LEHIGHTON — The Blue Mountain boys’ basketball team had a lot working against them Tuesday.
The Eagles were battling foul trouble, committing way too many turnovers and were on the road in a hostile gym.
Still, Blue Mountain found a way to get it done.
Sophomore Brayden Lewis scored six of his 14 points in the fourth quarter as No. 9-seeded Blue Mountain rallied from a pair of six-point deficits in the fourth quarter to down No. 8 Lehighton 52-48 in the opening round of the District 11 Class AAA playoffs.
Mark Chelius played the entire second half with three personal fouls, while Dean Stramara, Aaron Albertini and Lewis were also in foul trouble. Albertini eventually fouled out with 24.6 seconds left in the game.
The Eagles also had their share of trouble against the Indians’ pressure defense, whether it was a 3-2 zone or 1-2-2 zone, and turned the ball over 23 times in the game.
Still, Blue Mountain survived to play another day.
“We had a lot of heart and I think with a lot of heart we were able to keep ourselves together,” Lewis said. “Coach (Dustin Werdt) kept us calm during the timeouts. He told us how to beat the press and keep our composure.”
The Eagles (12-11) trailed 46-40 with 3:29 left in the game but finished on a 12-2 run. Lewis scored all six of his fourth-period points in crunch time, while sophomore Connor Kerstetter
gave Blue Mountain the lead for good with 2:23 remaining when he converted a three-point play after he was fouled on a baseline layup.
The Eagles entered districts on a four-game losing streak, allowing 57.3 points per game, and went 4-7 over their final 11 games to close out the regular season. Blue Mountain now advances to face top-seeded Pottsville (24-0) in Friday’s quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. at Jim Thorpe High School.
“Our last four or five games of the year, our defense was pathetic,” Werdt said. “We couldn’t defend anybody and we really harped on it here the last week of practice. I was just thrilled with how they responded. We had kids doing things they neglected to do all year in the game tonight.”
One of the biggest was boxing out as Blue Mountain held a 24-20 rebounding edge Tuesday.
Kerstetter, Chelius and Albertini each had nine points, while Kerstertter grabbed 12 rebounds and Chelius had five assists.
In their final high school games, Tyler Crum and Jordan Knappenberger had 14 points apiece for Lehighton (14-9). Nick Chambers added seven rebounds and two blocks, while Knappenberger had three steals and Crum two blocks.
The two Schuylkill League Division I schools split their regular-season meetings, with the Indians’ 74-58 thrashing of Blue Mountain on Jan. 30 starting the Eagles’ four-game skid.
Lehighton was 11-for-24 (46 percent) from 3-point land in that game, while Chambers dominated the inside with 11 points and 15 rebounds.
This time was much different.
The Indians hit on only 6-of-21 (29 percent) from beyond the arc Tuesday, missing their final three 3-point attempts of the game.
Kerstetter also held Chambers to one point, and took two charges in the game, the final one on Hunter Greene with 30.5 seconds left in the contest.
“We knew coming in we were basically the underdog,” Lewis said. “The last four games our defense wasn’t the best, so we really had to strive on defense on the 3 and boxing out because Chambers is a terrific athlete and he can jump right over us if we don’t put a body into him.”
Lehighton appeared in control, leading 44-38 with 3:55 remaining and 46-40 with 3:29 left after a Knappenberger layup.
Lewis made it a 3-point game on Blue Mountain’s next possession as he completed a three-point play when he was fouled during a baseline layup. He then hit 1-of-2 from the foul line in a 1-and-1 situation with 2:55 left on the Eagles’ next possession.
Kerstetter made it 47-46 on Blue Mountain’s next trip down the floor. Albertini increased the lead to 49-46 with 1:44 left as he glided in for a layup.
After a Knappenberger layup cut it one, Lewis scored off the baseline again to get the lead back up to 51-48 with 42 seconds left. The Indians had a chance to tie it with 14.4 seconds remaining, but a 3-point attempt by Tanner Zwetolitz from the top of the circle hit off the back of the iron. Stramara chased down the rebound, was eventually fouled, and sealed the win by hitting the second of two free throws in a double-bonus situation with 1.2 seconds remaining.
“I knew that they were going to be up trapping our guards,” Lewis said. “Me and Kerstetter tried to flash to the ball real fast. Once we got the ball, in a close game they weren’t going to hack us going to the basket, so we wanted to just drive at them hard to see if we could get a foul. It not, then an easy layup.”
Game Summary
District 11 Class AAA First Round
At Lehighton High School
BLUE MOUNTAIN (52) — Stramara 2 1-4 6, Kerstetter 2 5-5 9, Welsh 1 0-0 3, Lewis 6 2-3 14, Chelius 3 2-2 9, Albertini 4 1-1 9, Zerbe 0 0-0 0, Biever 1 0-1 2. Totals 19 11-16 52.
LEHIGHTON (48) — Ruzicka 3 0-2 7, Crum 6 0-1 14, Zwetolitz 1 0-0 3, Williams 2 0-0 4, Chambers 0 1-5 1, Knappenberger 5 3-3 14, Greene 1 2-3 5. Totals 18 6-14 48.
BM (12-11) 10 11 14 17 — 52 Leh (14-9) 12 11 9 16 — 48
3-point FGs: Stramara, Welsh, Chelius, Ruzicka, Crum 2, Zwetolitz, Knappenberger, Greene