Panthers drop state opener

By Nate Ritchey

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CAMP HILL — No matter how Penn Cambria coach Jim Ronan tried in practice to mimic Trinity in preparation for the first round game of the PIAA Class 3A playoffs, it was nothing compared to the reality.

On Saturday afternoon at Trinity Catholic High School, the Panthers ran into the buzzsaw that is the Shamrocks.

Unfortunately, though it fought from start-to-finish, Penn Cambria couldn’t stop the relentless offensive and defensive pressure of Trinity in an 80-52 season-ending loss.

“When you’re practicing against your second group, you don’t get a good simulation to what they (Trinity) actually present on the court,” Ronan said. “They’re good. They’re a very good team.”

The Panthers’ Preston Farabaugh knocked down a 3-pointer from the top to put his team up 3-2 at 6:33 of the first quarter.

However, a driving layup by Trinity junior Marcus Yeager, a Division I football recruit, 12 seconds later put PC in a deficit it would never recover from.

The next two made shots from Penn Cambria would come via treys as Brandon Rabish, who finished with a team-high 19 points, and another by Farabaugh had the score at 13-9.

A 6-0 run to end the opening eight minutes, including a buzzer beating layup from Nike Craig, had PC in a 19-9 hole.

The Panthers drilled three more shots from downtown in the second frame en route to 13 points. Unfortunately, the Shamrocks couldn’t be stopped as they exploded for 27 to claim a 46-22 advantage at the half.

“We went out and executed what I had hoped to do,” Trinity coach Larry Kostelac Jr. said. “We were fortunate enough to get out a couple of times and see Penn Cambria in person — made some long trips.”

Trinity overwhelmed the Panthers on the defensive end through the first two quarters with traps, quick hands to knock the ball loose, forcing challenged shots and limiting them to one chance on those shots with defensive rebounds.

On their offensive end of the floor, the Shamrocks picked apart Penn Cambria by finding gaps for drives to the rim — some wide open layups and others well defended but converted due to highly athletic plays.

In the first half, 16 of the 20 made field goals by Trinity were layups by eight different Shamrocks which made things even more complicated for the Panthers on the defensive side.

“You see them (Trinity) on film and you know how dynamic they are getting to the rim,” Ronan said. “It’s not just one, it’s not two — almost all of them that touch the ball can get to the rim.”

In the third stanza, Penn Cambria had to contend with Owen Schlager, a 2,000-plus point scorer who is committed to play at Siena College, as the senior tallied eight of his team’s 19 to help the District 3 champs put the final nails in the coffin.

A layup in which he was fouled by Schlager, who led with a game-high 22 points, at the 5:27 mark put the Panthers down 57-27 and kicked the running clock into effect.

“They (Trinity) are the best team that I’ve seen this year that we played against,” Ronan said. “Overall, I think this team that we just played are very big, athletic and they can all score. They are long and they have a lot of attributes to a really good team.”

Despite trailing 65-33 heading to the final frame, true to itself, PC continued to battle to the final buzzer sounded.

Rabish, who delivered five triples on the day, hit two in the fourth as the Panthers owned a 19-15 scoring edge, while Caden Gibbons had six points to also reach double figures with 10 on the game.

“I saw exactly what I thought I was going to get from Penn Cambria — they just never stop. They come after you,” Kostelac Jr. said. “I think our kids rose to that challenge and they did a nice job.”

Yeager and Andre Steele finished with 13 points each for the Shamrocks, who will play Shady Side Academy, a 55-44 winner over North Star, on Wednesday at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown at 7 p.m.

Penn Cambria, which ends its season with a 14-11 mark, saw the careers of Rabish, Farabaugh, Andrew Nagle, Derek Hite, Isaac Strittmatter, Gavin Harrold and Thomas Plunkett come to an end.

“It’s an honor to play in the state tournament,” Ronan said. “I’m extremely proud of the group — extremely proud.”

PENN CAMBRIA (52): Lilly 1 0-0 3, Gibbons 2 6-6 10, Rabish 7 0-0 19, Harrold 1 0-0 3, Farabaugh 2 0-0 6, Strittmatter 1 0-0 2, Semelsberger 2 3-4 9, Jones 0 0-0 0, Marshall 0 0-0 0, Price 0 0-0 0, Nadolsky 0 0-0 0, Himmer 0 0-0 0, Nagle 0 0-0 0. Totals — 16 9-10 52.

TRINITY (80): Steele 5 2-4 13, Yeager 6 0-0 13, Smith 3 0-2 7, Schlager 9 4-6 22, Sexton 2 2-4 6, Brown 3 0-0 7, Lewis Jr. 2 0-0 4, Craig 2 0-0 4, Jarzynski 0 0-0 0, Iddi 2 0-0 4, Kieff 0 0-0 0, Wise 0 0-0 0, Kerstetter 0 0-0 0. Totals — 34 8-16 80.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Penn Cambria 9 13 11 19 — 52

Trinity 19 27 19 15 — 80

3-point field goals: Penn Cambria 11 (Rabish 5, Farabaugh 2, Semelsberger 2, Lilly, Harrold); Trinity 4 (Steele, Yeager, Smith, Brown).

Records: Penn Cambria (14-11); Trinity (21-6).