LEBANON - When Lebanon Catholic sharpshooter Anthony Pletz knocked down two early 3-pointers in Friday night's PIAA Class A boys' basketball against PIAA newbie Sankofa Freedom, it was head coach Scott Clentimack's hope to get the Warriors rattled.
Instead, Pletz's early burst gave the Philadelphia ballers the wakeup call they needed.
The Warriors' clamped down on Catholic with a stifling zone that contested every shot and made most of the Beavers' halfcourt trips a daunting task.
Anthony Wright-Downing scored a game-high 20 points, including six game sealing points down the stretch as Sankofa Freedom turned back Lebanon Catholic 54-41 at Lebanon High School.
"They're a good team. They're athletic and fast," said senior Timmy Orr, who scored 12 points in his final high school game.
"But I didn't feel like we played the best we could. A lot of shots weren't falling for us, especially me. I couldn't seem to find the bottom of the net.
"But we fought hard and that's the outcome."
The Warriors (13-3), who will face District 11's Pius X in Tuesday's second round, led by four at the break and began the third quarter with a 3-pointer from Dache Tolbert and a jumper from Wright-Dowining to make it 31-22.
After a putback by Pletz cut the deficit to seven points, Wright-Downing scored two quick buckets to push the lead to 35-24 almost midway into the third quarter.
Sankofa stayed in control the rest of the way.
"They were better than us, plain and simple," said Clentimack, whose team was 4-for-21 from behind the arc.
"But it wasn't like we went out there and laid an egg. We competed and we played hard, but they were than better than us. And [my guys] have nothing to be ashamed of, it wasn't like we went out there with deer in the headlights."
The Beavers (18-8), champions of District 3-A, jumped out to a 10-2 lead on a pair of early 3-pointers from Pletz, but Sankofa's half-court defense soon imposed it will.
The easy open jumpers started to vanish and the good looks Catholic did have weren't falling.
Trailing 12-6 in the opening quarter, Sankofa went on an 11-0 run on the strength of Shyheim "Smoke" Landson's 3-pointer and a driving layup from his brother, Ra'shawn "Spark" Ladson.
Spark Ladson's layin made it 17-12 late in the quarter and the uphill climb began for Catholic.
Wright-Downing's steal and breakaway dunk late in the half put his team ahead six before the Beavers clawed within four at the break.
Wright-Downing then took over in the third.
His seven-point burstpushed the lead to 11 and although Clentimack's team got back within two on two straight buckets by Orr, the Warriors seemed to find the right response.
Smoke Ladson answered with a layup and Tydeus Ellison added a jumped to make it 39-33 heading to the final quarter.
"We put ourselves in a hole and we almost climbed out, we just couldn't get over the hump," Clentimack said.
"We had some opportunities where we cut it to six and we had one or two opportunities where Pletzy had an open three and I think Timmy had one where we could have cut it to three."
Pletz, who finished with a team-high 18 points, hit his final trey to make it 46-39 late in the fourth and a reverse layup from Orr (12 points) made it 47-41, but again, Sankofa had an answer.
Smoke Ladson scored off a dish from Tolbert and Wright-Downing added a free throw and another dunk to make it 52-41.
Alex Frattarolli chipped in 11 points for Catholic, which played the second half without junior guard Anthony Thomas, who injured his ankle late in the first half.
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