Greensburg Salem falls short in PIAA title bid
UNIVERSITY PARK — With the huge throng of Greensburg Salem followers standing and clapping, Golden Lions senior point guard Chris Klimchock walked off the court Friday night as a high school basketball player for the final time.
Klimchock, who is headed to Edinboro University next season, fouled out in the closing minutes of a 75-54 loss to Archbishop Carroll in the PIAA Class AAA championship game at Penn State's Jordan Center.
Greensburg Salem's run at its first PIAA boys basketball championship came to a crashing halt as Archbishop Carroll ran around, over and through the Golden Lions on its way to a rout before 8,427.
Greensburg Salem coach Paul Sapotichne was hoping for a better outcome, but didn't seem surprised.
"I was hoping they weren't as good as people said they were or what they looked like on film," Sapotichne said. "They're good athletes and they're also good basketball players."
It took Archbishop Carroll (27-3), the third-place team from District 12, one quarter to get heated up, but the Patriots took charge in the second half and never was threatened again.
Kasheef Festus scored 18 points, D.J. Irving added 17 and Juan'ya Green had 16 to lead Archbishop Carroll, which earned a spot in the championship game by beating District 3 champion York Suburban, 65-57, in the semifinals.
Andre Wilburn also finished in double figures for the Patriots with 12.
Jake Matthews led Greensburg Salem with 22 points on 7-of-16 shooting. Chris Klimchock added 16. The Golden Lions (23-6), the fifth-place team from the WPIAL, defeated Hampton, the WPIAL champion, 46-45, in the semifinals to advance.
"A couple of the players, as we were stretching two days ago, were starting to chuckle," Sapotichne said. "Chris Klimchock kind of bent his head in and was smiling, and usually when you stretch, no one says anything. I walked over and I said, 'What are you guys laughing about?' Chris said, 'Coach, look around, we're in the state finals.' He said, 'There's no Parade All-Americans here, there's some very good players.'
"More than that, there's been some very good people who've played together as a team," Sapotichne said. "And clearly, the sum was way greater than the parts to get us as far as we did right now."
Greensburg Salem trailed Archbishop Carroll after the first quarter, 16-14, after battling back from a six-point deficit to tie it. Green hit two free throws just before the end of the quarter to put the Patriots in the lead.
The Golden Lions tied it again on a basket by Matthews but then fell behind by double digits in a hurry and could not recover.
"My coach used to say, 'Championships are forever,' and it couldn't be more true because this is our first one at Carroll," Archbishop Carroll coach Paul Romanczuk said.
Archbishop Carroll relied on its superior power and quickness to take control in the second quarter, using a 13-0 run and outscoring Greensburg Salem, 21-11, to take a 37-25 lead at halftime.
The Patriots settled for their 12-point advantage after being up by as many as 17 points (35-18).
A subdued Sapotichne shrugged when asked what he said to his team in the game's aftermath.
"I couldn't be prouder of this bunch," he said. "What they have done to our community, galvanizing the entire community, is unbelievable. They've accomplished something that no other Greensburg Salem team in history has ever come close to accomplishing."
