OLD FORGE — Old Forge won two state playoff games, including knocking out a Delaware County Christian team regarded as serious title threat, but had its season end in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 2A boys basketball quarterfinals.
The Blue Devils (21-6) fell one win short of their third state semifinal appearance in the last five years.
Linville Hill 75, Old Forge 63
Stephen Smucker scored 23 points and Giovanni Sejustes added 21 Saturday afternoon at Whitehall as District 3 runner-up Linville Hill ended the season for the District 2 champions.
Linville Hill pulled away from a five-point game with a 21-point fourth quarter.
D.J. Fox led a balanced Old Forge attack with 16 points. Cameron Parker and Camren Krushnowski added 15 each and Logan Fanning had 10.
Linville Christian (22-5) led 16-15 after one quarter and 35-29 at halftime.
Fox had eight points in the third quarter when Old Forge outscored Linville Hill for the only time in the game 20-19. He hit two 3-pointers while Krushnowski and Ryan DeMarco added one each.
Fanning was held to two points through three quarters before scoring eight in the last eight minutes.
Drew Tiddons added 15 for Linville Hill.
Old Forge 59, Delco Christian 52
BETHLEHEM — Old Forge hit better than 65 percent of its shots in the first 20 minutes and drew four charges in the last 18 minutes, connecting on both ends of the floor to hand District 1 champion Delaware County Christian just its third loss of the season.
Khamai Orange scored 31 points and made six steals for Delco Christian, but Ryan DeMarco drew a charge for Orange’s fourth foul in a one-point game with 1:41 left.
Orange fouled out with 55.9 seconds left and a technical foul followed.
“Charges killed us today,” Orange said.
Old Forge hit five straight shots early in the third quarter to get to 15-for-23 at that point.
Logan Fanning and Cameron Parker scored 17 points each while DeMarco added 12 despite taking just three shots from the floor.
Fanning continued his outstanding postseason when he made seven straight shots before having his last attempt blocked by Bradford Berwick late in the game. The block left Fanning at 18-for-20 (90 percent) from the floor for the district final and first two state rounds.
“We knew they were a very good team going in it,” Fanning said.
The game featured five ties and 10 lead changes.
Berwick’s 3-pointer created the biggest Knights lead at 11-6 with 3:30 left in the first quarter. Beau Lyren’s drive to open the second half gave Delco Christian a 30-26 lead, but Old Forge went ahead to stay with the next nine points.
Old Forge 63, Sayre 31
OLD FORGE — Cameron Parker led the way as Old Forge shot a torrid 85.7 percent from the floor in the second quarter March 8 while pummeling visiting Sayre in the first round.
Parker made all four of his shots while scoring nine of his game-high 22 points during the quarter.
Logan Fanning and D.J. Fox each went 3-for-3 in the quarter while Ryan DeMarco dished out five of his eight assists.
The Blue Devils pushed the ball up the floor, pounded it inside and delivered precision passes to produce a 12-for-14 shooting effort in the quarter. On one of their two misses, Fanning was there for the rebound and putback.
The easy baskets helped Old Forge to a 28-10 advantage in the quarter for a 24-point halftime lead. They followed it up with a 17-4 third quarter for a 57-20 advantage.
District 2 champion Old Forge (20-5) advances into a Wednesday showdown that could be one of the top matchups of the second round of state play. The Blue Devils go against District 1 champion Delaware County Christian (26-2) on a neutral court. Delco Christian won its 14th straight Saturday.
Sayre’s only lead was at 2-1 and the only tie was at 4-4.
Old Forge held Sayre scoreless for 5:07 while scoring the last three points of the first quarter and first six of the second quarter for an 18-6 lead.
The Blue Devils finished the game 24-for-41 (59.5 percent) from the floor and 9-for-18 (50.0) on 3-pointers.
Arthur Askew entered the game for the first time with three minutes left in the third and went 3-for-5 with two 3-pointers while scoring nine points.
Sayre finished 16-10.
