Vogt rips the net
JACKSON TWP — Matt Vogt has spent some tense moments on the golf course. After Tuesday's drama, make that the hardwood, too. With the score knotted at 44 and 6.1 seconds left in its PIAA Quad A preliminary-round playoff game with Erie McDowell, the Seneca Valley boys basketball team got the ball into the hands of sophomore guard Christian Durbin following a timeout. Durbin slashed through the Trojans' defense and let a shot go just inside the foul line. The ball bounced off the rim and was tipped by SV's C.J. Brown before Vogt controlled it and put up one final shot. The ball slipped through the net as the final buzzer sounded, giving the Raiders a thrilling 46-44 win on their home floor. "That had to be the longest six seconds of my life," Vogt said with a smile. "It wasn't how we drew it up, but C.J. was there to tip it and I was just in the right place at the right time." "We talked about it during that last timeout," said McDowell coach Kraig Hetz. "You have to box out and rebound. When you don't, that's how things turn out." The victory sends the Raiders to the PIAA first round, where they will take on District 6 champion State College at 3 p.m. Saturday at Altoona High School. "What a great effort by McDowell," said Raiders coach Vic Giannotta. "But I couldn't be happier for my team and my seniors." The Trojans (16-7) saw their last lead of the game when Jason Keim hit two free throws with 1:57 remaining that put his team up 44-43. But the Raiders tied the game with a free throw by Nate Herrmann with 1:10 left.
<table width="300" height="275" border="0" align="right" valign="top" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><embed src="/assets/mov/BE6546634.MOV" width="320" height="250" autostart="true" loop="false" ></embed></td></tr><tr><td align="center"><a href="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/" target="_blank"><span class="style11">Requires Quicktime Media Player</a><br><font size="1" face="Tahoma, Times New Roman">Video by Brandon Gerthoffer</font></span><td></tr></table>McDowell then held the ball for almost a minute, but Tom Kuna's jumper from just inside the 3-point line didn't fall. Durbin rebounded for the Raiders and brought the ball to midcourt before the final timeout. Nothing seemed to come easy for the Raiders (17-8). Sophomore forward Evan Mitro, a starter, missed the game with an illness. Brown, the team's leading scorer, spent much of the night on the bench in foul trouble and scored just four points. Both of those absences led to a stretch of 8½ minutes, from midway through the second quarter to midway into the third, in which the Raiders were outscored 13-1. Still, the Raiders held a 27-26 lead by the time Vogt ended the drought with a field goal. "That was a nice drought we had there, wasn't it?" Giannotta said with a smile. "We were getting shots, but weren't hitting them." Led by Keim, who was the Trojans' leading scorer with 19 points, McDowell took advantage of SV's bad luck and, at times, bad shooting. "Once we settled down, we were OK," said Hetz. "We started getting good shots." Herrmann and Durbin each scored 13 points to lead the Raiders, while Vogt added 10 to the cause. "We played so many close games this year and lost them, like the Peters Township and North Allegheny games," said Vogt. "It's good to win one. It's about time." <br /><strong>McDOWELL 44</strong> <br />Eric Hansen 0 3-4 3, Mike Conner 1 0-0 2, Tom Kuna 1 0-0 2, Zach Stano 3 1-1 7, Dejon Young 2 1-2 5, Joe Letto 2 0-0 6, Jason Keim 7 5-8 19, Colin Kimball 0 0-0 0, Mychal Molnar 0 0-0 0, Jordan Baker 0 0-0 0. <strong>Totals: 16 10-15 44.</strong> <br /><strong>SENECA VALLEY 46</strong> <br />Dustin Anewalt 1 1-2 3, Christian Durbin 4 4-7 13, Nate Herrmann 3 4-6 13, Joe Belechak 1 1-2 3, Matt Vogt 5 0-0 10, C.J. Brown 2 0-3 4, Dan Rohm 0 0-0 0. <br /><strong>Totals: 16 10-20 46. <br />McDowell</strong> 10 11 11 12—44 <br /><strong>Seneca Valley</strong> 15 12 8 11—46 <br /><strong>3-point goals:</strong> McDowell 2 (Letto 2); Seneca Valley 4 (Herrmann 3, Durbin). <br /><strong>Saturday:</strong> Seneca Valley vs. State College, PIAA Quad A first-round playoff, 3 p.m. at Altoona High School
