Didn't bother Harrisburg much that, through one quarter vs. Central Bucks South Saturday night, the score remained quite close.
That's because the Cougars were playing Cougars basketball, and the Titans were also playing Cougars basketball. And over a 32-minute game, guess who that's going to favor.
The Cougars.
Absolutely seizing control in the middle two quarters, Harrisburg walloped CB South 87-41 in a boys' PIAA Class AAAA first-round game at Milton Hershey's Spartan Center.
Next up for Kirk Smallwood's Cougars is a second-round date with Upper Darby Wednesday night at a time and place to be determined.
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"We knew they wanted to be very deliberate in the half court," Smallwood said of the Titans, the 10th seed out of District 1. "We knew they had good shooters, and we wanted to keep the pace fast and steady for an extended period of time.
"We took them out of their sets. The kind of shots they got against everybody else weren't there tonight. I think our kids did a very good job taking them out of their sets and out of their comfort zone."
CLICK HERE FOR A PHOTO GALLERY FROM PENNLIVE'S PAUL CHAPLIN
Leading just 16-15 early in the second quarter, the District 3 champion Cougars (27-2) embarked on a 14-1 surge to assume full control.
The run started with a pair of free throws by Steven Stoney -- this was a Cougars storyline all night, as they knocked down 31 of 36 free-throw attempts -- and also included six points from Chris Britton and four more from Shaquon Sheppard.
CLICK HERE FOR A BOX SCORE FROM THIS GAME
Ahead 39-25 at halftime, it certainly wasn't over. But the Titans (17-11) were treading water.
Then came the knockout blow in form of a 28-5 run in the third quarter. That's when Jahaad Proctor really caught fire, knocking down all three of his 3-pointers as he worked toward a game-high 17 points.
JAHAAD PROCTOR TALKS ABOUT THE COUGARS' WIN IN THIS POST-GAME VIDEO
The 32-point quarter ended with a running, half-court 3-pointer by Jamaal Carter to beat the buzzer.
When it was over, Harrisburg led 71-36.
And when the game began getting out of reach, the physical nature of the Cougars began taking a mental toll on the Titans. Some pushing, shoving and jawing -- nothing major, but enough to draw some interest from the officials -- was spotted.
Central Bucks South collected two technical fouls late in the third quarter -- one on head coach Jason Campbell for arguing, the other from junior Bryce Dobisch for unsportsmanlike conduct.
"Harrisburg put a lot of pressure on us," said Campbell, whose team turned it over 28 times and lost the rebounding battle 51-32.
"During the season we handled pressure pretty well, but they have some pretty good athletes. We gave up too many offensive rebounds [26], which is something we focused on all week at practice. But you can't simulate that type of height and especially athleticism.
"Pushing and shoving going on doesn't work in our favor, unfortunately, regardless of how well we're boxing out. That's kind of disappointing when you walk into one of those games hoping you're going to get some of those calls, but we had an idea we weren't."
Said Smallwood: "We just wanted to get through it without any injuries. I don't want to comment on the way they acted. I thought we did [handle it well]. We talked about it every timeout. Kids huddled up and talked about it. We kept our composure."
CHRIS BRITTON TALKS ABOUT THE GAME'S PHYSICAL NATURE IN THIS POST-GAME VIDEO
In addition to Proctor's 17 points, Stoney scored 16, and Sheppard and Britton tallied 12 each. Dom Lewis and Donald Ralls shared 15 rebounds to lead the usual balanced effort on the glass, while Dejour Williams racked up a team-high three assists in a reserve role. Ralls and Carter added eight points apiece.
Danny Giaquinto's eight points topped the Titans, though he was one of two CB South players to foul out.
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