Dec. 28 boys’ basketball recaps.
(Photo of ECC’s Regis Wortman, who scored 12 points in the Crusaders win over Ridgway in the championship game of the Elk County Tourament Saturday. Photo by Paul Burdick. Check out more of Burdick’s work here)
ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 38, RIDGWAY 30
ST. MARYS, Pa. – Regis Wortman scored six of his 12 points in the game-deciding third quarter, as Elk County Catholic retained the Elk County Tournament championship with a 38-30 win over Ridgway at St. Marys High School.
The unbeaten Crusaders started slow and trailed 7-3 at the end of one quarter and 17-15 at halftime before outscoring Ridgway 10-2 in the third quarter to take control of the game.
Mark Kraus added eight points for ECC with Will Uberti scoring seven.
Matt Dush shared game-high honors with Wortman with 12 points to pace Ridgway, including six in the fourth quarter, while Zack Zameroski added seven tallies.
CLARION 65, PUNXSUTAWNEY 32
PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. – Cal German scored eight of his game-high 26 points in the first quarter, as Clarion used a fast start to beat host Punxsutawney, 65-32, in the championship game of the Carl Truance Holiday Tournament.
Behind German, the tournament MVP, and a pair of 3-pointers from Josh Craig, the Bobcats led 22-5 after eight minutes and expanded that advantage to 33-13 by halftime and 51-19 at the end of three quarters.
Hunter Craddock chipped in 13 points and nine rebounds with Nick Frederick scoring eight points, Craig seven and Skylar Rhoades five to go with 12 rebounds and six assists. German also handed out five helpers. Craddock and Frederick joined German on the all-tournament team.
Daren Byers paced Punxsutawney with 10 points.
DUBOIS 56, BROOKVILLE 41
DUBOIS, Pa. – Lennon Lindholm scored a game-high 21 points to give DuBois a 56-41 win over Brookville in the championship game of the DuBois Holiday Tournament at DuBois High School.
Lindholm hit four 3-pointers, including three in the first quarter when he scored 11 points to help the Beavers take a 14-13 lead after eight minutes.
Brookville tied the game at 27 at halftime, but DuBois outscored the Raiders 29-14 in the second half (15-9 in the third quarter and 14-5 in the fourth quarter) behind 11 second-half points from Chase Husted, who scored nine of his 13 points in the fourth quarter.
Nick Felix chipped in nine points for the Beavers in the win.
Brookville got 13 points from Aaron Park and nine from Robert Keth.
BROCKWAY 56, DUBOIS CENTRAL CATHOLIC 50, 2 OTs
DUBOIS, Pa. – Noah Adams driving five-foot floater with eight seconds to play in the first overtime forced a second extra session, and Brockway outscored DuBois Central Catholic 10-4 in that second four-minute period to claim a 56-50 double-overtime win in the consolation game of the DuBois Holiday Tournament.
The Rovers rallied from an 11-point, 27-16, halftime deficit to tie the game at 41 at the end of regulation but were trailing 46-44 before Adams made his clutch shot to force the second overtime. It was one of only two baskets in the game for Adams.
Alec Freemer led all scorers with 22 points for Brockway, including seven in the two overtimes combined. Jon Wood chipped in with 12 points, including five in the two overtimes, while Jared Marchiori scored eight points.
Dante Arminini led a balanced DCC scoring effort with 11 points with Ethan Kness adding nine tallies, Harrison Starr eight and Jalen Kosko seven.
JOHNSONNBURG 38, ST. MARYS 33, OT
ST. MARYS, Pa. – Scoring all five of its overtime points from the free-throw line, Johnsonburg claimed third place at the Elk County Tournament at St. Marys High School with a 38-33 overtime win over St. Marys.
The score was tied at 33 at the end of regulation, but the Rams didn’t allow the Dutch to score in the extra four-minute session.
Clay Zilkofski was 4-for-4 from the line in overtime on his way to six total points for Johnsonburg, who was led by 10 points from Austin Green. Eric Christoff added nine tallies for the Rams
St. Marys, which led 9-4 after the first quarter and 19-15 at halftime before scoring just 14 points in the game’s final 20 minutes got 11 points apiece from Mitchell Reiter and Drake Caskey with Caskey hitting three 3-pointers, all in the first half.
BRADFORD CENTRAL (N.Y.) 68, NORTHERN POTTER 46
JASPER, N.Y. – Steven Spina and Blai Crespo combined to score 37 points to lead Bradford Central (N.Y.) to a 68-46 win over Northern Potter in the championship game of the Jasper-Troupsburg (N.Y.) Christmas Tournament.
Spina led the Braves with 19 points with Crespo adding 18. Blaze Machuga also chipped in 13 tallies, and Jordan Sutryk had 12 points.
Carter Anderson led Northern Potter with a game-high 24 points with Ryan Langworthy chipping in eight tallies.
LINCOLN 73, MONITEAU 65, 2 OTs
MERCER, Pa. – Lincoln High out of Ellwood City went 9 of 10 from the free-throw line in the second overtime to defeat Moniteau, 73-65, in the consolation game of the Mercer Shootout.
Moniteau forced overtime when Ethan McDeavitt went coast-to-coast at the end of regulation to tie the game at 54. The teams then scored a total of eight points in the first overtime – four aside – before Lincoln was able to get to the line in the second overtime to secure the win.
The Warriors started strong and led 24-18 at halftime before Lincoln closed within three, 40-37, at the end of the third quarter.
The Wolverines, who hit 13 3-pointers in the game, got triples from Rody Polojac and Alexander Rota in the fourth quarter to take a 58-56 lead before McDeavitt tied the game with his late dash.
Rota paced Lincoln with 30 points while hitting six 3-pointers and going 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. Milo Sesti chipped in 13 points and Stevo Antono scored 10.
McDeavitt had a triple-double for Moniteau with 29 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists with Gage Neal adding 17 points and six rebounds. Nate Tack chipped in eight points.
LIGONIER VALLEY 69, CLEARFIELD 63
COMMODORE, Pa. – Michael Marinchak scored 23 points to lead Ligonier Valley to a 69-63 win over Clearfield in the championship game of the Purchase Line Christmas Tournament.
Kyle Silk added 16 points for the Rams with Isaac Neidblason chipping in 10 tallies.
Freshman Cole Miller hit seven 3-pointers on his way to a career-best 21 points for Clearfield, while Cade Walker added 19 points and eight rebounds and Karson Rumsky checked in with 11 points.
NORTH CLARION 77, REDBANK VALLEY 54
NEW BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Matson Higgins exploded for a career-high 25 points and added 10 assists to lead North Clarion past Redbank Valley, 77-54, on the second day of the Redbank Valley Holiday Classic.
Higgins hit 10 shots in the game, including three 3-pointers, while going 2 of 2 from the free-throw line.
He was one of three Wolves who reached double digits with Drew Gatesman adding 14 points and Collin Schmader 11. Gatesman completed a double-double with 10 rebounds, while Chance Schmader added five boards to go with seven points. Devon Walters and Jacob Bauer each chipped in nine tallies.
Chris Marshall led the way for Redbank Valley with 24 points with Bryson Bain scoring 15.
A-C VALLEY 71, FOREST AREA 49
NEW BETHLEHEM, Pa. – A-C Valley put four of its five starters in double digits on its way to a 71-49 win over Forest Area in the Redbank Valley Holiday Classic.
Levi Orton led the way for the Falcons with 21 points and 12 rebounds with Eddie Stevanus adding 17 points and 10 rebounds, Eli Penny 10 points and six assists and Cole Dehart 10 points. Russ Carr just missed double digits with nine tallies while also coming away with seven steals.
Franklin Meals paced Forest Area with 19 points and five rebounds, Noah Burke had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, Jullian Gillenwater added 10 points, five rebounds and five steals and Waylon Dashner had two points and five rebounds.
YOUNGSVILLE 48, KANE 45
SHEFFIELD, Pa. – A strong third quarter helped Youngville claim the Sheffield Sports Boosters Christmas Tournament title with a 48-45 win over Kane.
The Eagles trailed 23-22 at halftime but outscored Kane 14-8 in the third quarter to take a 36-31 lead after three quarters.
Gage Hendrickson and Timber Bower led Youngsville with 12 points each with Ethan Kesterholt adding 11 points.
Chad Greville had a game-high 23 points for Kane with Carson Whiteman adding nine tallies.
SMETHPORT 49, SHEFFIELD 40
SHEFFIELD, Pa. – Outscoring host Sheffield by eight points in the second half, Smethport built on a one-point halftime lead to claim third place at the Sheffield Sports Boosters Christmas Tournament with a 49-40 victory.
The Hubbers led 18-17 at halftime before outscoring the Wolverines 13-10 in the third quarter and 18-13 in the fourth quarter.
Noah Lent led a balanced offensive attack for Smethport with 12 points, Hunter Hesley added 10 points with Kolby Wilber and Conner Alfieri each chipping in eight points and Layne Shall seven tallies.
Tyler Hepinger led Sheffield with 11 points, and Tony Richards added 10 tallies. Lucas McNeal added six points, six assists and five steals.
UNION 74, VENANGO CATHOLIC 29
RIMERSBURG, Pa. – Karter Vogle scored 25 points, came away with four steals and blocked two shots to lead Union to a 74-29 win over Venango Catholic in the consolation game of the Union Christmas Tournament.
Caden Rainey added 13 points, four steals and four assists in the win for the Golden Knights.
Andrew Burda paced Venango Catholic with 12 points with Brady Cicattella adding 10 points.
WEST SHAMOKIN 56, CLARION-LIMESTONE 53
RURAL VALLEY, Pa. – Trevor Smulik hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds to give West Shamokin the West Shamokin Holiday Tournament championship with a 56-53 win over Clarion-Limestone.
The Wolves called timeout with four seconds to play and ended up getting an inbounds play from under the hoop instead of at midcourt, which is where the C-L coaches believed it should have been. That led to Trevor Smulik hitting West Shamokin’s third 3-pointer of the fourth quarter and 10th of the game for the victory.
West Shamokin trailed 44-42 going to the fourth quarter but got threes from Justin Smulik and Bo Swartz to help tie the game at 53.
Justin Smulik ended up hitting four 3-pointers on the night and scored a team-high 19 points, including 12 in the first quarter.
Trevor Smulik added 18 tallies for the Wolves with Jack McCullough scoring nine points.
Hayden Callen hit six 3-pointers for C-L and netted a game-high 27 points while Deion Deas chipped in 15 points for the Lions. Callen also had eight rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots, while Deas added six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
The loss was the first of the season for the Lions, who fell to 7-1.
KARNS CITY 52, BURRELL 44
RURAL VALLEY, Pa. – Starting strong, Karns City secured third place at the West Shamokin Holiday Tournament with a 52-44 win over Burrell.
The Gremlins led 20-9 after one quarter and 33-20 at halftime before the Buccaneers rallied to within three, 37-34, after three quarters of play.
But Karns City got seven points in the fourth quarter from Ethan McElroy to secure the win.
McElroy hit six 3-pointers on the night, including two in the fourth quarter, to finish with a game-high 22 points. Chase Beighley added 16 points and seven assists Micah Rupp chipped in eight tallies and eight rebounds. McElroy was named to the all-tournament team.
Brandon Coury paced Burrell with 15 points.
AUSTIN 56, BUCKTAIL 33
RENOVA, Pa. – Jackson Glover exploded for a game-high 26 points while adding eight rebounds, six on the offensive end, six steals and three assists to lead Austin to a 56-33 win at Bucktail.
Joseph Glover Jr. chipped in seven points and 11 rebounds, Parker Glover also scored seven points and Skylar Crawford had five points, 10 rebounds, two blocked shots, two assists and a steal for the Panthers.
Gabe Conway led Bucktail with eight points.
KEYSTONE 48, SLIPPERY ROCK 38
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Marc Rearick and Isaak Jones each hit key fourth-quarter 3-pointers, as visiting Keystone pulled away late from Slippery Rock for a 48-38 victory.
The Panthers led by three, 36-33, after the third quarter but outscored the Rockets 12-5 in the fourth quarter.
It was a balanced offensive effort for Keystone with Troy Johnson recording a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds, Rearick leading his team with 11 points and Andrew Lauer adding eight points and four assists.
Judah Roth tied Rearick for game-high honors with 11 tallies for Slippery Rock, while Ethan Plesakov adding eight points.
WARREN 47, BRADFORD 32
WARREN, Pa. – Grabbing a 21-9 lead after the first quarter, Warren cruised to a 47-32 win over visiting Bradford.
Ben Berdine tied for game-high honors with 17 points for the Dragons, while Thomas Bablak added 13 points.
Tyler Gigliotti led Bradford with 17 tallies with Evan Schmidt adding eight points.
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