PHOTO GALLERY | Greater Johnstown boys hold off Shaler Area to advance in 5A
· Yahoo Sports
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - The Greater Johnstown High School boys basketball team had multiple chances to pull away from Shaler Area in the PIAA Tournament Friday night at Doc Stofko Gymnasium.
But the District 7 seventh-place Titans put together a few runs of their own to either tie or threaten the District 6 champion Trojans in a first-round PIAA Class 5A contest.
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Finally, coach Ryan Durham’s senior-heavy squad delivered the figurative knockout blow in the final quarter of a 68-56 victory.
“We’ve been through a lot of serious games like this,” said Greater Johnstown senior Amier Robinson, who tallied his team’s first nine points and finished with a game-high 25.
“It started with District 6. Worked our way up to Meadville. This is nothing new to us.
“We have four seniors that played last year. It’s just experience,” he said of Greater Johnstown’s run to the 2025 Class 5A quarterfinal round.
The Trojans (19-4) advance to face District 7 sixth-place Gateway, a 49-39 upset winner over District 3 runner-up Milton Hershey Friday. The second round-contest will be played Tuesday at a site and time to be announced.
Shaler closed a 15-12 season.
“I thought we started out OK and then we dug ourselves a hole,” Shaler coach Brandon Sensor said. “They’re a good defensive team and we got a little bit stalled on offense.
“That took us out of our game mentally on defense.”
Greater Johnstown led 17-9 after the first quarter and pushed the margin to 10 points (22-12) after a Robinson 3-pointer with 6:42 on the second-quarter clock.
Shaler responded with a 10-0 run to tie the game 22-all after Trey Kostorick’s driving basket 4:49 before halftime.
Greater Johnstown closed the half on a 9-0 spurt, with senior Messiah Armstrong hitting a big 3-pointer to spark the run.
The Trojans led 31-22 at intermission.
“We dug ourselves a hole. We fought back,” Sensor said. “We dug ourselves another hole. We fought back. It was a little too deep. We fought back in the second half and they played hard.”
Senior Tommy Ashcom and Armstrong hit back-to-back 3-pointers for a 45-27 Greater Johnstown lead at 3:55 of the third quarter.
“We’re good at handling pressure. We work on it at practice all the time,” Ashcom said. “Coach Ryan (Durham) has the game plan.”
Once again, the Titans pressed the issue and closed within 52-44 after Nick Perez converted a three-point play, then splashed a 3-pointer in the final 41 seconds of the quarter.
“I thought we stayed composed enough to get the win,” Greater Johnstown coach Ryan Durham said.
“It wasn’t as clean as we would like, but we’re not going to complain about wins at this time of the year.”
Ashcom netted 18 points to complement Robinson’s big night. Senior Raheem Braswell had nine points and eight rebounds despite playing much of the second half with four fouls.
Armstrong, who fouled out with 5:14 remaining, had eight points.
“At this time of year, nobody wants their season to be over,” Durham said. “Some of us, it’s careers over – seniors playing in their last game. Everybody’s going to scratch and claw to the very last second to try to get a win.”
A junior, Perez led Shaler’s scoring with 17 points, including three 3-pointers. Seniors Deron Nixon (15 points) and Jordan Epps (14) each hit double-digit scoring.
“Both are very good scorers, very skilled players. We’re going to miss both of them a lot,” Sensor said. “Two seniors. They had a great season.”
Mike Mastovich is a sports reporter and columnist for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at 814-532-5083. Follow him on Twitter @Masty81.