Elijah Guillroy's 39 points lifts Moon Area to thrilling 67-65 win over Thomas Jefferson
MCMURRAY — With the game on the line, senior guard Aiden Reesman put the Tigers ahead for good Monday night as he knocked down two free-throws with less than 10 seconds to go in the fourth quarter to send Moon Area to the Petersen Events Center as it defeated Thomas Jefferson 67-65 at AHN Arena.
After the Tigers were ahead by two points with less than a minute to play in the fourth quarter, Reesman was fouled and headed to the line to shoot a pair of free throws to potentially put the Tigers up two possessions.
But after missing both free throws, the Jaguars knotted up the game at 65 points apiece. Just one possession later, the senior guard was headed back to the line with six seconds to go in the game with the game in the balance.
Even after missing back-to-back free throws the possession prior, Reesman was still confident in his ability from the line and while battling nerves he went back up and knocked down both shots to put Moon Area ahead of Thomas Jefferson.
“Deep down in my head I was telling myself I just missed two shots, there's no way that I can miss four in a row,” Reesman said following the game. “After making those shots I just told myself we have to get back and make a stop because they almost went down and hit a three-pointer and I didn’t want to foul them on a three-point shot so I had to at least get a hand up. He missed it luckily and we are onto the finals.”
Outside of the two clutch free throws from Reesman, Elijah Guillroy put on a show in front of a standing-room-only crowd at AHN Arena Monday night.
The senior point guard made it extremely challenging on the Thomas Jefferson defenders as he knocked down several pull-up jumpers and made several shots at opportune times for the Tigers down the stretch.
Guillroy finished the first quarter with 13 points and after a quiet second quarter, he continued to assert his dominance on the offensive side of the floor as he ended up finishing the game with 39 points which paced all scorers in the game while also knocking down seven three-point field goals throughout the contest.
While his offensive game was impressive, Moon Area head coach Gino Palmosina credits his development on the defensive side of the ball that makes him so effective and a player that Division I programs are looking at.
“The biggest thing from last year to this year that he has turned in is his ability to become a Division I defender. He is a really good player and I was not surprised at all that he scored 39 points tonight.”
On the other side of the basketball, the Tigers struggled defensively to grab rebounds and get stops against a very powerful Thomas Jefferson offense Monday night.
After Moon Area allowed just nine points to the Jaguars in the first quarter, the second quarter was a different story for the Tigers as they allowed Thomas Jefferson to put up 23 points in the second quarter of play after the Jaguars hit five three-point shots which allowed them to go into the half with a four-point lead.
“They shot the ball really well tonight, Palmosina said. “You have to give those kids credit over there because they shot the crap out of the ball. We gave up 23 points in the second quarter which is not the way that we want to play defensively so we have to clean some things up there on the defensive side of the ball.”
Evan Berger led the offensive charge for the Jaguars as he recorded 26 points in the loss to Moon Area while hitting four three-pointers in the contest. Brody Evans was also an effective scorer for the Jaguars in the semifinal matchup as he finished the game with 13 points.
With the Tiger's victory on Monday night, they will now set their sights on the Petersen Events Center this Friday as they will now take on Franklin Regional in the WPIAL Class 5A Championship game with tip-off scheduled for 9 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Elijah Guillroy's 39 points lifts Moon Area to thrilling 67-65 win over Thomas Jefferson
