The pressure was going to follow Shady Side Academy 5-foot-11 sophomore guard Kai Lamberson. No. 4 seed Bishop Canevin was trailing at home in the first round of the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs and needed to create extra possessions in the worst way.
The Crusaders did everything they could to lean on the No. 13 Bulldogs, who led by double figures for a majority of the game. But Shady Side Academy stayed steady and kept its season alive with a 61-48 upset win Feb. 17.
“I had no pressure,” said Lamberson, who made seven 3-pointers and scored a career-high 32 points. “I know what my teammates can do. I know what I can do. We are confident when we play as a team. I know we can beat anyone in front of us.”
Shady Side Academy was scheduled to play Southmoreland on Feb. 20 in a game whose result was too late for this edition.
The Bulldogs (9-14) took their lumps to start the season. Shady Side Academy lost seven of its first eight games. First-year coach Jim Dudas said the Bulldogs were waiting for everything to come together.
Lamberson needed some time to get healthy.
“Kai had a really rough road recovering from a difficult injury over the summer,” Dudas said. “It’s been extremely challenging for him. He had to get physically and mentally back into the position to play. He picked the right night to be the player he’s capable of being.”
Bishop Canevin (13-9) had its last lead of the game at 5-4 when Damar Olds made a 3-pointer around three minutes into the game. Shady Side Academy went back ahead with a 7-0 run, started with a 3-pointer by Alex Demchak.
Demchak, who finished with 12 points, played a key role in handling the Crusaders’ full-court defense.
“It wasn’t too difficult for us,” Demchak said. “Every day in practice, we make sure everyone does their ball handling with pressure. We’ll have seven or eight guys on the court, at least. I don’t know. We just work for it.”
Lamberson made six of his seven treys in the first half.
Shady Side Academy built a 33-22 lead by halftime thanks to its active defense. The Bulldogs were focused on creating chaos when the ball went to the rim.
“I thought they did a really good job of being active in their zone, especially in the middle,” Crusaders coach Tim Tyree said. “When we did get into the middle of the zone, they were active with their hands of getting steals and tipped balls. I think that did bother us in the first half.”
The Crusaders didn’t get many good looks at the basket. Shady Side Academy’s defense deflected a lot of passes to disrupt Bishop Canevin’s timing.
“One of our requirements in this defense is to have active hands,” Dudas said. “It’s what we’ve been accustomed to doing since we got accustomed to running this defense. We know the importance of active hands. It’s helped us quite a bit.”
Shady Side Academy stretched its lead to as many as 17 points in the second half. While Bishop Canevin cut it to as few as eight points in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs found enough baskets to advance to the next round.
Lamberson knows the stage will get bigger, but the mentality will remain the same.
“It’s great and I’m ready to keep pushing and make a run,” Lamberson said. “There is no pressure going into the game. I know I’ve worked my whole life, and I’m ready to keep pushing forward.”