LEWISTOWN — Penns Valley senior Austin Auman heard about it in practice. He heard about it in pregame. He heard about it in the first quarter. He heard about it at halftime.
For the Rams to slow Mount Union in Tuesday’s District 6 Class AA opener, they needed Auman to control the boards.
Consider Auman the ideal player for the challenging assignment.
Auman used his chiseled 6-foot-1, 225-pound frame to control the athletic Trojans in the second half of Penns Valley’s 47-40 victory at noisy Mifflin County High School.
The Trojans held a 17-11 rebounding advantage at halftime. Auman ensured those numbers weren’t duplicated, grabbing six offensive rebounds in the second half.
Both teams ended the game with 26 rebounds. Auman’s board-clearing second half sends the ninth-seeded Rams (12-9) into Friday’s quarterfinals against top-seeded Tyrone (21-2) at Hollidaysburg High School.
“He had to do that,” Penns Valley coach said Penns Valley coach Terry Glunt said, “or we wouldn’t have been in the game.”
Mount Union’s rebounding advantage wasn’t evident in the halftime score because Cameron Tobias’ 15-footer at the buzzer gave Penns Valley a 16-15 lead and major jolt. But six Mount Union offensive rebounds during the half bothered Glunt.
“Coach pulled me aside and said, ‘You have to go up big,’” Auman said. “I started boxing out more, and I thought I could I could get up in the air and get the ball.”
Two offensive rebounds to begin the third quarter added to the momentum Tobias’ shot provided. Snyder missed a 3-pointer to begin the quarter, but Auman grabbed a rebound for an easy putback.
On Penns Valley’s next possession, Auman corralled a Luke Weaver missed and flipped the ball to Tobias for an open jumper. The shot increased the Rams’ lead to 20-15.
A 12-0 run expanded the lead to 32-17 with 2:15 left in the quarter. The run included Sam Snyder missing a foul shot, outleaping multiple Trojans for a rebound and dropping the ball into the basket.
Every point and rebound was needed because Mount Union (16-7), which entered Tuesday averaging 62.1 points per game, showed it can play at a dizzying pace, and Damon Fortson’s layup with 1:10 remaining trimmed the lead to 43-40.
Mount Union had a chance to tie the game with less than 30 seconds remaining, but sophomore Dalton Ulmanic swiped the ball from 1,000-point scorer Ryan McClain. Ulmanic handed the ball to Snyder who lofted the ball to Auman for an easy layup. Tobias then secured the victory by sinking two free throws.
“I knew they had it in them to put on a big surge,” Glunt said of Mount Union. “They looked like they had a bucket, and I don’t know how we got it and then it went down to Austin who converted. And Cameron making those two free throws to ice it was sweet.”
Snyder scored a game-high 18 points. Auman scored 11 points and Tobias and Weaver each added nine. No other Ram scored.
Tobias’ shot at the end of the first half foreshadowed the big third quarter.
Three of Penns Valley’s five starters — Ulmanic, Snyder and Weaver — had picked up their second or third fouls before halftime. Mount Union couldn’t take advantage of the foul trouble and a turnover with six seconds left in the half gave Penns Valley a final shot.
Snyder dribbled the ball to the foul line and Mount Union’s defense collapsed. With less than a second remaining, he calmly fired the ball to Tobias for an open look.
“That was big,” Snyder said. “That gives you confidence going into halftime. We were upbeat and beginning of the second half we had a big run. All that stems from the buzzer-beater.”
Kahlil Fortson led Mount Union with 11 points. The Rams’ biggest defensive accomplishment was holding McClain to nine points. McClain, who scored 40 points in last week’s regular- season finale against Southern Huntingdon, went 2-of-12 from the floor.
“They played good defense,” Mount Union coach Joe Komir said. “That’s what I expected. We have four other guys that can score. I knew they were going to pressure him and play good defense on him. I thought other guys would step up, but we didn’t shoot the ball well.”
Guy Cipriano can be reached at 231-4643.
