BETHLEHEM — Old Forge combined offensive balance and clutch foul shooting to produce its fourth trip to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 2A boys basketball state quarterfinals in the past six years.
Cameron Parker scored 18 points, and three teammates added at least 13, on Wednesday night when the Blue Devils turned away District 1 champion Delaware County Christian 62-53 in a second-round game at Liberty High School.
Arthur Askew came off the bench to join Logan Fanning in producing 14 points each, while Ryan DeMarco was scoring 13.
Askew made all five of his free throws, including four in the final 1:25 when the Blue Devils were 11-for-13 at the line to hold off Delco Christian’s attempts to wipe out a 15-point deficit.
The Blue Devils were playing Delone Catholic Saturday afternoon in the quarterfinals at Pottsville.
Parker scored six of Old Forge’s eight points in the third quarter and had six more in the fourth. His three-point play with 44.5 seconds included the only field goal by the Blue Devils in the last 2:20 as they held on after the Knights got within 47-40.
Askew was 3-for-4 from the 3-point range and dished out four assists in addition to his foul shooting.
Fanning was 6-for-10 from the floor while adding six rebounds and two blocked shots.
DeMarco, who also had a team-high seven rebounds, got the Old Forge offense started with help from Askew.
The Blue Devils trailed 6-2 more than five minutes into the game.
DeMarco followed up an Askew corner 3-pointer by scoring the next seven points for a 12-6 lead. The Blue Devils scored 12 of the last 13 points to end the first quarter with a 14-7 lead.
The run extended to 16-1 when DeMarco converted his own rebound for an 18-7 lead.
Old Forge built its first 15-point lead with an 8-0 burst over the final 1:15 of the half on five straight points by Parker and a 3-pointer by DeMarco.
The lead got that high three more times before Delco Christian chipped away with a 28-point fourth quarter.
Old Forge 79, East Juniata 37
Old Forge showed it was ready for the start of the state tournament, March 7, when it scored 51 points in the first half of the home-court rout of East Juniata.
Cameron Parker scored a game-high 24 points and added three steals. Logan Fanning scored 21 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and blocked three shots. Ryan DeMarco had five assists.
Parker and Fanning each had a 13-point quarter. Parker did his damage in the first quarter for a 23-10 start. Fanning led the way in the second quarter when the Blue Devils blew the game open 51-16.
