Eisenhower is right in the thick of things after a 54-37 Region 3 win over Cochranton Tuesday at Eisenhower High School.
The Knights are 2-1 and in second place in the region, behind Conneaut Valley - Ike's only region loss.
Eisenhower coach Steve Norris said the Knights, which are 5-9 overall, took the ball to the hoop and forced Cochranton into foul trouble.
Article Photos
Times Observer photo by Brian Hagberg
3-point stance
Mark Sprandle lines up a 3-point attempt for Sheffield during a high school District 9 boys basketball game against Johnsonburg Tuesday at Sheffield High School. The Wolverines fell to the Rams, 65-60.
Ike made 13 free throws in the fourth quarter alone, and was 16-of-25 at the line for the game.
Aaron Lundmark gave the Knights a different leading scorer with 14 points and has joined Josh Deppas and Tre Frank to give the Knights a trio of scorers. Colin Shine came off the bench for nine points.
"We had a good all-around effort inside and out," said Norris.
The Knights are at Linesville on Saturday.
COCHRANTON (37): Hering 5 2-7 12, Peterson 1 0-0 2, Kenny 2 0-2 4, Oertly 3 0-1 6, Price 1 1-2 3, Woodworth 0 1-2 1, Dixon 2 2-3 7, Herzburger 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 6-17 37.
EISENHOWER (54): Josh Deppas 1 1-5 3, Tre Frank 2 1-2 5, Aaron Lundmark 5 2-2 14, Colin Shine 3 1-2 9, Nathan O'Brien 1 0-0 2, Andrew Onoratti 3 2-2 8, Austin Schwanke 0 4-4 4, Ryan Williams 2 5-6 9. Totals 17 16-25 54.
Cochranton 6 7 13 11 - 37
Eisenhower 14 4 15 21 - 54
3-pointers: C-Dixon; E-Lundmark 2, Shine 2.
Junior varsity game
COCHRANTON (41): Villamar 2 2-3 6, Garrett 6 6-7 18, Eisenhooth 2 2-2 6, Herzburger 2 2-4 6, Vanderhoof 2 0-0 5. Totals 14 12-19 41.
EISENHOWER (35): Farrell 2 0-0 4, Shine 2 0-1 4, O'Brien 0 3-4 3, Johnson 2 1-4 5, Schwanke 1 1-4 3, Frank 3 2-2 8, Lundmark 3 2-4 8. Totals 13 9-19 35.
Cochranton 8 8 10 15 - 41
Eisenhower 7 10 7 11 - 35
3-pointers: C-Vanderhoof; E-none.
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WCCS 38, Erie Bethel 21
ERIE - After a 1-4 start, Warren County Christian School's boys basketball team has won five of six and is 6-5 overall.
"We weren't real great tonight," said WCCS coach Steve Zwald. "We were a little out of sync tonight. We did what we had to do to win."
In the absence of team leader Andrew Hammersley - who is banged up - in the forefront, Carson Moore had his best game of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Lions, who host New Penn Christian Conference-rival Meadville Calvary Baptist Friday.
WCCS (38): Andrew Laird 2 1-2 5, Carson Moore 9 4-4 22, Ricky Zortman 2 0-0 6, Jamie Petrush 1 3-6 5, Josiah Poindexter 0 0-0 0, Tyler Keller 0 0-0 0, Eric Sorenson 0 0-0 0, Andrew Hammersley 0 0-0 0, Josh Wagonseller 0 0-0 0, Chris Root 0 0-0 0, Tim Hungerford 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 8-12 38.
ERIE BETHEL (21): Neil 1 0-4 2, Vandervort 4 5-7 13, Dietz 1 3-4 5, Donikowski 0 1-4 1. Totals 6 9-19 21.
WCCS 11 10 14 3 - 38
Erie Bethel 4 9 5 3 - 21
3-pointers: W-Zortman 2; E-none.
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Johnsonburg 65, Sheffield 60
Johnsonburg's 5-0 run in the final 30 seconds of the fourth quarter thwarted Sheffield's comeback attempt, as the Rams defeated the Wolverines, 65-60, Tuesday at Sheffield High School.
Johnsonburg used a 6-0 run to grab an eight-point lead with just three minutes left in the game, but Sheffield answered with an 11-3 run of its own to tie the game at 60-60 with 30 seconds to play.
The Rams were able to steal an inbounds pass and convert it to a layup to start their final run.
"A close game like this, you can't ever go back to one play (as the deciding factor)," said Sheffield coach Todd Fitch, whose Wolverines are 6-8 overall after five straight losses.
Fitch added later that he had called a "standard" inbounds play, and probably should have changed the call to keep Johnsonburg off-guard.
Sheffield held a one-point advantage after the first quarter, and both teams traded field goals in the early part of the second quarter before the Wolverines got 3-pointers from Mark Sprandle and Nick Bonavita to build a four-point lead, 33-29, heading into halftime.
Both teams came out of the locker room cold before Bonavita hit another 3-pointer for the Wolverines. Johnsonburg completed a 3-point play with a minute remaining in the period to take a 44-42 lead. Sheffield answered with a field goal on its next possession, but the Rams got a bucket with just five seconds left in the quarter to take a 46-44 lead into the fourth quarter - a lead they would never relinquish.
Again, both teams traded buckets early in the fourth quarter, but Johnsonburg hit a 3-pointer and got some transition points as part of its 6-0 run. Sheffield was able to answer with a 8-1 run to cut the lead to 58-57 with 1:24 left. Johnsonburg hit the front-end of a one-and-one to push the lead back to two, then grabbed the rebound on the missed free throw and again went 1-of-2 from the line to take a 60-57 lead with 33 seconds left.
Sheffield's Brendan Winslow answered with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 60-60 and Johnsonburg lost possession on the ensuing inbounds pass to set-up the Sheffield play on which the Rams would steal and grab the lead for good.
Sprandle and Bonavita led a trio of double-digit scorers for Sheffield with 17 points each. The pair combined to hit nine 3-pointers in the game. George Fitch added a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolverines. Ike Nearing added six points in his first game back from injury and Kalil Slaughter chipped in with four points.
"We're a shooting team this year," Todd Fitch said. "George had another nice game inside for us, and I thought we needed to get Kalil the ball more inside to take advantage of the matchups."
"Johnsonburg's a super good ball club," coach Fitch said. "When we played them last time, we scored 26 points the entire game. We moved the ball well and got up and down the court. There's a lot of little factors, a missed foul shot, a missed jump shot and it's a different game."
Johnsonburg won the junior varsity contest, 52-35. Dylan McNeal led Sheffield with 12 points and Chris Pederson added 11 points.
JOHNSONBURG (65): Imbrogno 8 2-4 21, J. Holmberg 6 1-1 13, M. Holmberg 4 1-3 9, Luhr 3 0-0 6, Peterson 2 2-4 6, Vallone 2 2-5 6, Kojancic 2 0-0 4, Grumley 0 0-0 0, Bliss 0 0-0 0, Totals 27 8-17 65
SHEFFIELD (60): Mark Sprandle 6 0-0 17, Nick Bonavita 6 1-2 17, George Fitch 5 3-4 13, Ike Nearing 2 2-2 6, Kalil Slaughter 1 2-6 4, Brendan Winslow 1 0-0 3, Totals 21 8-14 60
Johnsonburg 15 14 17 19 - 65
Sheffield 16 17 11 16 - 60
3-pointers: J-Imbrogno 3; S-Sprandle 5, Bonavita 4
Junior varsity game
JOHNSONBURG (52): Peterson 6 4-5 17, Vallone 3 2-2 8, Grumley 2 3-3 7, Sheldon 3 0-0 7, Kojancic 3 1-1 7, Allegretto 1 2-2 4, Shreffler 1 0-0 2, Bickford 0 0-0 0, Syzmanski 0 0-0 0, Totals 19 12-13 52
SHEFFIELD (35): Dylan McNeal 5 0-0 12, Chris Pederson 3 5-7 11, Tony Burt 2 1-1 5, Ike Nearing 2 0-0 5, Brandon Kipp 1 0-0 2, Dylan Reynolds 0 0-0 0, Brendan Winslow 0 0-0 0, Totals 13 6-8 35
Johnsonburg 15 11 10 16 - 52
Sheffield 4 10 8 12 - 35
3-pointers: J-Peterson, Sheldon; S-McNeal 2, Pederson 2, Nearing
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Cambridge Springs 77, Youngsville 36
Cambridge Springs pushed the ball all night en route to a 77-36 Region 4 victory over Youngsville at Youngsville High School.
Youngsville coach Ray Niedrick said Cambridge played well both inside and out, and Youngsville trailed by 12 points after the first quarter.
No Eagles scored in double figures. Youngsville is 1-14 overall.
CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS (77): Palmero 5 1-2 11, Feltenburger 1 0-0 2, Held 2 3-6 7, Kondzielski 1 2-3 4, Lewis 6 1-2 16, Schmidt 11 1-1 23, VanWinkle 4 4-6 12. Totals 31 12-21 77.
YOUNGSVILLE (36): Nathan Smith 3 1-2 7, Jeremy Clark 3 0-0 8, Broc Horn 4 0-0 8, Billy Chuzie 1 1-2 3, Coll Dininny 0 2-2 2, D.J. Rose 2 0-0 4, Brandon Reed 1 0-0 2, James Frazier 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 2 4-7 36.
Cambridge Springs 18 16 16 27 - 77
Youngsville 6 13 6 11 - 36
3-pointers: C-Lewis 3; Y-Clark 2.
Junior varsity game
CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS (40): Hohn 1 1-2 3, Merry 2 2-4 6, Bemoski 1 0-0 2, Porter 3 4-6 10, Duda 2 1-2 6, Schmidt 5 0-0 13. Totals 14 8-14 40.
YOUNGSVILLE (27): John Pollow 1 0-0 2, Collin Lehnen 2 0-0 4, James Frazier 4 1-4 9, Coll Dininny 5 1-2 11, Brandon Reed 0 1-6 1. Totals 12 3-12 27.
Cambridge Springs 10 10 7 15 - 40
Youngsville 5 14 3 5 - 27
3-pointers: C-Schmidt 3; Y-none.
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McDowell 65, Warren 29
MILLCREEK - Warren trailed 16-7 after one quarter and fell to 10-7 overall with a non-region loss at McDowell.
Warren coach Jeff Berdine said the Dragons have six important games left on the schedule "where we really can control our destiny."
He said that starts with a Region 7 road game at Harbor Creek Friday.
On Tuesday, Warren had 11 first-half turnovers and 13 in the second half.
"It was not pretty," said Berdine.
Needless to say, most of McDowell's points came off transition.
No Warren player scored in double figures. McDowell is 11-3 overall.
In a 52-50 J.V. loss, Austin Jerman scored 14 points for Warren and teammates Matt Sandberg and Mark Davis had 11 each.
WARREN (29): Nathan Billman 0 0-0 0, Joel Stewart 1 0-0 2, Matt Sandberg 0 2-2 2, Austin Jerman 2 0-0 4, Kyle Papalia 2 0-0 6, Mark Davis 1 2-3 4, Kory Thomas 0 2-2 2, Drew Lobdell 0 0-0 0, Hank Morrison 0 1-2 1, Tyler Fantaskey 2 0-0 4, Preston McMeans 2 0-0 4. Totals 10 7-9 29.
McDOWELL (65): Cvecko 1 0-0 2, Kimball 6 5-5 18, Mayr 7 0-0 14, Oduho 1 4-6 6, Miller 1 0-0 2, Roach 4 0-0 8, Stoicovy 1 0-0 2, Milloy 3 0-0 6, Stano 1 0-0 2, Giacomelli 1 0-0 2. Totals 26 9-11 62.
Warren 7 5 10 7 - 29
McDowell 16 18 15 13 - 65
3-pointers: W-Papalia 2; M-Kimball.
Junior varsity game
WARREN (50): Grayson Foley 2 0-0 5, Matt Sandberg 5 0-0 11, Austin Jerman 5 4-6 14, Cody McGraw 1 1-1 3, Mark Davis 5 1-2 11, Drew Lobdell 2 2-2 6, Tyler Abbott 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 8-11 50.
McDOWELL (52): Johnson 1 0-0 2, Lewis 6 1-4 13, Beck 5 1-1 13, Koper 1 0-0 2, Conner 4 0-0 8, Santillan 2 0-2 4, Aldridge 2 2-2 6, Wolf 1 2-2 4. Totals 20 2 6-11 52.
Warren 15 11 11 13 -50
McDowell 12 14 15 11 - 52
3-pointers: W-Foley, Sandberg; M-Beck 2.