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Catholic stuns ’Jackets

WILLIAMSTOWN – A freshman helped lead the way.

Cade Ullman scored 18 points, including two clutch freebies at crunch time, as Parkersburg Catholic staged a second-half rally to defeat host and fifth-ranked Williamstown High, 57-53, in a sectional boys basketball semifinal Tuesday night.

“I just took a deep breath and followed though,” said the 5-foot-9 Ullman of his two foul shots that gave the Crusaders a four-point cushion with 3.7 seconds left on the game clock. “I’m kind of excited.”

Catholic (13-11) will now advance and play Doddridge County in a sectional championship game Friday night.

“Cade doesn’t play like a freshman,” said PCHS head coach Rob Strcula.

Junior A.J. Collins added 15 points, while junior Logan Plummer contributed 10 markers for the winners.

Williamstown finished its season with a 19-3 overall mark. The Yellowjackets, who defeated the Crusaders twice in close games during regular-season play, were paced by junior Isaac Brown’s game-high 23 points. Senior Riley Allen was the maroon and gold’s only other double-digit scorer with 11 points.

“We had a real good season,” said WHS boss Scott Sauro. “And this game tonight does not define us.

“I would like to give Catholic credit. They did a lot of nice things on defense.”

Said Strcula, “You know, in all three games that we played Williamstown this season, I think they could’ve gone either way. Williamstown has so many good players.

“I was sick yesterday, and I just want to thank my assistants for stepping up with a good game plan.”

While Catholic scored the first basket of the contest, Williamstown led for most of the first quarter. Aaron Bordas provided a spark off the Yellowjacket bench, scoring five points to make it 13-5.

But the Crusaders closed out the opening stanza with a 5-0 run on a pair of free-throws by Collins and a triple by Plummer to cut it to three, 13-10.

In the second period, the Jackets led the entire way, thanks to 16 points by Brown. The 6-2 junior sharpshooter was red-hot from the perimeter, draining four trifectas.

“He was really lighting us up,” said Ullman. “I know I took a turn at guarding him and just tried to put a hand in his face.”

While Brown was sizzling and helping the Yellowjackets take a double-digit advantage, 32-20, the Crusaders didn’t fold. Again, the Fairview Avenue school had a good close-out with a 6-0 run on two points apiece Ullman, Collins, and Ty Sturm.

At the intermission, Catholic trailed 32-26.

“In the first half, our timing was off, and we just needed to settle down and relax,” Strcula said.

“As for Brown, we just had to know where he was on the court (in the second half).”

The third quarter proved to be pivotal as PCHS outpointed Williamstown, 15-3. Getting things started, Collins buried a three. That was followed by a nice driving, left-handed layup by Ullman to reduce the deficit to one. Then, Collins knocked down another trey to give the Crusaders their first lead since their opening bucket of the game.

At the 5:02 mark, Williamstown called timeout. When play was resumed, Allen was fouled and was able to convert one of two at the line to cut it to 34-33.

Catholic non-starter Austin Sweeney and Ullman then made back-to-back treys to give their team a 40-33 lead.

Meanwhile, Williamstown didn’t score its first field goal of the second half until there were two minutes remaining in the third. Brad Alsup got the bucket on a drive and score.

Going into the final eight minutes of play, Catholic led 41-35.

“I’d like to have six minutes of that third quarter back,” Sauro said.

Early in the fourth quarter, Collins’ 3-pointer gave the Crusaders their first double-digit lead of the contest, 47-36. But the Jackets battled back with Josh Folwell and Brown hitting triples, and Landon Travis scoring six points in the period.

With under a minute to play, WHS cut it to two points, 55-53, on a Travis basket.

Catholic turned the ball over with 23 ticks left but then got it back on a jumpball with 3.7 seconds remaining. After a Crusader timeout, Ullman was fouled, and the ninth-grader provided the insurance free-throws and winning margin.

“I thought our kids kept their composure in the second half, and our timing was perfect,” Strcula said. “That’s why we were getting some good looks on offense.”

Said Sauro, “We struggled in the second half, and I thought we were reluctant to shoot it at times. Defensively, Catholic played mostly zone with a little bit of junk (on Brown).”

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