http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/high-school-basketball/beaver-falls-advances-with-easy-win-in-class-aa-quarterfinals-517295/Sheldon Jeter's legend just continues to grow with each game he plays for Beaver Falls.
A 6-foot-8 senior, he gave the large crowd at North Allegheny High School something to talk about as he scored the Tigers first 11 points and added 12 more in the fourth quarter as Beaver Falls moved one step closer to an appearance in the PIAA Class AA championship game with a 78-49 victory against Greensburg Central Catholic.
By the time Jeter was finished, he had scored a career high 40 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. The Tigers earned a berth in Wednesday's PIAA semifinals against Section 6-AA rival Quaker Valley.
The loss ended Greensburg Central's season at 21-7.
Beaver Falls coach Doug Biega is appreciative of Jeter's abilities, but he said it would be much tougher for his team if Jeter wasn't getting plenty of support from his teammates. There was plenty of that going around as Kevin Cancel and Drew Cook added 14 and 10 points, respectively.
P.J. McLaughlin, a 6-7 senior forward, led Greesnburg Central with 16 points and 13 rebounds before he fouled out with 26.7 seconds left in the third quarter.
"Sheldon was an absolute monster," Biega said. "But he didn't do it by himself. We hit some key jump shots early that didn't allow them to cheat off the other guys and sit in Sheldon's lap. Kevin [Cancel] and Drew [Cook] both hit big shots, and we were hitting the glass pretty hard. They couldn't sag off on Sheldon, so that opened up some one-on-one opportunities which he's very good at."
Greensburg Central Catholic coach Greg Bisignani lauded Jeter's effort.
"That's why he's a Division I player," he said. "He took over the game, and he performed like a Division I player."Jeter was appreciative of his effort, but most interested in the big picture.
"Forty points is nice, but I'm happier about my team moving on in the playoffs and moving on to where we can prove we're the best," he said. "That's what matters to me the most. If I have to get 40 [to get the win], then I'd do it in a heartbeat. But if I had to score 10 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds for us to move on to the state championship, that's what I would do, too. Points aren't that big for me."
While Biega acknowledged the Tigers did have the team concept going, it's hard to ignore the strong start Jeter gave his team.
"When you are 6-8 with ballhandling ability and shooting ability, [he's] a tough cover," he said. "But if Sheldon doesn't gives us points, we're not going very far. He needs to give us a complete game. But he has to the best player in the WPIAL and the best player in the state for us to win a state title. That's his job."
