by Jake DeLuca
The Armstrong River Hawks boys varsity basketball team was able to qualify for the WPIAL 5A playoffs as the #13 seed, and Monday night the River Hawks played their round 1 match-up against the #4 seed McKeesport Tigers at Plum, a neutral site.
The Armstrong varsity boys basketball team made the WPIAL playoffs for the first time in school history. Tuesday night the River Hawks nearly upset McKeesport, but fell short - losing to the Tigers 46-42.
The River Hawks top ranked defense came to play early. Armstrong was able to jump out to a 9-5 lead after the first quarter, thanks to three 3-pointers by three different players.
In the second quarter both offenses heated up up, but it was the Tigers who would wind up on top by the end of the first half. McKeesport would take a slim 22-19 lead into the locker room for half-time.
Much like in the first half, the second half saw the Tigers and River Hawks exchange baskets and leads with Armstrong coming out on top at the end of the third quarter - 34-32.
The conclusion of the game came down to the wire - with Armstrong having the opportunity to tie the game in the final minute. Unfortunately for the River Hawks, they were unable to complete the upset.
McKeesport would walk out of Plum 46-42 winners over Armstrong - effectively ending the River Hawks season. Joe McCanna finished with a game high 15 points for Armstrong.
The River Hawks nearly played spoiler in their second year and were able to improve drastically from their 2 win 2015 campaign.
River Hawks Head Coach Greg Hutcherson talked about his teams improvement since their first year.
“It was a huge turn-around. Our first year at Armstrong was tough all around, bringing these kids together from two rival schools together and it was a 2-20 season (in 2015) and it was a struggle. I felt like that season though allowed us to get our feet in the door and now we just play with confidence. We felt like we belong here, we can compete there, and the program moving forward is on the up and up,” Hutcherson said.