CLARION, Pa. (EYT/D9)– A strong offensive performance by Marquese Gardlock, who scored 24 points, coupled with a solid defensive effort propelled the Redbank Valley boys basketball team to a 58-31 victory over West Shamokin in the opening round of the PIAA Class 2A playoffs Wednesday night at Clarion University.
Bryson Bain added nine points, while Aiden Ortz scored eight off the bench. Owen Clouse added five points while also grabbing a team-high 11 rebounds.
(Photos by Madison McFarland)
Nine different players entered the scoring column for the Bulldogs.
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“We wanted to get in transition and push the ball,” said Redbank Valley coach Emmanuel Marshall. “We got out of sync against Ridgway the other night, and tonight we were able to get back to what we like to do.”
After a 2-2 tie early on, the Bulldogs used an 11-0 run to build a 13-2 lead. After nearly a six-minute scoring drought, West Shamokin got a bucket from Bo Swartz and a 3-pointer by Niko Buffone to cut the lead to six at 13-7 with 53 seconds remaining in the quarter. Bain scored at the 22-second mark to give Redbank a 15-7 lead after one.
Gardlock scored eight of the Bulldogs’ 15 points in the quarter.
With Redbank Valley still leading by eight at 18-10 with 5:47 to play in the first half, the Bulldogs went on a 10-0 run in pushing their lead to 18 at 28-10 with 1:09 remaining in the second quarter. Brayden Rodgers scored with 10 seconds to play to make the halftime score 28-12.
West Shamokin made just five field goals in the opening half in shooting just 5-of-16 from the floor.
“We want to press teams as much as we can,” said Marshall. “We want to have active hands in the passing lanes and create turnovers, and we did a nice job of that tonight.”
The shooting woes continued out of the halftime break for the Wolves as they missed five shots in a row, three of which came from within three feet.
Despite those troubles, West Shamokin trimmed the lead to 12 at 32-20 following an old-fashioned 3-point play by Trevor Smulik midway through the quarter.
That’s be as close as the Wolves would get.
Gardlock scored three straight transition baskets in helping Redbank Valley close the quarter on a 12-0 run for a 44-20 lead after three quarters.
“Marquese does what he does,” said Marshall. “If we can get him out in transition, it creates scoring opportunities.”
With the big lead, the Bulldogs played mostly junior varsity players for much of the fourth quarter as Redbank Valley held a 14-11 scoring edge to set the final score of 58-31.
“We had won like 17 games in a row before that loss to Ridgway,” said Marshall. “I think we had a 10-day layoff or so before that game. So, in a way it was a good loss, in a sense. Now we’re able to get this on under our belt and we can get back into more of a comfort zone as far as practices and getting ready for games. We’ll enjoy this one and then prepare for the next one, just one game at a time.”
Bo Swartz led West Shamokin with 12 points while Sean McCullough added five. Smulik grabbed seven rebounds.
Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.
