Old Forge players celebrate their come-from-behind victory in the state quarterfinals March 14 at Pottsville’s Martz Hall.
Tom Robinson | For Sunday Dispatch
Old Forge pulled off a dramatic victory in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association quarterfinals, then avoided suspense in the state semifinals.
The Blue Devils arrived at Friday afternoon’s state final at the Giant Center in Hershey by defeating Delone Catholic 51-39 in the March 14 Class 2A boys basketball quarterfinal and United 64-48 in Tuesday’s semifinal.
The state championship game appearance is a first for Old Forge since the 1932 team defeated Erie Strong Vincent 31-27 for the title. The Blue Devils advanced to the semifinals in 2001, 2021 and 2022.
Old Forge 51, Delone Catholic 39
POTTSVILLE — Old Forge lost point guard Ryan DeMarco to a serious leg injury in the second quarter and trailed by 10 early in the third quarter before regrouping for the victory.
Cameron Parker was scoreless at the time when DeMarco left the gym on a stretcher with the Blue Devils trailing 15-11 with 5:07 left in the second quarter. The only points for the team’s season scoring leader were on two free throws when Delone Catholic took a 23-15 halftime lead and added to it with the first basket of the third quarter.
Parker, however, took over from there, scoring 15 points during a game-changing, 20-4 run over the remainder of the third quarter and finishing with 21.
“In the first half, a lot of shots weren’t going in, we were struggling on defense, and our starting point guard goes down with a gruesome injury,” Parker said. “We were down. That could have been the end of our seasons and careers, but we never gave up.
“We always believe in each other. We trust each other. That’s my family in there, I trust them with everything.”
DeMarco’s season ended as he headed off to surgery that day, but the Blue Devils moved forward.
“We had to calm down our emotions, go out on the floor and win it for him,” Parker said.
Parker started the rally by working inside for his first basket, then Arthur Askew hit a 3-pointer to make it 25-20.
After Delone Catholic scored, Parker produced the next nine points in a span of 1:29, hitting two free throws, making a four-point play when Logan Fanning kicked the ball out to him for a 3-pointer, then adding a three-point play on the fastbreak to put Old Forge ahead.
Old Forge carried a 35-29 lead into the fourth quarter, then hit three 3-pointers — two by Camren Krushnowski and one by Robby Solfanelli — in the next four minutes to pull away.
Krushnowski had eight of his 14 points in the fourth quarter.
“Seeing Ryan go down hurt real bad,” Krushnowski said. “We wanted to go out there and win it for him.”
Parker finished 10-for-12 from the line, hitting all six of his attempts in the third quarter. Krushnowski was 4-for-9 from 3-point range.
Logan Fanning contributed eight rebounds, three blocked shots and three assists, all team-highs.
Liam O’Brien led Delone Catholic with 18 points, including nine in a 10-point streak in the first quarter to answer Krushnowski’s game-opening 3-pointer. Krushnowski’s two 3-pointers were the only points of the quarter for the Blue Devils as they fell behind 13-6.
“The character of these guys is the best way that I can put it,” Blue Devils coach J.J. Thomas said. “They are a resilient, relentless bunch.
“When Ryan went down and emotions were high, it took a minute for us to get back to being level-headed. Kudos to Cameron Parker, Cam Krushnowski and Logan Fanning. Those guys really put us on their back and you have to credit Arthur Askew, Rob Solfanelli and Nick Salerno for stepping up when we needed them to.
“DeMarco’s our general. He’s the guy we look to for strength.”
Old Forge 64, United 48
Cameron Parker rode the momentum of the second half in Pottsville to a 36-point outburst in Tuesday’s semifinal at Penns Valley.
Parker was 11-for-23 from the floor and 3-for-6 on 3-pointers while making all 11 of his free throws.
Facing the state’s lone unbeaten with a 30-0 record, Old Forge never trailed.
The Blue Devils scored the game’s first 11 points and led 20-7 after one quarter.
Logan Fanning added 22 points, 14 rebounds, six blocked shots and a pair of steals against the District 6 champions.
The win improved Old Forge to 22-6 overall, including 7-0 by an average margin of 24.6 points when playing other Class 2A schools.
