Canes knocked out of PIAA's 69-65

Free throws many times are the deciding factor in a basketball game. Most often a team that makes them during the fourth quarter holds on and wins a game. Today at Butler High School the Canes watched as Mt. Lebanon missed four in a row (two fronts of one-and-ones) and made only ten of 18 in the final period yet the Blue Devils' four free throws made in the first quarter proved to be the margin of victory in a 69-65 first round PIAA match-up.

A very questionable technical foul call and a frenetic fourth quarter where the Canes held Mt. Lebanon to one field goal and outscored them 26-12 were the story-lines in the last game of the 2004/05 season for these Never Quit Canes.

New Castle had trailed by as many as nine in the first quarter but had narrowed the gap to three at the 2:00 minute mark. With the lead still at three and just 37 seconds left in the first period, Demetrius Searcy and a Blue Devil each got hold of a loose ball. The two struggled furiously for a matter of seconds when the Blue Devil became unattached from the ball and crashed to the floor. At that point, incredulously a referee called an Technical Foul on Searcy. Embarrassed by his horrific call, the referee then assessed a Technical Foul to Coach Sarandrea for Coach’s clear and concise way of explaining the how wrong the referee was to have given Searcy a Technical.

Mt. Lebanon proceeded to make all four free throws and lead was back to seven, 15-8 as the quarter ended.

The lead had dropped to six, 22-16 at the 4:36 mark of the second quarter on a Tom Canal 'three' but the Canes didn't score again in the period until Chris Harvey scored at 1:51 to make the score 33-18. David Richards hit a 'three' before the half ended but the Hurricanes were losing by 18, 39-21 at intermission.

Richards scored five points to open the third quarter and narrow the gap to 13 but two quick baskets by Mt. Lebanon put the lead back at 18 at 5:40. The Blue Devils kept edging the lead up and after a three-point play held a 23 point lead on the Red Hurricanes with 54 seconds to play in the third period.

Spencer Lane hit a bucket and Anthony Harvey made a free throw to complete a three-point play and after three quarters the lead was again 18, 57-39.

New Castle has responded positively to several large deficit situations this season including the last game against Upper St. Clair but today the offense and defense were both ineffective making the task seem monumental but only to the fans.

The fourth quarter started and two new teams had taken the court. A New Castle team who’s defensive effort completely shut down Mt. Lebanon and a Blue Devils team who couldn’t respond to the Canes’ pressure.

New Castle scored 10 straight points in the quarter closing the gap to just eight points at the 4:07 mark.

Mt. Lebanon had missed four free throws during the stretch and finally made two at 3:21 for their first points of the period and push the lead back to 10.

Lane hit two free throws and Richard hit a ‘three’ surrounding a Mt. Lebanon free throw and the lead was down to seven with 2:11 left to play.

Mt. Lebanon made one more free throw and Lane hit one and Richards made a lay-up and the lead was now just five with 1:30 left to go.

The Blue Devils got the lead back up to six on three free throws answered by only a lay-up by Chris Harvey. But Anthony Harvey then hit a ‘three’ with 47 seconds to go and the score was 65-62.

The Canes put Mt. Lebanon right back to the free throw line and they made only one, to go up by three, but the Canes missed their next shot and were forced to foul again. Again the Blue Devils made only one of two but the lead was now five and only 19.4 seconds remained.

Anthony Harvey made a ‘three’ with 10 seconds left to make it 67-65 but Mt. Lebanon made two free throws to go up by four with four seconds to play and the cause was lost.
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Hurricanes to play Mt. Lebanon
Sat. 3/5 2:30 pm @ Butler High School
How the PIAA selects sites for games - click here

Upper St. Clair tops Mt. Lebanon for WPIAL title - Canes become 7-5.

Hurricanes boys get to play on - Upper St. Clair beats North Hills and drag Canes into PIAA's
New Castle will play Mt. Lebanon in a PIAA first round game.
Canes will be either 7-5 or 7-6 depending upon the finals winner
western brackets
Boys AAAA brackets

Lady Canes lose to Mt. Lebanon 44-36
Girls AAAA brackets

Hurricanes fall to #2 Upper St. Clair 57-49
New Castle hit two 'threes' in the first period but nothing else and trailed after one quarter 12-6. The Hurricanes stayed close during the second period trailing by only five at the 1:50 mark but two of USC's four second quarter 'threes' fell in as the half closed, putting them up by nine at the half, 27-18. New Castle went scoreless the first 3:32 of the third quarter and trailed by as much as 20, 42-22 at 2:42 and by 17 after three periods. But the Canes roared back, out scoring USC 19-6 during the first 6:28 of the fourth period to close to within four points, 48-44 with 1:32 left to play. The Canes had chances to close the gap even more but missed several shots and Upper St. Clair hit 9 of 10 free throws down the stretch to hold on. 
Post-Gazette story
Tribune Review story   Trib photo (Searcy)

Game Note: Former Pitt. player and Duquesne head coach and current assistant basketball coach of Upper St. Clair Darelle Porter left the bench while the game was going on and went about 10 rows into the stands to confront some New Castle fans. Words were exchanged and he left after a couple minutes without incident. No action was taken against him for standing or leaving the bench area while the game was in progress.

Canes' boys likely to make PIAA playoffs even with a loss to Upper St. Clair
This year only six teams from the WPIAL will make the PIAA playoffs instead of the 10 of past seasons. If New Castle loses to USC and USC makes the WPIAL finals, the Canes will make the PIAA's as WPIAL's 5th or 6th team.
WPIAL site

Dates, times & sites set for Canes' playoff games
Girls vs Mt. Lebanon
Saturday 2/19 5:00pm @ Chartiers Valley

Hurricanes move on in playoffs
Girls finish off Franklin Regional 48-41


Boys squeak past Albert Gallatin 51-50 game story

Lady Canes Section 3 Champs by topping Butler
standings

Canes belt Butler - finish third in Section
standings

Hurricanes roll 70-38 over Seneca Valley
click here for current standings and future record senarios

Lady Canes top Seneca Valley 44-41 --
grab first place in Section with Pine-Richland loss to Shaler
standings

Canes crush Fox Chapel 75-48 - to close within one game of first place
North Hills beat Shaler on the road to move into a tie for first.

If the Canes win out, they'll finish in a tie for third with either North Hills or North Allegheny who ever loses their game
click here for current standings and future record senarios

Canes flatten North Hills 76-63
Canes led by as much as 18 but the Indians got back to within nine after three quarters and as close as seven in the fourth period before New Castle moved away at the end.

Hurricanes ram Pine-Richland 73-41
Canes' record at 6-4. Need to be at least 7-7 to make the playoffs. Top four places make the playoffs.

Lady Canes fall to Pine-Richland 47-38 in battle of section leaders 

Red Hurricanes' boys avenge loss to NA to stay perfect in Section 3 @ home 62-57 game story

Lady Canes top North Allegheny in overtime
Post-Gazette story

Hurricanes take twin-bill from Butler
Girls 43-36
Girls will end first half in tie for first place standings
Boys 41-33
Boys end first half in fourth place in the section standings

Red Hurricanes out last Fox Chapel 58-50
The Canes shot 6 of 10 from the field and 5 of 7 from the free throw line in the first quarter and opened up a 21-10 lead early in the second period and the game looked to be a laugher. But Fox Chapel went on a 12-4 run before Tom Canal and Hakeem Fitzpatrick stopped the bleeding by each scoring five points in the last 2:00 of the half, as the Canes led at intermission by eight 35-27.
Fitzpatrick kept it going in the third period with four points and six rebounds (three offensive) as New Castle and Fox Chapel played even the second half for a 58-50 Canes' win.

Lady Canes hunt down Foxes 48-39

Lady Canes win Westinghouse Christmas Tourney - improve to 8-3 on the season
56-41 over Philadelphia University City
55-43 over host Westinghouse in Championship

Red Hurricanes go to 9-3 with 54-48 win over Farrell for Christmas Tourney Championship
Demetrius Searcy with 14 points tonight and 29 last night named Tournament MVP. David Richards with clutch shooting and 24 in two nights made the All-Tourney Team.

Canes beat Akron Central Hower 69-65 to earn a berth in the championship game of the Farrell Christmas Tourney, Tuesday night @ 7:30 pm against 8-1 Farrell Steelers  Demetrius Searcy scored 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Canes. Anthony Harvey hit four 'threes' in the first half and David Richards hit two 'threes' in the fourth quarter.

Canes' boys slide to 1-3 in Section -- downed by North Hills 64-53 After leading at halftime by two, 29-27, the Hurricanes were out scored 24 to 12 in the third quarter to spell their demise.

Canes' girls drop second in a row - lose 41-38 at North Hills

Red Hurricanes lose to Pine-Richland 52-45
Entering the game at 2-5 on the season Pine-Richland hit seven 'threes', five by a freshman. The Rams sat in a 2-3 zone while the Canes shot miserably, hitting only three 'threes' and three of 11 free throws.

Lady Canes drop first Section game 47-33 at Pine-Richland Post-Gazette Story

Lancers no match for Hurricanes 78-60
This is why there are different classes in high school sports. AAAA vs AA no match.

Red Hurricanes stay unbeaten at home shutdown Shaler 58-49 game story

Lady Canes 2-0 in Section -beat Shaler 43-36
New Castle News story

Hurricanes mauled by NA Tigers 59-42 for the season's first loss game story

Lady Canes take section opener on the road at North Allegheny 50-42 New Castle News story

Red Hurricanes' boys win on the road over Hampton 80-64 After trailing most of the first half the Canes were behind by only three at halftime. Defense again keyed the Canes they over took the Talbots and stayed undefeated at 5-0.

Lady Canes beat District 10 power Erie McDowell 65-58 in OT to stay undefeated
Jaleesa Sams led the Canes with 22 points including six in overtime. The score was 54-54 at the end of regulation. Ryenn Micaletti added 18 for New Castle.

Hurricanes' boys and girls both blast Beaver
Girls 44-20
Boys 66-45

Canes double up Wolverines 74-36 game story

Boys & Girls both claim Tip-off crowns
Lady Canes 46-39 over Hopewell
Boys top Latrobe 75-63 game story

Red Hurricanes win Tip-off opener 77-70 over Pittsburgh Perry  game story
Canes to face Latrobe, a 65-37 winner over Sharon, Saturday night at 8:00 pm in the Championship game.

Lady Canes, winners over Pittsburgh Perry, face Hopewell at 6:30 pm Saturday for the girls Championship

Red Hurricanes' Basketball schedules
Boys
Girls

Post-Gazette takes a closer look at
Coach/Dad Sarandrea