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LANGHORNE – Dante Devine didn’t know how much time was left on the clock when he received the lead pass from teammate Zach Kumor. The Pennsbury senior also wasn’t sure how many steps he took before he laid the ball into the basket at the buzzer of Friday night’s tie ball game against Neshaminy.All Devine knew for sure was that the answer to both questions had to be good as he was mobbed by jubilant teammates and fans who stormed the court after the Falcons’ electrifying 45-43 win over the Redskins in front of a large and vocal crowd.
“This year there have been a lot of sweet wins for us, but this one puts the icing on the cake pretty much,” Kumor said.
The win not only knocked the Redskins out of contention for a share of the National Conference crown, it also elevated the Falcons into a tie for second with the Redskins behind conference champ Council Rock North. The Falcons, however, win the tiebreaker since they beat the ‘Skins twice.
“This helps a lot with (district) seeding,” Devine said. “It boosts us up a little bit, but we’re not really worried about that. We’re just going to come out hard this week at practice.”
For Devine, scoring the game winner was redemption after throwing away his team’s inbound pass at midcourt with 11.5 seconds remaining and the score knotted 43-43.
“I thought I threw away the game,” Devine said, still clutching the game ball long after the final horn sounded. “We got lucky down there with that little mishap with Arch (Ryan Arcidiacono).
“I felt bad, so any way I could help win the game for us, I just did it.”
The Falcons’ errant inbounds pass was actually the first in a series of unusual plays in the game’s closing seconds.
The next one came when the Falcons – who had three fouls to give – tried to foul Arcidiacono, but there was no whistle. Instead, the ball was knocked loose and wound up in Kumor’s hands.
“We tried fouling them right out of the inbounds, but they never called the foul,” Devine said. “Kumor got his hand on the ball, stripped it from Arch, got it back and threw it to me. I laid it up.“I couldn’t even look at the clock. After Kumor stole it, I saw four seconds. He dribbled it a couple of times. I knew it had to be two seconds, and I couldn’t take any dribbles.”
Kumor had a similar recollection of the game’s final wild seconds.
“We knew what we wanted to do,” he said. “It just ended up being completely different. The ball came out of his hands and somehow got in mine. I have no idea how that happened.
“I saw Dante in front of me, and I saw a white jersey try and flash in front of me. I got it to Dante as soon as I could. A second later, Dante put the ball through the hoop.”
After that, it was pretty much a blur as a wild celebration ensued for the Falcons while the Redskins were left to deal with the heartbreaking loss. “It’s tough because everybody wants to look at that one play at the end of the game – it was huge, but we turned the ball over more than 10 times, and you can’t do that, especially against a team like Pennsbury because they’re going to take advantage,” senior captain Steve Warhola said. “We got the stop that we wanted, and it just hurts because we didn’t really control the outcome.”
The score had actually been deadlocked at 43 since the 3:07 mark of the fourth quarter after Falcon sophomore Kieran Bolger, who led all scorers with 16 points, drained his fourth three-pointer of the night.
“Big shots to answer,” coach Frank Sciolla said. “The answering shots – the ones when you’re down three, and if you miss, you could be down two possessions, and he steps up.
“He’s really shooting the ball comfortably. He’s improved all year long. He’s the 10th grader who never gets talked up. He’s like the unknown soldier in this area.”
Both teams had chances to take the lead, but neither could get on the board until Devine’s game winner at the buzzer.
“How about Dante Devine, who has been real good the last few games,” Sciolla said. “He’s been super aggressive hunting his shot, and when he does that, he puts the pressure on the defense and takes some of it off Jesse (Krasna). I thought they did a tremendous job on Jesse tonight.”
The game was an uphill battle most of the night for the Falcons, who took an early 9-5 lead after junior Kris Hassell buried a three. They still led 11-9 at the end of the quarter as Bolger set the stage for his big performance with seven points in the frame.“We have made shots the last four games,” Sciolla said. “We’re not bad when we score. Defensively, we’re tremendous, and we’re in every game.
“When the shots go in, we kind of giggle because it’s almost like a kid who’s got something in his stocking, but I guess now maybe we have a trend.”
It looked as though the Redskins might be gaining control after a 17-12 second quarter burst that featured nine points from Arcidiacono, who finished with a team-high 14 and connected on a trey that sent Neshaminy into halftime with a 26-23 lead.
The ‘Skins led 36-32 after Warhola buried his second three of the third quarter, but a Kumor fastbreak off a Neshaminy miss was followed by a Krasna layup after a Falcon steal, knotting the score 36-36.
“They defend,” Warhola said. “They lost Dalton (Pepper), but they didn’t lose anything defensively. They really didn’t.
“I have always had my worst games handling the ball against their pressure. They get in you, and they get after you the whole game. It’s incredible.”
“That’s what we really pride ourselves in as a team – playing team defense,” Kumor said. “It’s not just one person. Everyone is helping out.”
Arcidiacono connected on a three to send the Redskins into the final quarter with a 39-36 lead. Kumor accounted for six of Pennsbury’s points in the third quarter.
“It kept us in the game,” Sciolla said of Kumor’s effort. “How about the fact that earlier in the game they blocked his shot a couple of times, and after that, sometimes kids will shy away.
“Instead of doing that, he kept attacking. That’s been our mantra – attack, attack, attack.”
Mike Ciotti turned a Devine steal into a layup, and the Falcons had their first lead since the opening half (40-39).Tyler Katz scored on a pull-up off the dribble to put the Redskins back on top, and after the Falcons came up empty on a pair of foul shots, Mike McGarry scored on a drive to give the ‘Skins a 43-40 lead. Then came Bolger’s trey to knot the score, setting the stage for the wild finish.
“This is a bittersweet game,” Sciolla said. “It’s sweet in that we were able to win. We have turned it around, and we’re very happy with the season.
“It’s bitter because Jerry (Devine) has done an amazing job of turning Neshaminy around. If you’re not going to win a league title, you’re happy to see guys like Jerry win it because Jerry came so far from the two-three win seasons. They’ve had a great year, and they still have a run in front of them.”
Neshaminy and Pennsbury closed out SOL play with identical 10-4 records and invitations to the district tournament pending.
“It’s a whole new season,” Warhola said. “Hopefully, we’re a top eight seed. That might not happen, but we’ll get one (home) playoff game. We’d like to come out and show everyone who’s here that we can win – get a good win the first round and just keep plugging away.”
As Sciolla headed off the court, he said to Warhola, “You have a lot of season ahead of you, you know that.”
Warhola had an immediate response.
“I hope we don’t have to play you again,” he said.
The Falcons’ senior point guard is probably not alone in that sentiment as the Falcons have won four straight since their 45-27 loss to Pennington at Villanova two weeks ago.
“It had to be the worst performance we’ve ever given,” Sciolla said. “I gave them off the next day, and we came in on a Sunday, which we never do. We had a great talk.
“We’ve had eight practices and four games – let’s start over. I’m very proud that this group got a home game. Two words come out of my mouth that I have not said all year – Dalton Pepper. We hear it every game – you lost 80 percent of your scoring and 80 percent of your rebounding. Dalton is amazing, but these kids really acquitted themselves well.”
PENNSBURY 45, NESHAMINY 43
Pennsbury 11 12 13 9-45
Neshaminy 9 17 13 4-43
Pennsbury (45) – Jesse Krasna 2 0-0 4; Dante Devine 3 1-4 8; Kieran Bolger 6 0-0 16; Zach Kumor 4 0-0 8; Zach Sibel 0 0-0 0; Kris Hassell 1 0-0 3; Mike Ciotti 2 0-0 4; Jay Jabat 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 19 1-4 45.
Neshaminy (43) – Steve Warhola 3 0-0 8; Ryan Arcidiacono 4 3-3 14; Mike McGarry 4 0-0 8; Charlie Marterella 0 0-0 0; Dwight Williams 2 0-0 4; Tyler Katz 4 0-0 9; Richie Schafer 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 17 3-3 43.
3-point goals: Pennsbury – Bolger 4, Devine, Hassell. Neshaminy – Arcidiacono 3, Warhola 2.
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