By ANDY CLOSE
Era Sports Writer
CLARION – For three quarters, Ridgway battled a bigger and stronger Lincoln Park team in the second round of the PIAA Class A playoffs Tuesday at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym.
Lincoln Park (21-6), however, closed the game on an 18-7 run to knock the Elkers off for the second year in a row, 51-34.
“They’re hurting,” said Ridgway coach Tony Allegretto of his team. “We gave it everything we had. We didn’t come here to show that we could play with them, we came here to show that we could win.”
Lincoln Park brought multiple Division I prospects to the floor, and that seemed to wear down the Elkers (23-6) late.
Antonio Kellem scored seven points for LP in the fourth, Ryan Skovranko had four more and 6-8 Elijah Minnie threw down a thunderous dunk that made it 41-32 and seemed to take a little wind out of Ridgway’s sails.
Lincoln Park also forced six fourth quarter turnovers, something Allegretto knows was critical.
“Turnovers have killed us all year,” he said. “It’s the horrible turnovers that hurt us. That’s what allowed them to get the run outs and extend the lead.”
The final score, as one-sided as it was, was not indicative of how the game went.
Ridgway jumped out to an early 9-5 lead and never trailed by more than three in the first half.
Much of that was due to the play of Sam Roselli, who scored a team-high 18 points.
“Sam was the beneficiary of the game plan and he did a great job,” Allegretto said. “Defensively he had some blocks and he showed he belongs at this level.”
He certainly did a great job inside battling the 6-8 Minnie, who had just one-point in the first half.
“We did some things defensively in the first half that threw them off a little bit,” Allegretto said.
This, despite Josh Mitchell, who scored eight points, being saddled with foul trouble in the first half.
Leading 17-15 at halftime, Lincoln Park turned the pressure on in the second.
The Leopards went on a 16-8 spurt thanks to 6-5 freshman Maverick Rowan (Son of former St. John’s player Ron Rowan, who played with Hall of Famer Chris Mullin and spent one year in the NBA with Portland) and Skovranko, who scored all 16 points during the surge.
“We came out in the second half and knew we had to play better,” Skovranko, who has scholarship, offers from Virginia Tech, Duquesne and Elon, said. “I think our defensive pressure changed the game in the second half.”
Ridgway’s leading scorer, Jesse Reynolds, was held to just three points, but played great, according to his coach.
“I thought Jesse played one of the best games of his career,” Allegretto said. “He did a great job on Skovranko and really hustled.”
It was still only a nine-point game with 2:17 to go, but Lincoln Park made its free throws down the stretch to extend the final margin.
Allegretto expressed disappointment in the outcome, but also in the fact his kids are playing on an uneven field.
“They’re playing by different rules than what I can play with it,” Allegretto said of Lincoln Park. “They were a better basketball team and they deserved to win and it’s great for their school, but there’s just something wrong with it and the PIAA needs to fix it.”
LINCOLN PARK 51, RIDGWAY 34
Score by Quarters
Lincoln Park 12 5 16 18 – 51
Ridgway 9 6 12 7 – 34
Lincoln Park – 51
Antonio Kellem 3 5-6 12, John Tomassetti 0 0-0 0, Ryan Skovranko 6 1-3 13,
Elijah Minnie 2 2-4 4, Maverick Rowan 7 5-6 20, Jaylyn Cotrill 1 0-0 2.
Totals 18 13-19 51.
Ridgway – 34
Mason Stark 0 0-0 0, Jesse Reynolds 1 0-1 3, Joe Horning 0 0-0 0, Luke Bobby
0 0-0 0, Tony Leithner 0 1-2 1, Dustin Cowan 0 0-0 0, Ben MacDonald 0 0-0 0,
Jeremy Breier 0 0-0 0, Joe Jacques 0 0-0 0, Sam Roselli 8 2-2 18, Robert
Byrd 2 0-0 4, Josh Mitchell 4 0-0 8. Totals 15 3-5 34.
