KNOX, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Whether it was from the outside or in the paint, driving to the hoop or putting up short jumpers, Cam Vanwormer served notice in the season opener that the Oil City boys basketball team is going to be a handful.
Vanwormer scored 22 points as the Oilers turned away a few Clarion runs to cruise to a 74-40 win at the Keystone Tip-off Tournament on Friday night.
It wasn’t just Vanwormer who hurt the Bobcats. Jake Hornbeck added 20 points and Ethen Knox 12. All three had 10 points at the half as Oil City took a 34-21 lead after two quarters.
“It’s amazing,” Vanwormer said. “The last couple of seasons, we never had a really great start like that. I felt really good. I mean, we started off hot and we just kept pushing all game.”
Oil City jumped out to a 12-5 lead and pushed that advantage to 20-7 at the end of the first quarter.
But as Clarion did all game, it made a little push.
The Bobcats closed to 26-16 before Oil City did what it did all game, going on a quick run to move back ahead 32-16.
Clarion got as close as 46-33 late in the third quarter before Oil City put the game away with another prodigious spurt, keyed by Vanwormer.
The Oilers were up by 20 by the end of the quarter and ahead by 30 late in the fourth.
“We have a lot coming back,” said Oil City coach Bundy Fulmer, who led the Oilers to the District 10 Class 4A championship game last season. “Cam can shoot it. He spends a lot of time in the gym. We can rely on him from the outside and he can get to the hoop. He’ll take it at you, and that’s what we’re looking for.”
Sayyid Donald also scored 11 points for Oil City.
For Clarion, there were some bright spots.
The game wasn’t nearly as lopsided as the final score indicated. Save for a few of those big, quick runs by Oil City, the Bobcats played with the Oilers for long stretches of the game.
Devon Lauer scored 10 points and Dawson Smail added nine for Clarion.
“They’re a good team,” said Clarion coach Scott Fox. “They returned a lot from last year’s team that went to the D10 finals. The kids played decent. We have some things to work on to be ready for the league when that rolls around.”
Fox didn’t mind a stiff test in the opener.
He wanted to see what his team is good at — and the areas where his team needs to improve.
Clarion is still a young team and will have to replace the 20 points per game Christian Simko put up for the Bobcats last season. Simko graduated.
“This gives us the opportunity to see where we are at after two weeks of practices and scrimmages,” Fox said. “It’s a nice opportunity to get an eye-opener, to see some things. It was good for all of them because we’ve been playing against each other and we had the scrimmages, but it’s hard to simulate game action.”
Fulmer was pleased with how his team responded to the runs Clarion made.
It was a good sign to see so early in the season.
“We knew they were going to be able to shoot a little bit,” Fulmer said. “We stayed composed. The game is full of runs. You just have to respond to them and stay focused.”
DuBOIS 60, KEYSTONE 40
Maddox Bennett poured in 26 points as the Beavers downed the host Panthers in the nightcap at the Keystone tournament.
Cam Thompson added 18 points for DuBois.
KARNS CITY 76, PORTERSVILLE CHRISTIAN 39
Shane Peters had a pretty good debut for the Gremlins.
Peters came off the bench to score 20 points — 18 coming in the second half — and also had 12 rebounds in the resounding victory for Karns City to open the season.
Taite Beighley pitched in 17 points and seven assists and Braden Grossman added 16 points in the win for Karns City.
The Gremlins led 35-21 in the half.
UNION 64, BROCKWAY 32
Peyton Johnston scored 21 points and Skyler Roxbury added 20 more as the Knights doubled up the Rovers.
Johnson scored 11 of his points in the third quarter. Roxbury started the game hot, with nine of his points coming in the first eight minutes.
Dawson Camper had a huge game on the board for Union with 18 rebounds to go with nine points.
Camper also had three blocked shots.
Zander Laughlin pitched in 14 points for the Knights.
Alex Carlson led Brockway with 20 points.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Catherine Kelly scored 17 points and Abbey Jewart and Kendall Sankey each pitched in 10 as Moniteau cruised to a 55-23 win over Brockway.
Jewart also had five assists.
Davina Pry added six points and seven boards.
Raegan Gelnette paced Brockway with nine points and five rebounds.
YOUNGSVILLE 32, A-C VALLEY 31
Riley Radinault scored nine points to lead a balanced scoring attack for Youngsville as it eked out a one-point win over the Falcons.
Keira McVay and Mackenzie Parks each scored 13 points for A-C Valley.
Parks also had 11 rebounds.
UNION CITY 47, UNION 24
Hailey Theuret and Katie Gezik each scored seven points for the Damsels in this season-opening loss at the Meadville Tournament.
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