Indiana boys beat Beaver Falls for 1st WPIAL basketball title

The final seconds were falling away, and Indiana's Dylan Stapleton found himself falling down.

But with 1.5 seconds left, the junior leaned into the lane and pushed a pass to his brother Riley Stapleton, whose layup earned Indiana a 62-61 victory over Beaver Falls in the WPIAL Class AAA championship Friday night at Petersen Events Center.

With the defense focused on Dylan's stumbles, Riley was left alone near the left block.

“I didn't really plan on fumbling the ball and almost losing it out of bounds,” Dylan Stapleton said. “Coach just called spread and told me to get the ball and try to create. Lucky enough (Beaver Falls) played help-side defense, and my brother was right there to get the winning basket.”

Riley Stapleton had only nine points but none more important than his final two.

“I was wide open and saw him glance,” Riley said. “I was in disbelief.”

In its first WPIAL championship appearance, No. 5 seed Indiana (24-2) secured the title when Beaver Falls' long in-bounds pass went out of bounds at the buzzer. It was the first time since 1998 that the Indians had advanced past the first round.

“It was awesome to show Indiana can compete with some of the top schools in the state, and we made that statement tonight,” said Jacob Zilinskas, who led Indiana with 16 points.

Dylan Stapleton scored 14, and Blake Shields had 12.

“The Stapleton brothers are who they are,” Beaver Falls coach Doug Biega said. “But they all had been playing well. You had to guard all five positions on that last possession.”

For four quarters, Indiana searched for a way to guard Beaver Falls' Josh Creach. The sophomore forward was 12 of 17 from the floor and scored 26 points.

Creach scored eight of his team's first 10 points to spark sluggish Beaver Falls. A put-back basket gave Beaver Falls its first lead at 23-20 with 4:30 before the half.

“Josh was a monster tonight,” Biega said. “He played his best game of the year in his biggest game of the year. I'm proud of him. I would have liked to see it in a winning effort. But the law of averages was bound to catch up eventually.”

It was a decade ago that Beaver Falls won the 2005 WPIAL Class AA title at the buzzer with Lance Jeter. But this time, Beaver Falls watched someone else make the game-winning shot.

“You win some and you lose some,” said Biega, whose team won Class AA titles in 2012 and 2013. “Ten years ago we won a game that was way more heart-wrenching. Maybe this was the basketball gods saying you can't have everything.”

No. 2 Beaver Falls (22-3), which voluntarily moved to Class AAA this season, had a five-point lead in the fourth quarter. With 1:20 left, the Tigers led 59-54.

But a basket and two free throws by Dylan Stapleton cut Beaver Falls' lead to 59-58 with 48 seconds left. The lead remained one after two free throws by Creach and two more by Zilinskas.

With 25 seconds left, Indiana trailed 61-60.

But Beaver Falls freshman Torian Leak was trapped after taking the inbounds pass, and officials called for a jump ball. Indiana took possession with 20.1 seconds left.

In those final seconds, Dylan Stapleton worked around the 3-point line before finding his 6-foot-5 brother for the winning layup with only 5-7 Beaver Falls guard Zack Duffy able to challenge.

“The guys are drilled: When you go to the hoop, we need somebody on the backside for the little dish,” Indiana coach Greg Lezanic said. “It turns out Dylan never got to the hoop, but there was Riley.”

Indiana made its first five shots and led 11-2 after a dunk by Riley Stapleton, one of his two in the first 4 minutes. The Indians shot well in the first half. They were 12 of 21 from the floor, 5 of 9 from the arc and led well into the second quarter.

The Indians led 32-28 at halftime, but there were four lead changes in the third quarter. The fourth was a basket by Beaver Falls' Donovan Jeter for a 39-38 lead with 3:50 left in the third. The Tigers led 44-38 after a 7-0 run that included a three by senior Keyan Gibson, who had three 3s. Beaver Falls held that lead until Riley Stapleton's winning layup.

Chris Harlan is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.