Pittsburgh, Pa.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
 

PIAA boys' championships: Astorino relives dream in General McLane win

Two-sport star comes through in the clutch

Saturday, March 24, 2007

By Mike White, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- You know the dream. A kid becomes a hero, making the winning play in the final game of his high school career.

Drew Astorino got to live it twice.

Three months after scoring the winning touchdown in the PIAA football championship, Astorino made the winning hoop in the Class AAA basketball championship last night at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center. Astorino, a senior guard, made a 15-foot fadeaway jumper with two seconds left to give General McLane a 57-55 victory against Greencastle-Antrim.

"I just put it up, saw it splash and the rest is history," said Astorino.

And Astorino put General McLane into Pennsylvania high school history. General McLane, located in Edinboro, becomes the first school to win football and basketball titles in the same school year.

In December, Astorino scored a touchdown on a 20-yard run with 4:55 left in the game to give General McLane a 28-23 victory against Pottsville. Astorino is a Penn State football recruit.

"If there is anybody I would want to take the last shot, it was Drew Astorino," General McLane coach Andy Schulz said.

General McLane (28-4) called a timeout with 16 seconds left to set up the last play. Astorino lined up on the wrong side of the court for the play. But he took a pass from Bob Stauffer, drove to the free-throw line and launched the shot that will be forever remembered at General McLane.

"We have a drill in practice where we come up to the top of the key and shoot," Astorino said. "But we like to throw up Michael Jordan fadeaways and then we get yelled at by coach. I guess that shot came in handy."

Astorino finished with a team-high 18 points, Stauffer had 11 and Shawn Walker 10. Junior forward Dameatric Scott scored 24 for Greencastle-Antrim (20-12), which came back from a nine-point deficit in the final three minutes to tie the score -- before Astorino became a hero.