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Loyalsock’s Ross dazzled in loss to the Shamrocks

Loyalsock’s Gerald Ross shoots as Trinity’s Tresten Ruiz (15) tries to defend in the second quarter on Saturday at Pottsville’s Martz Hall.

POTTSVILLE — Gerald Ross stood well behind the 3-point line as a Trinity defender jumped toward him. The Loyalsock guard calmly stepped back and drilled the NBA-range 3-pointer.

Two possessions later, Ross moved to the other wing and provided a near replay. Just seconds after Trinity took its first lead since early in the opening quarter, Ross again swished a go-ahead 3-pointer as a Trinity defender virtually draped him.

Ross was at his at his most explosive over the three-minute, fourth-quarter span and put together one last dazzling display in what was a fabulous junior season. Trinity might have won Saturday’s Class AAA state quarterfinal, 57-52, at Martz Hall but Ross was the best player on the court. Ross scored a game-high 24 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, added three steals and made one last, convincing all-state case.

“Gerald is definitely a go-to man,” Loyalsock coach Ron Insinger said. “He shoots with confidence, he plays with confidence and he’s talented enough that if I was going to pick anyone in the state I would pick him, that’s for certain.”

Ross put together one of the most dominant seasons by a Loyalsock player in recent memory. The three-year starter went over 1,100 career points, scored 544 this season and excelled in all other areas as well while helping the Lancers (22-8) reach the state’s Elite 8 for the third time since 2013. Ross’s 18.1 points per game were the most by a Loyalsock player in the 2000s and he is just one of three players in the program’s storied history to top 1,000 points before his senior season. He also averaged 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game.

What makes Ross so good was on display all afternoon yesterday. Ross scored off the dribble, he attacked the basket and he hit jumper after jumper. Against a strong defensive team, Ross looked unstoppable at times and also played a role in slowing a potent offense that so thoroughly had carved up Dobbins Tech just three nights earlier.

“He’s such a good player,” Trinity coach Larry Kostelac Jr., said. “He only needs a crack and he can score and he scores in a variety of ways. He can take it to the basket because he’s athletic and a lot stronger than I thought. He shoots off the dribble and he can stand and shoot. He’s just one heck of a player.”

Ross has been a marked man all season and opposing defenses are geared toward slowing him. Few did, however, as the HAC-II MVP consistently burned them. Play up too close and Ross can leave a defender chasing air as he blows by. Give him too much space and Ross can make it rain 3-pointers all night.

And then there are times when defenses seemingly do everything right and still cannot stop Ross. That is exactly what happened in that fourth quarter. All those shots were contested and it did not matter. Ross made it look easy with each shot breaking a tie or erasing a Trinity lead.

“I felt really good. I knew my team needed it. I knew we needed points really fast,” Ross said. “I knew what we had to do. They had the big guy (6-foot-10 Sean Good) in the middle blocking shots so I had to start hitting jump shots and they fell.”

The mid-range jumper has become a lost art form over the last decade, but Ross has that skill mastered as well. The 6-2 guard drained 5 of 6 shots in the second quarter and each one was in the mid-range area. His 10-point eruption there had Loyalsock leading 30-24 at halftime against the state’s No. 2-ranked team.

“We were doing our best against him, but to his credit, he kept making them,” Kostelac said. “That’s what very good players do.”

Ross started showing what he can do as a freshman, helping a young team without any players who had significant varsity experience reach districts. He developed into one of the area’s premier players last year as Loyalsock won 21 games, the Heartland Conference championship and returned to states.

This season, Ross became one of the state’s best players.

“It was a great run and it was so much fun,” Ross said. “I wouldn’t want to do it with anybody else.”

Loyalsock would not want to do it without him either. Ross earned all-state honors as a wide receiver last fall when he topped 1,100 yards, caught a program-record 14 touchdowns and helped Loyalsock win its first district championship since 2009. What made him so good in football translated to basketball and that goes beyond talent.

Ross is an athlete who can take games over with his will as much as his shot and he repeatedly proved it this season. That went double throughout the state tournament. Ross averaged 23 points in three games, topping 20 each time. He scored 25 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter, before hitting a buzzer-beater in a 62-60 first-round win over Holy Redeemer. Ross repeatedly hit go-ahead fourth-quarter shots in the second round when Loyalsock rallied past Valley Forge, 54-50.

“He does it quietly. That’s what impresses me,” Insinger said. “He will just go out and get his hands dirty and work hard. He’s not afraid to work and give that second and third effort.”

Ross need not say a word. His performance says everything.

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