Photo by Jim Mulcahy Robby Wortman, 25, of the Crusaders, drives to the bucket on this play during the second half of last night’s PIAA playoff game at Clarion University.

The Crusaders used a slow down game against the taller Panthers.

“It was a really good game plan. If we made a couple of shots in the first half we would have been where we wanted to be. Unfortunately, we didn’t,” said ECCHS coach Aaron Straub.

“They’re (Sewickley Academy) is a really good team and we felt that if we maximized our possessions we could limit theirs.  We didn’t take advantage of our possessions as we would have liked. Sewickley is a nice team and they are well-coached,” said Straub.

“We lost Palmer a couple of times in the third quarter,” said the coach referring to Sewickley’s Tyler Palmer who hit three threes during the third period.

The Crusaders were led offensively by Ricky Pearsall, Tyler Herzing and Tyler Healy with three points each.

Sewickley Academy was led by Tyler Palmer with 17 points on five threes and a two for two night from the foul line. David Bonomo added eight and Tom Droney seven.

“We had a solid season and I am proud of the way our seniors represented the school,” said the coach.

“I am very proud of the fact that the seniors are very good role models,” added coach Straub.

The first period was a slow down affair as each team scored six points. Tony Chiodo, Robby Wortman and Luke Daghir all scored for ECC while Droney, Bonomo and Peter Schramm scored for Sewickley Academy.

The second eight minute quarter found the Panthers outscoring the Crusaders 5-0 to take an 11-6 halftime lead. Bonomo and Droney led the Panthers with two points each.

The Crusaders dryspell continued into the third period as Palmer hit a three an Bonomo scored on a putback giving Sewickley Academy the 16-6 lead with 5:15 left in the third. Tyler Herzing finally broke the nearly 13 minute scoreless streak for ECC with a three, 16-9, with 3:43 left in the third period. Carrington Motley sank a foul shot and Palmer added another three before Pearsall hit a three for Elk Catholic, 20-12. Palmer closed out the scoring in the third quarter with a three giving the Panthers the 23-12 lead after three quarters of play.

Sewickley Academy scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter giving the Panthers the 31-12 lead with 4:53 left. Darren Simons sank two foul shots before Motley converted one and Palmer hit another three, 35-14. Kyle Detsch scored a field goal and Healy connected on a three to cut the Panther lead to 35-19 with 2:29 left in the game. Sewickley Academy scored the final six points of the contest to win 41-19.

Game notes

The Crusaders ended their season with a 24-6 record. They won the North Division of the Allegheny Mountain League and captured the league title. They finished with a 9-3 record in the District 9 League.

Playing in their final game for the Crusaders were Tony Chiodo, Kyle Detsch, Joe Jacob, Ben Nguyen, Tyler Healy, Robby Wortman, Adam Buchheit and Michael Wachter.

Sewickley Academy was 14 of 31 from the field for the game for 45 percent. Elk Catholic was seven of 32 from the field for 22 percent.

ECCHS 19

Ricky Pearsall 0-1-0-0-3, Tyler Herzing 0-1-0-0-3, Eric Wehler 0-0-0-0-0, Tony Chiodo 1-0-0-0-2, Kyle Detsch 1-0-0-0-2, Joe Jacob 0-0-0-0-0, Tyler Healy 0-1-0-0-3, Robby Wortman 1-0-0-0-2, Adam Buchheit 0-0-0-0-0, Darren Simons 0-0-2-2-2, Luke Daghir 1-0-0-0-2, Michael Wachter 0-0-0-0-0. Totals 4-3-2-2-19.

Sewickley 41

Tyler Palmer 0-5-2-2-17, Jon O’Malley 0-0-2-2-2, Carrington Motley 0-0-3-6-3, Tom Droney 3-0-1-2-7, Peter Schramm 2-0-0-0-4, David Bonomo 4-0-0-0-2-8. Totals 9-5-8-14-41.

Score by quarters

ECCHS      6  0   6    7   19

Sewickley 6  5  12  18   41