By Scott Dudinskie
SUNBURY -- As 18th birthday presents go, it was perfect.
"Couldn't have asked for anything better," said Ryan Reichard, one of four Danville Ironmen to score in double figures in Friday's 68-59 state tournament win over Allentown Central Catholic.
And although Reichard and his teammates didn't play a perfect game, they played Danville basketball perfectly to bury a team that beat them by a dozen points just 10 weeks ago.
The Ironmen hustled and scrapped on defense, and they were aggressive and persistent on offense. A nine-point halftime lead crept into the teens in the second half. The Vikings rallied to within four with 83 seconds to play, but Danville iced the game by draining seven of eight free throws.
"We learned from the Mifflinburg (district championship) game that we can't just sit around and try to run out the clock because they're going to pressure you," said Ironmen sophomore Andrew Andreychik. "We stayed more aggressive this game."
Danville (19-6) reached the Class AAA second round for the second year in a row and third time since 2006. The Ironmen play District 12 third-place team and defending state champion Archbishop Carroll (23-4), a 37-30 winner over District 1 champ Holy Ghost Prep, on Tuesday at a site and time to be determined.
Central Catholic (13-13), a state qualifier for the ninth time in 11 years, lost its third straight first-round game.
The Vikings, though District 11 runners-up and playing on the road, were consensus favorites in last night's game, having beaten the Ironmen at home, 60-48, on Jan. 2.
"Knowing that we lost to them earlier in the season, we had that in the back of our heads," said Reichard, who added his team didn't need to be convinced it could play with Central Catholic.
The Ironmen made only a few of nearly 40 three-point shots in that first meeting, a display that led to a change in philosophy that fueled their run to a second district title in five seasons.
"That's when we started to work it inside more, after that game, and you saw the results with the Mike-and-Mike Show,'" said Danville coach Lenny Smith. "I thought Mikeal Owens-Wright and Michael Rudy played excellent (Friday)."
Rudy, a 6-foot-5 senior, scored a game-high 19 points -- 13 in the second half on 6-of-6 shooting -- while Owens-Wright, a 6-2 junior, added 15. Together, the Ironmen bigs shot 15-for-24, grabbed 13 rebounds, made five steals and blocked three shots.
"Our guards made some great passes, driving and dishing off to us," said Rudy.
Reichard added 11 points and Andreychik had 10. Junior Zach Russell, who made four huge fourth-quarter foul shots, finished with nine points.
The Ironmen played terrific defense in the early going, forcing as many turnovers (seven) as the Vikings had shots. Owens-Wright had three steals in the period, baiting Central Catholic into long passes and leaping to snare them.
A 9-2 run gave Danville a 17-11 lead early in the second quarter, and a Russell 3-pointer made it a nine-point margin with 2:38 left in the half.
"(The key was) us reacting to their pressure," said Reichard. "We didn't get intimidated or press. We worked the ball around for easy points and we didn't force any shots at all."
The Vikings started 6-6 David McFadden and a pair of 6-3 juniors who were all seemingly twice as thick as Rudy or Owens-Wright. Yet the Ironmen battled to alter shots and won loose balls and rebounds.
"I just tried to play tough defense, slide my feet to stay in front of them and make them shoot over me," said Rudy, who had two blocks. "Then I had to get them out of there so they couldn't get second chances."
Rudy scored six points and pulled three boards in the third quarter as Danville's lead reached 13 at the 2-minute mark. Central Catholic cut its deficit to five early in the fourth, but Rudy ran off seven straight points for a 53-43 lead.
"(Rudy's) not going to be able to play toe-to-toe with those kids ... but he can use his length and quickness," said Smith. "Where he can do damage is running the court in press break and cutting to the basket."
Andreychik had three assists in the fourth, helping break the Vikings' swarming trap with sharp passes to the baseline.
"We knew they were aggressive (defensively) and that they were going to try to jump passes," Andreychik said. "They'd do a double-team and we'd have someone wide-open under the hoop. All we had to do was find them."
McFadden scored five of his team-high 18 in the fourth, and Brendan Dooley added eight of his 17, including a layup off a steal that made it 59-55 with 1:23 to play. Owens-Wright scored five points down the stretch, four at the line, and Russell and Andreychik each hit pair of foul shots.
"We always want to keep our foot down," said Reichard, who was serenaded with "Happy Birthday" by the Danville student section. "We want to keep it an uptempo game to keep the pressure on."
