Mar 10, 2025
03/08/25 Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Bishop Guilfoyle’s Nick Foor is fouled by Bishop Canevin’s Raukeem Hawkins Jr.
By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
Bishop Guilfoyle Academy boys basketball coach Ryan Lestochi said that his team has established a pattern of starting the third quarter of its games strong all season long.
That happened again Saturday evening, when BG opened the third quarter with a 13-point run to break open what had been a close game at halftime and defeat Bishop Canevin, 57-38, in a PIAA Class 3A first-round playoff game at the Pleasant Valley gymnasium.
Junior forward Taurean Consiglio scored three big buckets to ignite the third-quarter surge, which helped BG improve its season record to 23-4 and earned the Marauders a second-round playoff matchup against WPIAL champion South Allegheny at 7:30 Wednesday at Armstrong High School in Kittanning.
South Allegheny advanced to the second round with a 75-37 first-round victory over Cranberry on Saturday.
Canevin, the fourth-place finisher out of the WPIAL tournament, matched Guilfoyle’s speed, physicality and athleticism in the first half, but the game tilted the Marauders’ way in the third quarter, when BG went on its scoring run and Canevin missed its first eight shots from the floor.
“Honestly, we’ve been really good in the third quarter most of this season,” Lestochi said. “I thought that our defensive pressure eventually caught up to (Canevin), and we were getting big shots and breakout layups in the second half.”
Senior forward Hamilton Gates led BG with 17 points, which tied him for game scoring honors with Canevin junior forward Drew Allen. Senior guard Nick Foor chipped in 15 points and Consiglio added 13 for the Marauders, who trailed 8-3 to begin the game and led by only five points, 27-22, at intermission before gaining separation in the third period.
“The scoring balance has been our hallmark all year,” Lestochi said. “It doesn’t matter to our players who gets the shots, or who plays. We’ve had seven guys reach double figures for us in our games this year.”
Consiglio got the ball rolling for the Marauders in the third quarter with a field goal from the inside, then quickly followed that up with a steal and a layup. After Foor hit a pair of free throws, Consiglio drove for another layup, helping BG to a 35-22 lead.
Foor’s floater from the key accounted for another field goal, and sophomore guard Troy Ruggery drained a 3-pointer to cap off the rally and stake the Marauders to an 18-point, 40-22 advantage that essentially put the game out of Canevin’s reach.
“We stayed in a man defense, and we definitely came out more aggressive (in the third quarter),” Consiglio said. “Some people think that the teams from the WPIAL are better than any other team, but we’ve got some hoopers here in Central Pa., and we can compete with any team.”
Allen pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds and senior forward Lamier Wade had nine rebounds for Canevin, but Lestochi felt that the Marauders — who got a team-high eight rebounds from Gates — did a good job on the boards in the second half.
Lestochi gave credit to the Kissell brothers — senior Chase and junior Jake — along with sophomore Grant Okonak, for their contributions in the paint.
“(Canevin) is a great offensive rebounding team, but the Kissell brothers and Grant Okonak worked their butts off on the boards for us, and I thought that was a factor in the outcome,” Lestochi said.
Canevin — which held a 29-24 edge in rebounds and also got 10 points from Wade — finished its season with a 15-12 record, and its head coach, Aaron McGee, also pointed to the tell-tale third quarter in the game.
“The third quarter killed us,” McGee said. “We knew coming into the third quarter that we had to do a good job to get back in control of the game, but they went on that run, and they disrupted us.
“They got on the glass and rebounded well, and turned their defense into offense, which is a credit to them,” McGee said of the Marauders. “This was a good atmosphere for a game, they’re a well-coached, extremely good basketball team, and I wish them the best of luck in the rest of the playoffs.”
BG has a challenging road ahead in its playoff journey, starting with the 19-3 South Allegheny team on Wednesday, but Lestochi and his players feel that they’re going to be right in the thick of things in their bid to win a state championship later this month.
“Today was a great team win for us, and we’re happy to be moving on to the second round,” Lestochi said. “This is where we expected to be, and we feel that we can compete with anybody in the state.”
BISHOP CANEVIN (38): Allen 8 1-3 17, Wade 4 2-2 10, Maddix 3 0-0 6, E. Benton 1 0-0 2, Hawkins 0 0-0 0, Olds 1 0-0 3. Totals — 17 3-5 38.
BISHOP GUILFOYLE (57): Lestochi 0 0-0 0, Consiglio 6 0-0 13, Ruggery 3 0-0 8, Foor 4 5-5 15, J. Kissell 2 0-2 4, Gates 8 1-1 17, C. Kissell 0 0-0 0, G. Okonak 0 0-0 0. Totals — 23 6-8 57.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bishop Canevin 12 10 4 12–38
Bishop Guilfoyle 14 13 15 15–57
3-point goals: Bishop Canevin 1 (Olds); Bishop Guilfoyle 5 (Ruggery 2, Foor 2, Consiglio)
Records: Bishop Canevin (15-11); Bishop Guilfoyle (23-4).
Officials: Mike Price, Mike Baum, Harrold.
By Dave Mackall For the Mirror CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP — Family members and fans of the Penn Cambria girls …
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