Durbin helps SV win at the line
JACKSON TWP — Seneca Valley's Christian Durbin was honored for scoring his 1,000th point last week before Friday's game against Pine-Richland.
But perhaps no two points were better than the two he had in the closing seconds against the Rams.
Durbin calmly sank two free throws with 7.2 seconds remaining to give the Raiders a 53-52 Section 3-AAAA victory.
“Shooting a one-and-one, down by one, there's no doubt he was going to make it,” Raiders coach Vic Giannotta.
After a timeout, Pine-Richland's Ed Baranowski inbounded the ball to Andy Andrle, who drove the length of the court, but his shot near the foul line didn't fall.
The win kept Seneca Valley's playoff hopes alive
“I'm not happy with how we played in the first three quarters,” said Rams coach Brian Gaetano. “I'm happy with how we played in the fourth quarter.
“Give Seneca Valley credit. ... They played with more passion like a team that had to win and, as a result, they did,” he added.
The game saw four lead changes in the final 55 seconds.
Seneca Valley (9-10, 4-6) had used a basket by Alex Maxfield and two free throws by Austin Bream to take a 49-42 lead with 1:38 to play.
The Rams (9-6, 4-6) answered with a basket by Eric Holmes, who was fouled but missed the free throw. The Rams pulled down the rebound and Andrle nailed a 3-pointer with 1:19 to play to make it a two-point game.
Durbin missed the front end of a one-and-one 14 seconds later, then Andrle converted a three-point play to give the Rams a 50-49 lead with 54.5 seconds left.
On the Raiders' ensuing possession, Durbin missed a driving layup, but Beau Barclay tapped in the ball to give Seneca Valley the one-point lead with 27 seconds left.
Again, Andrle responded with a jumper with 15 seconds left, but Durbin was fouled bringing the ball up the floor.
He made the first free throw to tie before Pine-Richland called a timeout. He followed with his second free throw to give the Raiders the lead for good.
The Raiders had trailed 12-6 early before they tallied 12 consecutive points and 17 of 19 to take a 23-14 lead midway through the second quarter.The Rams slowly chipped away and stayed close.“Pine-Richland has a good team,” said Giannotta. “They have a lot of good weapons. Andrle is a tremendous player. They weren't going to go away.”Durbin finished with 16 points while Bream had 10 to pace the Raiders.The Rams received 18 points from Andrle, 12 from Holmes and 10 from Baranowski.”This was a typical section battle,” Giannotta said. “We have two games left, two meaningful games to make the playoffs. That's all you can ask for.”<B>PINE-RICHLAND 52</B>Eric Holmes 5 1-2 12, Andy Andrle 7 2-3 18, Chris Rader 1 2-2 5, Ed Baranowski 3 4-5 10, Colin Jackson 2 0-2 4, Michael Colosimo 0 0-0 0, Dean Steliotis 1 0-0 3, Jim Williams 0 0-0 0, Pat Sullivan 0 0-0 0. <B>Totals:</B> 19 9-14 52.<B>SENECA VALLEY 53</B>Matt Smith 3 1-1 9, Beau Barclay 2 0-0 4, Christian Durbin 5 5-7 16, Alex Maxfield 3 2-3 8, Austin Bream 3 4-4 10, Chad Albert 1 0-0 2, R.J. McCauley 1 0-0 2, Pat Kulp 1 0-0 2. <B>Totals:</B> 19 12-15 53.<B>Pine-Richland 12 12 12 16—52Seneca Valley 12 17 9 15—533-point goals:</B> Pine-Richland 5 (Andrle 2, Holmes, Rader, Steliotis); Seneca Valley 3 (Smith 2, Durbin).<B>Tuesday:</B> Seneca Valley at North Allegheny
