latrobe seemed poised for its third-quarter breakout after Scarton scored eight of his 14 in the second. The Jaguars were able to take a 40-38 lead into halftime, though, after a late foul gave Fry two free throws.
In the first five minutes of the third, Latrobe outscored Thomas Jefferson, 23-13. All game, the Wildcats had key offensive contributions from Scarton, Robert Young (17 points), Sawyer Butina (16 points), Andy Tasch (12 points) and Ian DeCerb (11 points), but the Jaguars’ 10-2 run to close the period gave them the momentum to pull out the win.
Thomas Jefferson will host No. 6 Penn Hills on Friday.