Saint Joseph’s Catholic boys basketball narrowly edges out Penns Valley
Saint Joseph’s Catholic found itself in a dogfight with just seconds remaining against Penns Valley on Friday night.
With under 16 seconds left, the game was left in Charlie Yartz’s hands. The Saint Joseph’s Catholic sophomore was immediately fouled with his team leading 59-57. He made one free throw and missed the second.
Penns Valley’s Colin Niewinski was fouled and made one of his two free throws. The Rams had to immediately foul any Wolfpack player that came down with the ball.
It was Spencer Gigante.
The senior made one of two free throws, but it was enough as Saint Joseph’s Catholic defeated Penns Valley 61-58.
Wolfpack head coach John Straub reflected on how the team got to 3-0 on the season and it all started with returning most of its players.
“We were set up for success,” Straub said. “We only lost one senior last year. So, we had a very seasoned team returning. We have a great mix of seniors and underclassmen… We really want to set the tempo this year. We really want to play fast — we really want to play fast offensively and pressure defensively.”
Yartz is among the underclassmen who plays with the pace that Straub likes to see. The forward plays quickly, brings the ball up the court and finds the open man with precision. When scoring, the sophomore can find the bucket from all three levels of the floor by shimmying himself open.
His night against Penns Valley netted him 20 points and the win and he had a little help from his friend and teammate Micahel Lower, who added 18 points of his own.
“Mike — he only missed one shot at first,” Yartz said. “That helped us a lot in the beginning.”
The duo played with each other for a great deal of time, dating back to the fourth grade. Their chemistry was evident — finding one another on backdoor cuts, working the pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop game, along with Yartz driving and kicking to Lower, who had four 3-point field goals.
“I played with him for a long time,” Lower said. “I have a good connection with him … we kept practicing and practicing (since the fourth grade). He’s big, but he’s a guard. He can get shots inside and outside.”
Penns Valley didn’t go down without a fight.
Fletcher Ironside and Colin Niewinski were the two highest scoring Rams of the night — scoring 15 and 14 respectively. The duo slashed and dashed through the Saint Joseph’s defense throughout the night, keeping the game in reach.
Even in defeat, Penns Valley head coach Rob Irwin was extremely proud of his younger iteration of Rams.
“This year, our motto is, ‘Attitude and effort’,” Irwin said. “I can’t be any happier with how hard they fought end to end. They just gave great effort, and it makes coming to practice easy everyday because I know these guys are just going to work. We’ve just got to keep getting better, and we will.”
Saint Joseph’s Catholic 61, Penns Valley 58
SJCA (3-0): Yartz 20, Lower 18, Peters 8, Eby 5, Capparelle 3, Gigante 3, Warner 2, Welsh 2
PV (0-2): Ironside 15, Niewinski 14, Butler 12, Brodzina 6, Romig 5, Narber 4, Robb 2
Half: 29-25, Saint Joseph’s Catholic
