Just after his team coughed up a 14-point third-quarter lead, Yough coach Jim Nesser searched for answers Tuesday night as the Cougars prepared for the fourth quarter with the score tied.
“The one thing I did realize was that I needed to get the ball to Terek Crosby and let him decide if we were going to win or lose the game,” Nesser said. “And, of course, he came through again. It’s what to be expected, I guess.”
Crosby, the WPIAL’s leading scorer, was held to a season-low 15 points, but 11 of those came in a pivotal fourth quarter that saw Yough pull away late for a 43-35 win against visiting Washington in WPIAL Class 3A Section 4.
It was Yough’s eighth win in a row since a 61-53 loss Jan. 5 at Washington, and it pulled the Cougars (15-4, 8-1) even with the Little Prexies (11-7, 8-1) atop the section with three section games remaining. The teams split the title a season ago. Washington has won 50 section titles all time (tied with Uniontown for most in WPIAL history), while the one Yough claimed a year ago was just its third. The Cougars won their lone outright title in 1996.
Crosby, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, entered play Tuesday averaging 27.3 points per game. But after tallying 28 points in the earlier meeting against Washington, the only points Crosby scored through the first three quarters Tuesday came on a driving layup and a buzzer-beating follow-up in the second quarter. He was 2 of 10 from the field over that span.
Yough’s star player being held in check wasn’t much of a problem for the Cougars when they held a 25-12 halftime lead or when they pushed the lead to 14 points just over two minutes into the third quarter. But when Washington closed the third quarter on a 16-2 run to tie the contest, 30-30, the situation quickly became dire.
“I knew I just had to step up,” said Crosby, who has scored 1,947 career points. “Got to make plays at the end of the day. Just have to finish through.”
So, Crosby finished the game by scoring 11 of Yough’s 13 points. He opened the quarter with a layup and added two free throws to make it 34-30. After Zxavian Willis scored Washington’s first points of the fourth on a transition layup with 4:20 left, Crosby drilled a 3-pointer to extend the Yough lead to 37-32 with 3:42 to go. The Little Prexies would eventually cut it to 37-35 on a Willis jump shot with 2:14 left, but that turned out to be their final points of the game.
“He’s a four-year starter. He’s a senior. He knows what he has to do in certain moments, and I thought that’s what he did,” Nesser said of Crosby, who finished 5 of 15 from the field and 4 of 6 from the free-throw line.
De’Ondre Daugherty, a 6-6, 255-pound senior forward, scored 14 points to lead Washington, which lost consecutive games after an 11-game win streak. Daugherty played a major role in Washington storming back as he muscled his way to 11 points in the third quarter, including the team’s first 9 of the frame. The final 2 scored by the big left-hander came on a strong finish with five seconds remaining that tied the score at 30-30.
Willis added 10 points for Washington, which never led and was held to a season low in points. In Yough’s eight-game win streak, the Cougars have not allowed any opponent to reach 50 points. The Little Prexies finished 14 of 38 from the field (.368) after going just 5 of 22 in the opening half.
Zander Aird (11 points) also scored in double-figures for Yough, which got 8 points from 6-5 forward Austin Matthews and two first-half 3-pointers from sophomore Ryan Westerman. The Cougars were 17 of 42 from the field (40%).
“They stepped up huge,” Crosby said of his supporting cast. “If they keep playing like that, I don’t see us losing anymore.”
And if that happens Yough will win just their fourth section title and, potentially, just its second outright title.
“That would be huge,” added Crosby. “It would be Yough history.”
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.