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Dalessandro's dunk punctuates Conwell-Egan state playoff win

At 6-foot-7 and 220 pounds, Vinny Dalessandro is a powerful force down low for Conwell-Egan. The junior forward is a capable shooter and tenacious rebounder, but when his size-16 sneakers get airborne, the Levittown resident is also a powerful dunker.

At 6-foot-7 and 220 pounds, Vinny Dalessandro is a powerful force down low for Conwell-Egan.

The junior forward is a capable shooter and tenacious rebounder, but when his size-16 sneakers get airborne, the Levittown resident is also a powerful dunker.

Well, most of the time.

Dalessandro's 15 points and seven rebounds helped the Eagles beat Camp Hill, 71-54, on Saturday in PIAA Class AA first-round action at Archbishop Ryan.

However, a pair of dunks he missed when the game was still close caused Dalessandro's coach, Frank Sciolla, some discomfort.

Sciolla made his angst known during his star forward's postgame interview.

"Almost took the rim off the backboard," Sciolla joked as he walked by. "Almost shaved four years off my life."

His first miss clanged hard off the back rim early in the third quarter.

"I thought I had it, I thought I had it," Dalessandro said, smiling. "It hit the back of the rim, but it's whatever. I made up for it with the other one."

On Dalessandro's next attempt at a dunk, the ball rolled around the rim and dropped in, but he hung on the rim and was called for offensive goaltending.

"It went in and out because the kid was underneath me, and I didn't want to fall on top of him so I hung on the rim and it spun around," he said.

The redemption was sweet when Dalessandro received a pass from Stevie Jordan a few possessions later. His two-handed slam elicited a boisterous cheer from the C-E faithful.

"When I saw Stevie get it, I said, 'I'm putting this one down,' " he said. "Right when he gave it to me, I thought, 'One dribble and I'm throwing this one down for the whole crowd.' "

Jordan scored a game-high 22. LaPri McCray was all-around stellar with 16 points, five rebounds and three assists. Sean Kelly added 14 points.

David Fetrow led Camp Hill with 15 points.

The Eagles (17-8, 8-5) will face District 11's Mahanoy Area on Wednesday. The site and time will be determined later.

Camp Hill 12 13 14 15 - 54

Conwell-Egan 20 9 26 16 - 71

CH: Marck Leach 7, Zack Kuntz 8, David Fetrow 15, Jack Dunphy 4, Deshawn Franklin 14, Casey Caruso 6.

C-E: LaPri McCray-Pace 16, Chase Kumor 1, Vinny Dalessandro 15, Sean Kelly 14, Karron Johnson 3, Stevie Jordan 22.