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Wed. Pa. boys’ roundup: La Salle rallies late

Down for most of Wednesday night's against Allentown Allen, La Salle's basketball team made one last run count in the final four minutes of a PIAA State Class AAAA second-round game at Council Rock South.

Down for most of Wednesday night's against Allentown Allen, La Salle's basketball team made one last run count in the final four minutes of a PIAA State Class AAAA second-round game at Council Rock South.

The Explorers trailed, 41-31, with 3 minutes, 57 seconds to go in the game and rallied to win, 49-47, on Eddie Mitchell's 10-footer with four seconds left.

Mitchell, a 6-foot guard bound for Rider, carried the District 12 runner-up Explorers on his back for the entire second half, scoring 20 of his game-high 24 points.

His putback with 40 seconds left pulled the Explorers to within 47-46.

After the Canaries were called for an intentional foul on Kevin Piotrowicz, the La Salle forward made one of two free throws to pull the game even at 47-47 with 35.9 seconds left.

That gave the Explorers one final possesion and they worked the clock down to Mitchell's game-winner.

The Explorers advance to a quarterfinal date against Chester on Saturday.

In other second-round games:

At the Geigle Complex in Reading, Council Rock North got nine points apiece from Charlie Anastasi and John Raymon in a 41-38 win over Bethlehem Liberty.

At Wissahickon, Plymouth Whitemarsh earned its spot in the quarterfinals with a 71-51 win over District 12 champion Frankford as Sam Pygatt scored 23 points and Jaylen Bond added 20.

Keith Washington led the Pioneers with 21 points but was held to two first-half field goals.

Lower Merion's season came to a heartbreaking end on at the Geigle Complex in Reading as the Aces saw a four-point lead evaporate in the final minute and fell, 40-38, to District 3 runner-up Red Land.

However, Red Land's Nick Diller hit a pair of free throws and 6-foot-9 forward Zank tipped in a Diller miss on the next possession to earn a tie with 33 seconds left.

Diller finished the game by hitting two free throws with four seconds left for a 40-38 lead.

Hall got a contested look from about 12 feet away for the tie, but his shot banked off the glass and spilled out at the final buzzer.

Raheem Hall led the Aces with 13 points and Eric Green chipped in with nine.

Mike Zangari, a 7-foot center, led the Patriots with 18 points.

Red Land easily handled Bartram, 69-47, in a first-round game as Zangari and Zack combined for 36 points.

The win over Lower Merion was Red Land's third without a loss this season against a Southeastern Pennsylvania team as the Patriots also defeated Father Judge, 47-42, in a nonleague game on Dec. 18.

Red Land advanced to a date against defending state champion Plymouth Whitemarsh on Saturday at a time and site to be determined.

PIAA State Class AA. In a second-round game at Southern, Vaux got 18 points from Shawn Williams in a 59-44 win over Prep Charter.

Williams and Rysheed Jordan combined for 15 points in the third quarter to key a 22-10 run.

At Parkland, Public League champion Imhotep Charter topped Elmer L. Myers, 56-33, as Erik Copes had 10 rebounds and Ameen Tanksley scored 12 points.

At Bethlehem Freedom, Rich Hoskins scored 14 of his game-high 23 points in the second half for Communications Tech in a 49-48 win over Riverside.

Swimming

Holy Ghost Prep's Daniel Gosek covered the 50-yard freestyle in a state-record 20.57 seconds to highlight the first day of action at the PIAA Class A state championships at Bucknell University's Kinney Natatorium.

Gosek's time bettered the mark previously established by Kevin Marstellar of York Suburban two years ago (20.69).

Jake Oeschger of Springfield (Montgomery County) finished fourth in that event in 21.56.

Archbishop Carroll's John Howard represented District 12 swimmers with a sixth-place finish in the 200 freestyle.