Breaking News
Late Sports

Ali reaches 1,000 points and helps Loyalsock rally past Shamokin in HAC semifinals

By Chris Masse 6 min read

SUNBURY--The boat was sailing off course. Loyalsock trailed Shamokin by five with 3 ½ minutes remaining in the Heartland Conference semifinals Thursday. As the Lancers broke the huddle following a timeout, they knew it was all hands on deck.

While every player made a positive impact, it was Saraj Ali who captained this ship. And he made sure Loyalsock reached its destination, a fifth straight HAC final.

Playing his first game in nearly three weeks, the senior captain would not let Loyalsock lose. The first team all-state forward played, arguably, his best scholastic game, scoring a career-high 37 points, grabbing 18 rebounds and adding five assists as Loyalsock rallied past Shamokin, 68-61. Up next is the championship Friday against Lewisburg.

Oh yeah, Ali also scored his 1,000th career point as the Lancers (19-4) closed the game on a 21-9 run. Ali had a hand in nearly every one of those points, too. Loyalsock is 72-6 over the last three seasons in which Ali has started. He showed how vital he has been that success yet again Thursday night.

"They’ve played a couple games without me. That forced everyone to step it up a notch," Ali said. "When they played without me, everyone had to work harder, everyone had to work in the same gear, so when we came out of the huddle, I said, ‘Do what you guys were doing when I wasn’t there because we all have to drive to get the boat going.'”

Ali put his foot on the gas, his teammates flourished, and everything came together as Loyalsock put together 3 ½ masterful minutes. The Lancers went 5 for 5 from the field during that time, did not turn the ball over, excelled at the foul line and led by as many as 10 in the final 20 seconds.

Ali ignited the run with a pass and found Gage Patterson who drained a clutch 3-pointer. Ali then tied the game with a drive and, after Nate Bauman made a steal, gave Loyalsock the lead just five seconds later with another score in the paint. The lone starter back from last year’s Class AAA state champion overpowered Shamokin down the stretch, scoring 14 points, pulling down four rebounds and adding two critical assists.

So good was Ali that his fourth quarter performance alone would stand out as a strong game. Ali scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the closing quarter after scoring his 1000th career point in the third.

"I was like, they’re bringing it, so we have to come harder," Ali said. "We came harder, faster, stronger and I know these guys have dog in them. We all have dog in us, so we had to go and do everything we need to do to win."

"The guy continues to amaze me. We needed that from him tonight to win the ball game. It’s that simple. He just came through when he had to," Loyalsock coach Ron Insinger said. "He was convinced he was going to play tomorrow night."

Ali mesmerized but was quick to credit all his teammates who also came up big during the comeback. Bauman took an Ali pass in the corner and drained a huge 3-pointer which put Loyalsock up 58-54 with two minutes remaining. He also calmly drained both end of a 1-and-1 after Shamokin made it a one-possession game and scored six points in the final two minutes.

Brendan Clark and Jaiden Ross grabbed vital rebounds and Ross added a timely steal. Jayen Andrews finished with nine rebounds, Clark six and Patterson’s 3-pointer started changing the game’s complexion.

"I was pleasantly surprised and very pleased that we didn’t lose our composure," Insinger said. "(Friday morning) we’re going to realize we made about 1,000 mistakes and we’ll pick it apart, but they never quit. That’s what I love about this team. We’ve been down a lot going down the stretch but somehow, someway they find a way."

Ali found a way to reach his 1,000th career point despite Shamokin doing its best to slow him. He needed 16 points entering the contest and reached the milestone with 2:33 remaining in the third quarter when he scored five straight points to tie the game 37-37.

After converting a 3-point play, Ali split two defenders and drove in for the basket which helped him join some exclusive Loyalsock company. The game was only briefly stopped which was just fine with Ali.

The points were nice, but they were not what Ali came to the Shikellamy Field house for.

"Honestly I wasn’t even thinking about it. I was just trying to play the game," Ali said. "I wanted to get a dunk for my 1,000th, but I got it and it was like, ‘Let’s keep playing basketball. We have a game to win.’"

This game was a back and forth one where predicting the winner was basically like flipping a coin until the final seconds. The lead changed hands nine times in the first three quarters with Loyalsock leading 27-23 at halftime, only for Shamokin to go up by as many as five in the third.

Both teams took turns producing scoring spurts, but neither team backed down and kept answering. When Ali hit a free throw which put Loyalsock up 63-57 with 49 seconds remaining, it was the biggest lead Loyalsock had held to that point.

"It was a good crowd; good audience. We were only up four at the half, but it felt like we were down because we haven’t been in a whole lot of games like that," Ali said. "I felt like it was a good experience because we knew we had to come back and get that extra kick."

SHAMOKIN (61)

Colin Seedor 3 3-3 12, Joey Tarr 2 4-4 12, Case Lichty 1 0-0 3, Cameron Annis 2 1-2 6, Cayon Miecicki 3 3-6 9, Jensynn Shuey, 5 0-0 10, Joey Hile 4 0-0 9. Totals 21 11-5 61.

LOYALSOCK (68)

Saraj Ali 14 9-14 37, Brendan Clark 2 3-7 7, Jaylen Andrews 1 0-0 3, Jaiden Ross 4 0-0 9, Gage Patterson 1 1-2 4, Nate Bauman 1 3-6 6, Tyler Gee 1 0-0 2, Braydon Miller 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 15-29 68.

Shamokin 8 15 18 20--61

Loyalsock 10 17 12 29--68

3-pointers: Shamokin 8 (Seedor 3, Tarr 2, Lichty, Annis, Hile); Loyalsock 4 (Andrews, Ross, Patterson, Bauman).

Records: Loyalsock 19-4. Shamokin 15-8.

Starting at /week.