North Catholic Edges Quaker Valley In AA Thriller

North Catholic is having a tremendous season in Double A Men's basketball, but it got all it could handle from a fired-up Quaker Valley squad Wednesday, Feb. 13 at Northgate High School. The first-round WPIAL playoff game was tight and tense thanks to a spirited, physical Quaker Valley team that put up a fight until late in the fourth quarter.

North Catholic turned to its big man, 6-5 junior Henry Pwono, who had one of his best games of the season with 18 points. Quaker Valley's strategy was to slow the pace down and be very physical, but Pwono was up to the challenge as was the rest of the North Catholic team, which did a great job controlling the boards.

North Catholic jumped out to a 7-0 lead and looked like it would cruise to an easy win over 16-and-10 Quaker Valley. But Quaker Valley has a junior sensation in guard Eric Noyes who is one of the best passers in AA this season. Noyes made some spectacular plays, some of which were not finished off by buckets, but his leadership kept the game close throughout. Quaker Valley closed with two points in the third quarter and within four with four minutes left in the fourth quarter.

When North Catholic junior forward Joe Long fouled out with three minutes to go, the game was very much up for grabs. Joe's cousin Jesse, a sophomore, came off the bench and provided his usual steady play. Jesse has been playing entire JV games all season, then playing 50 to 75 percent of the varsity games as well. His experience really paid off against Quaker Valley.

North Catholic guard Matt Long hit two clutch baskets with less than 3 minutes to go to keep North Catholic ahead. He finished with 12 points, and his brother Martin Long, finished with 14 points and had some clutch rebounds.

Matt, Martin, Jesse and Joe Long are all related. Joe is the son of North Catholic coach David Long. North Catholic is 22-and-3 and will face Riverside in the second round of the WPIAL playoffs.

Watch Channel 11 and log onto WPXI.com every day for coverage of the WPIAL playoffs. It's High School Hoops coverage you can count on.

By: John Fedko, Sports Anchor/Sports Director