By JOHN D’ABRUZZO
jd’abruzzo@ncnewsonline.com

MIDLAND — Dave Smialowski needed a minute to cool down and collect his thoughts.

And the first-year Union High boys basketball coach had every right after witnessing his Scotties lose a 69-67 WPIAL Section 1-A contest against Lincoln Park at the buzzer last night.

Entering the fourth quarter with an eight-point advantage, Union saw its lead dwindle before Leopards’ senior forward David McCauley toss in a layup with less than three seconds remaining on the clock.

The fact that Smialowski could be heard trying to call a timeout while spectators poured on to the floor as the final seconds ran out made the loss tougher to swallow.

“I always say basketball is a game of runs,” Smialowski said. “Good teams always make runs. Lincoln Park has athletes and I knew they were going to make a run.

“It just came down to us making poor decisions toward the end. We weren’t taking care of the basketball, but we’ll work on that.”

Union (5-1 section, 8-4 overall), came into the game ranked third by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in Class A. Lincoln Park (4-1, 8-2) was ranked fifth.

“It was unbelievable how fast (Union) got the game going and put pressure on us,” said first-year Lincoln Park coach Chris Raso, who coached the Hopewell girls to back-to-back PIAA basketball titles the last two seasons. “Our kids didn’t quit. I don’t think half of them have ever been in a game like that in their lives but they responded.”

McCauley came through with 20 points for the Leopards, scoring 13 alone in the second half. Still, it was Tyler Care who truly propelled Lincoln Park down the stretch.

The senior guard scored 11 of his 19 total points in the second half. He scored five 3-pointers, two of which came in the closing minute-and-a-half of the game.

“We started in man (defense) and switched to a 2-3 (zone defense) because they don’t have great shooters,” Smialowski said. “(Care) was the one guy we had to locate and he got away there in the end. He hurt us.”

Michael Cox followed with 16 points for Lincoln Park. Cox, a senior guard, played basketball at New Castle last season.

“We buckled down a little bit, made some stops and hit the boards,” Raso said. “Tyler hit a couple shots. The big thing was we limited them to one shot.

“If we lost I don’t know what it would have done to their psyche. To see them fight back and settle down was great to see.”

The Leopards also forced seven turnovers in the final period.

“I still wanted them attacking but at the same time I preach patience,” Smialowski said. “I want them to push but if there’s no need, bring it out and we’ll run the offense. There were instances where we were just going in there crazy and we’d lose the ball.”

Jason Burkes led all scorers with 22 points for the Scotties. He had three 3-pointers and scored 18 of those markers in the first half.

“In the first half he was shooting the lights out,” Smialowski said. “In the second half they located him a little bit better. We’ve been waiting for a game like this where he’s shooting lights out because I know he has it in him.”

Matt Adamo followed with 13 points, while Jordan Clingensmith and Linnell Robinson each chipped in with 10 markers.

“I’m proud of my kids tonight,” Smialowski said. “I told them not to hang their head. Obviously, Lincoln Park needed this game a lot more than we needed it. They got it.

“We have a lot of work to do. We have to learn from this because it’s only going to make us a better team down the road.”