By George Guido
Published: Friday, March 7, 2014, 10:39 p.m.
ERIE — Near-perfect free-throw shooting by Fox Chapel enabled the Foxes to continue the WPIAL’s mastery over Erie McDowell in the PIAA playoffs.
Fox Chapel hit 23 of 26 foul shots, including 14 of 14 in the second half as the Foxes defeated the Trojans, 48-36, in a PIAA Class AAAA first-round playoff game at Mercyhurst.
It was Erie McDowell’s 20th PIAA playoff berth in past 21 seasons.
The Trojans were eliminated by a WPIAL school for the seventh straight season.
Fox Chapel (20-5) will play Hempfield (18-9) in the second round Tuesday at a time and site to be determined.