4A PIAA CHAMPIONSHIP:

Hershey Giant Center
March 25, 2006

Lower Merion 60 Pittsburgh Schenley 58

From the beginning of the year way back in December we had Schenley as the
top AAAA team in the west and figured Lower Merion would make it back to
Hershey for the state final. But during late December and January LM faded
slightly and with Harrisburg and Plymouth-Whitemarsh sailing along
undefeated we had to drop the two down some. We also had Harrisburg begged
as the top team, but were not sure if they would come out of the east or
west bracket. We never had any doubt tha LM would beat P-W but were
wondering if they could get past Chester. Well it was chocolate town time
and the two were there.

Schenley started fast and led 8-0 out of the gate, but Ryan Brooks and Greg
Williamson had been through to much together to let that bother them and
with 8 first quarter points and the Aces were down only 13-11 at the first
stop. In the second quarter DJ Kennedy sat on the bench for most of the
quarter for undisclosed reasons and guard Greg Blair picked up three fouls.
But still Schenley had enough to hold a 26-22 lead. Brooks had 12pts for LM,
but Williamson had not got started and had only 2pts. 6-5 freshman Greg
Robbins was 2-for-2 from three-point land and had 8pts. 6-8 DeJuan Blair led
Schenley with 7pts and 10rebs. 6th man Deandre Kane, subbing for Greg Blair
also scored 7pts for the Spartans.

With Kennedy back in the game in the third quarter, Schenley started to hit
their stride and held a 41-33 lead late in the quarter. But a missed dunk
that could have given them a 10-point lead resulted in LM draining three
triples in a 41-second span and now they led 42-41. The fourth quarter
started with LM going out to a five point lead, but Schenley came back and
took a lead before falling 60-58. The officials to their credit let the
teams play as they should but missed a foul near the buzzer that could have
given Schenley a chance to tie. To their credit, Schenley did not make a big
thing over the missed call.

High scorers:
Lower Merion

Ryan Brooks 22
Greg Williamson 15
Greg Robbins 13

Schenley

DeJuan Blair 15
Deandre Kane 15
Gerald Brooks 12
D.J. Kennedy 10

Rebounds:
Lower Merion 34 - Greg Robbins 6
Schenley 41 - DeJuan Blair 14

Turnovers:
Lower Merion - 10 in 1st half, 6 in 2nd half = 16
Schenley - 9 in 1st half, 7 in 2nd half = 16

~Jerry Shenk