Quick start keys Forest Hills boys to win over Shady Side Academy
· Yahoo Sports
SIDMAN, Pa. – The high-powered Forest Hills offense produced an ideal start to Saturday's PIAA Class 3A first-round matchup with Shady Side Academy.
Visit amunra.help for more information.
District 6 runner-up Forest Hills scored the first nine points of the contest after knocking down four of its first five shot attempts.
The Rangers maintained control the rest of the way to defeat the District 7 fourth-place Bulldogs 58-39 to advance to the second round for the third consecutive year.
"I was honestly a little nervous going in because they run their zone really well and make passing angles very difficult," Forest Hills coach Dominic Vescovi said. "Getting a couple of easy buckets to get ahead, I think that made everything easy. We didn't have to press to try and get points, so that was really good for us."
Forest Hills (24-4) will face District 7 champion Aliquippa, an 87-52 winner over Cranberry, Wednesday night.
Aliquippa defeated the Rangers 73-34 in the 2025 PIAA quarterfinals, ending Forest Hills' most successful postseason run in program history.
"We're excited to see them again," said Rangers junior Dylan Stohon, who scored a game-high 19 points. "We're a different and more-experienced team now. Hopefully, there's a different outcome of the game than last time."
Stohon tallied two buckets, Brandon Gregovich converted a layup and Koy McGough knocked down a 3-pointer to put the Rangers ahead 9-0 midway through the first quarter.
Shady Side Academy, after going 0-for-6 from the floor with six turnovers on its first 12 possessions, recorded back-to-back buckets to pull within 12-5 through one frame.
The Bulldogs never got closer than a seven-point deficit for the remainder of the game.
"Momentum's a powerful thing, and it really helped us get this game started off," Stohon said. "They're a great team, and we made sure to really emphasize the defensive practice for today. We kept working on it, and it showed."
Shady Side Academy also played without 6-foot-5, 235-pound center Cam Mallory, who was sidelined with an ankle injury suffered in practice this week.
Mallory, who is committed to play football at Division I Youngstown State University, was held out as a precaution.
"It definitely would've been a much more difficult matchup inside," Gregovich said. "Definitely not saying anything bad about the other player that was in there, but he probably would have made a big difference if he was playing."
The Rangers took advantage of the opportunity inside by getting many quality looks in the paint.
Forest Hills, which shot a combined 24-for-49 (49%) from the floor, pulled down 14 offensive rebounds as a team and compiled 21 second-chance points.
"That was a really big turning point for us as a team," said Gregovich, who scored 13 points on five field goals, all at the rim, while going 3 of 3 at the free throw line and pulling down eight rebounds.
"We thrive on our size inside and our power to be able to get second-chance points and turn missed shots into opportunities. I feel like that really helps us around our game, because we're really good from outside, but they don't always go in, so it helps whenever you can get it back and make something out of a missed shot."
Forest Hills finished the second quarter on a 7-0 run to lead 28-13 at the break.
Shady Side Academy (10-17) closed within nine at 30-21 in the third quarter, but back-to-back buckets from Easton Gramling pushed the advantage back to 13.
The Rangers' lead held at 39-26 through three before Forest Hills went 9-for-11 from the floor to jump back ahead by as many as 21 in the fourth.
Gramling matched Gregovich with 13 points for the Rangers.
Willis Price was the lone Shady Side Academy player in double-figures with 12 points, all coming in the second half.
"For the fourth quarter, the last thing I said to them before our boys came out on the court is, no turnovers this quarter," Vescovi said. "But, I'll take one turnover that quarter. We were able to dictate the game, and they had to come out and cover us.
"We got the shots we wanted then, instead of turning the ball over and giving them extra opportunities. If we continue to play that way, we can be very successful going forward."