At the beginning of the season, Thomas Jefferson boys basketball coach Dom DeCicco thought his team was missing something … missing that “it” factor.
Whatever the Jaguars didn’t have at the beginning of the season, they sure do have it now.
No. 3 Thomas Jefferson showcased a balanced scoring attack and was relentless on defense, steamrolling past upset-minded No. 10 Hampton, 61-48, in the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals Tuesday night at Mt. Lebanon.
“I give all the credit to the kids,” DeCicco said. “What an unbelievable effort they came out with tonight. Every time Hampton made a play and had momentum, we fought back. I think we were just due to win in the semifinals. Sometimes it’s about matchups. I thought our kids were locked in and hit some big shots.”
With the win, the Jaguars (23-2) advanced to their second finals, first since 1988, and ended a four-game slide in the final four. The team they beat in 1988 was Hampton, before they dropped the finals to Aliquippa.
TJ will play top seed Chartiers Valley, a 39-37 winner over Moon, in the championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Petersen Events Center.
“It was a team effort,” DeCicco said. “What an accomplishment, and I feel so good for these guys. They have worked so hard. We were under the radar, and people were still doubting them. They love to prove people wrong. This team has a lot of character. Can’t wait for the finals.”
Nick Trklja scored a game-high 19 points and came up with several big plays in the paint in the final minutes for TJ. Justin Fry collected 15 points and Kane Eggerton scored all 11 of his points in the first half.
Jonas Cupps (16), Gavin Guinn (15) and Zack Danner (11) were in double figures for the Talbots (15-8). Hampton will play at Moon in the third-place game Thursday.
“They have a lot of big scorers that we just could not slow down in the second half,” Hampton coach Joe Cangilla said. “They made more winning plays in the final minutes. I thought we got off to a good start. We like being the underdogs and being overlooked.”
The Talbots were looking for their ninth finals appearance and second district crown. They won their first in 2009.
After Fry registered the first basket of the contest within the first 10 seconds, Hampton scored nine of the next 12 points to take a 9-5 advantage.
The Jaguars got a burst when Trklja came down the lane and delivered a thunderous dunk to get the TJ faithful going.
The Talbots countered with five of the final eight points of the opening frame, as Guinn nailed a pair of shots at the foul line to give Hampton a 14-10 lead.
Trailing 21-14 midway through the second stanza, TJ regrouped and got back into the game with an 11-2 spree. Eggerton had eight points in that run, including a pair of 3-pointers, while Trklja hit a shot from beyond the arc.
The squads split the final 10 points of the first half, as the final bucket was grabbed by the Jaguars’ Jeffrey Raible, who converted a three-point play for a 30-28 halftime lead for TJ.
“We had to identify their shooters and make sure we cut off the passing lanes from the inside,” DeCicco said. “They like to drive and kick, and also their post guy can dish it outside for open looks. We couldn’t overcommit and be sloppy on defense. We contested a lot of shots.”
TJ exploded at the start of the third quarter with a trey from Trklja and an and-one hoop by Fry to go up 36-28. Hampton responded with the next five points and then later in the period tallied seven straight points, three of which came on a trey by Guinn that brought the deficit to 41-40.
The Jaguars quickly answered back with the quarter’s final five points, by way of a trey from Noah Sear and a hard, inside basket by Joshua Gardiner. TJ led 46-40 at the end of three.
Both offenses cooled off a bit to begin the fourth quarter, as there were only two baskets scored, a mid-range jumper by Fry and a 3-pointer from Cupps, in the opening two minutes.
TJ found its offensive spark in the next couple of moments, as Sear knocked down a long jumper and Gardiner threw a long pass to Fry for a transition hoop to stretch the edge to 52-43 with 3:35 left in regulation.
After a bucket by the Talbots, Trklja came through with a big play as the 6-foot-6 forward powered his way for a three-point play to give the Jaguars a 55-45 lead at the 2:06 mark.
“Nick has reached a different level in the playoffs,” DeCicco said. “He has been unbelievable these last couple of games. He’s a great leader, and the guys follow his energy on the court.”
Trklja made another acrobatic move to the rim and secured a three-point play after the made free throw. TJ held Hampton to just eight points in the final eight minutes.
“I think we ran out of gas,” Cangila said. “We had some good sets, and the guys gave me their all, but it just wasn’t good enough. They have a lot of size, and TJ is a well-coached team. We are back at it later this week, and I think we have a good group that will know how to respond.”