EDINBORO - A slow start doomed the Warren Dragons.
Before the Dragons could get into any kind of a rhythm, General McLane had bolted out to a 13-point lead on its way to a 64-48 win over the Dragons Friday at General McLane High School.
"We didn't shoot the ball well early and by the time we got into the swing of things, the momentum had shifted to (McLane)," said Warren coach Jeff Berdine. "They left the door cracked for us at times, but we didn't execute."
Article Photos
Times Observer photo by Allen Seybert
Drop off
Youngsville’s Jeremy Clark, right, drops a pass off for teammate Billy Chuzie (21) as two Venango Catholic defenders converge during Friday’s boys basketball game at Youngsville High School. The Vikings defeated the Eagles, 77-36.
Despite falling behind by a score of 18-5 after a quarter, Warren came to life during the second stanza. A bucket by Preston McMeans got the Dragons within five with time winding down in the first half, but the Lancers bucketed the final three points of the half and led 31-23 at break.
General McLane pushed its lead back into double figures early in the third quarter as Warren failed to score on five of its first six second-half possessions. The cushion would remain in double figures until midway through the final quarter.
With under five minutes to play, the Dragons got as close as nine points and began to foul looking to extend the game. However, General McLane would hit 8-of-13 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
Preston McMeans led the Dragons with 15 points and Tyler Fantaskey chipped in 10 markers. Fantaskey also added seven rebounds and seven assists. Hank Morrison pulled down six boards in the loss.
Warren (11-8, 4-7) is off until Friday when it hosts Fort LeBoeuf in a make-up contest.
The Dragons outscored McLane, 17-3, in the final stanza of the J.V. game en route to a 43-35 victory. Matt Sandberg and Drew Lobdell scored 12 points each in the outing.
WARREN (48): Nathan Billman 0 0-0 0, Joel Stewart 0 0-0 0, Austin Jerman 2 2-4 6, Kyle Papalia 2 0-0 5, Mark Davis 1 0-0 2, Hank Morrison 2 1-1 5, Tyler Fantaskey 3 3-4 10, Preston McMeans 5 5-7 15, Andrew Morrison 1 1-2 3, Totals: 17 12-18 48
GENERAL McLANE (64): Houten 6 0-0 13, Mason 2 5-7 10, Astorino 0 3-4 3, Kulka 7 2-2 16, Shaun 4 2-4 11, Thomas 3 0-1 6, Ponsoll 2 0-1 5, Totals: 24 12-19 64
Warren 5 18 10 15 - 48
General McLane 18 13 16 17 - 64
3-pointers: W-Papalia, Fantaskey; G- Houten, Mason, Shaun, Ponsoll
Junior varsity game
WARREN (43): Grayson Foley 2 2-2 8, Matt Sandberg 4 0-1 12, Austin Jerman 1 2-3 5, Mark Davis 2 2-2 6, Tyler Abbott 0 0-0 0, Drew Lobdell 3 6-7 12, Totals: 12 12-14 43
GENERAL McLANE (35): Wells 4 2-2 12, Erdman 3 0-0 9, Gierlak 0 2-2 2, Graham 0 1-2 1, Luciano 1 0-0 2, Smith 3 1-1 9, Totals: 11 6-7 35
Warren 7 11 8 17 - 43
General McLane 6 12 14 3 - 35
3-pointers: W-Foley 2, Sandberg 3, Jerman; G- Wells 2, Erdman 3, Smith 2
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Venango Catholic 77, Youngsville 36
It's hard to slow down perfection.
Maxx Rynd scored 24 of his game-high 32 points in the first half and Venango Catholic remained unbeaten with a 77-36 victory over Youngsville Friday at Youngsville High School.
Rynd and the Vikings (18-0) were hot from the opening tip Friday, racing out to a 29-6 lead after the first quarter. The hot shooting of the Vikings continued into the second quarter as the visitors put another 28 points on the board. By halftime, VCC had knocked down eight three-pointers.
After a slow first quarter, the Eagles kept up with the Vikings in the second quarter. Jeremy Clark and Billy Chuzie both scored a pair of buckets and the Eagles put 22 points on the board in the second eight minutes. Despite the surge, the Eagles trailed 57-28 at the break.
With the mercy rule going into effect early in the third quarter, the pace of the game quickly slowed. The Vikings scored just 20 points after intermission while Youngsville was held to just eight.
Clark and Chuzie were Youngsville's high point men for the evening, finishing with 10 points each. Nathan Smith and Broc Horn each added six points. D.J. Rose ripped down nine rebounds and Smith added six boards and four assists.
Youngsville (1-16) is off until Tuesday when it visits Maplewood.
The Vikings also won the junior varsity game, 42-29. Tom Chapman scored 10 points and Brandon Reed scored nine, including a three-quarter court shot to beat the halftime buzzer.
VCC(77): Toy 2 0-0 6, Thurau 1 2-2 4, Guth 6 0-2 12, Rynd 9 7-8 32, Kulinski 2 1-1 5, Hawkens 1 1-2 4, Kuhn 2 0-0 4, Moltz 1 0-0 3, Ruth 3 0-1 7, Totals: 27 11-16 77
YOUNGSVILLE (36): Brandon Reed 0 0-0 0, Jeremy Clark 5 0-0 10, Coll Dininny 0 0-0 0, Broc Horn 3 0-0 6, D.J. Rose 2 0-2 4, Billy Chuzie 5 0-0 10, Tom Chapman 0 0-0 0, Nathan Smith 2 0-0 6, Totals: 17 0-2 36
Venango Catholic 29 28 16 4 - 77
Youngsville 6 22 4 4 - 36
3-pointers: V-Toy 2, Rynd 7, Moltz, Ruth, Harkens; Y- Smith 2
Junior varsity game
VCC(42): Kuhn 7 1-5 15, Moltz 6 0-0 16, Ruth 1 4-8 6, Jones 2 1-1 5, Hiniger 0 0-2 0, Totals: 16 6-16 42
YOUNGSVILLE (29): Jonathan Pollow 0 0-0 0, Colin Lehnen 1 0-0 2, James Frazier 0 0-0 0, A.J. Gustafson 2 0-0 6, J.R. Yost 0 0-0 0, Josh Taydus 0 0-0 0, Coll Dininny 1 0-0 2, Tom Chapman 4 2-4 10, Cory Jones 0 0-0 0, Nick Barrett 0 0-0 0, Brandon Reed 3 2-6 9, Totals: 11 4-10 29
Venango Catholic 7 13 14 8 - 42
Youngsville 7 10 6 6 - 29
3-pointers: V-Moltz 4; Y- Gustafson 2, Reed
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Ridgway 65, Sheffield 51
Sheffield gave Ridgway a fight from beginning to end but a 22-11 third quarter did in the Wolverines in a 65-51 District 9 loss to visiting Ridgway.
It looked like it was going to be a long night early on as the Elkers jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the first. Sheffield answered with a 8-0 run of their own that included a George Fitch three-point play, an Ike Nearing basket and a three-ball from Nick Bonavita to get the lead back at 10-9. Ridgway answered back with an 8-0 run of its own to close the first from up 17-10.
Kalil Slaughter started out the second with two quick baskets to shave the lead to three. Sheffield took the lead back shortly thereafter on a Nearing steal and fast break lay-in that put the Wolverines up one, 20-19. After a Ridgway basket, Sheffield answered again. Nick Bonavita missed a foul shot but George Fitch was there to haul in the rebound and hit a nice turn around jump shot of his own, putting Sheffield up 22-21.
From there, it was all downhill for Sheffield. The Elkers were able to stretch a five-point lead at halftime and dominated the third to put the game away.
Sheffield was 4-of-22 from 3-point range in the contest.
Todd Fitch said the loss was "not a lack of intensity... (but) the third quarter hurt us. We had phenomenal rebounding, but cold shooting (especially in 3-point field goals)." He added, "We played 'em hard tonight."
Nearing and Mark Sprandle led the Sheffield offensive effort with 12 points each. Fitch finished with 11 points and 18 rebounds, including eight offensive rebounds.
Sheffield lost the junior varsity contest at the last second, 40-38. Brendan Winslow finished with a team-high 15 points and Dylan McNeal had eight.
RIDGWAY (65): Matheson 6 5-7 21, Sorge 6 0-3 15, B. Jaques 3 0-0 6, Lundin 3 10-13 16, Aiello 2 0-0 5, Mitchell 1 0-0 2, Reynolds 0 2-2 2, Oknefski 1 0-0 2. Totals: 22 17-25 65.
SHEFFIELD (51): Mark Sprandle 5 0-0 12, Brendan Winslow 1 3-5 5, Kalil Slaughter 2 0-1 4, Dylan McNeal 0 0-0 0, Nick Bonavita 1 2-3 5, Ike nearing 5 1-1 12, George Fitch 5 1-2 11, Tyler Fitzgerald 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 7-12 51.
Ridgway 17 10 22 16 - 65
Sheffield 10 12 11 18 - 51
3-pointers: R- Sorge 3, Aiello. S- Sprandle 2, Bonavita, Nearing.
Junior varsity game
RIDGWAY (40): Roselli 5 4-6 14, Byrd 1 0-0 2, Bobby 0 0-0 0, Richard 0 0-0 0, Carlson 0 0-0 0, Kinkead 0 0-0 0, Stark 2 0-2 4, Zawatski 2 0-1 4, Jaques 2 0-0 4, Leithner 5 2-3 12. Totals: 17 6-12 40.
SHEFFIELD (38): Brandon Kipp 0 0-0 0, Dylan Reynolds 1 0-0 2, Tony Burt 0 0-0 0, Brendan Winslow 5 5-8 15, Chris Pedersen 1 2-4 4, Dylan McNeal 4 0-0 8, Ike Nearing 1 2-5 5, Tyler Fitzgerald 2 0-0 4. Totals: 14 9-17 38.
Ridgway 10 8 12 10 - 40
Sheffield 7 11 8 12 - 38
3-pointers: R- none. S- Nearing.
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WCCS 63, Jamestown Bethel 41
Andrew Hammersley scored all 19 of his points in the first half of the Lions' 63-41 New Penn Christian Conference win over Jamestown Bethel Friday at WCCS.
"Frankly, we shot very well tonight," said WCCS coach Steve Zwald, whose Lions are 7-7 overall.
Hammersley was 4-for-7 in 3-point shooting, and added 10 rebounds. Carson Moore had 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals.
JAMESTOWN BETHEL (41): Brajovic 8 0-4 16, J. Kinem 7 1-4 17, Jackie 2 0-0 6, B. Kinem 1 0-0 2, Totals 18 1-8 41.
WCCS (63): Josiah Poindexter 1 0-0 2, Tyler Keller 0 0-2 0, Andrew Laird 5 4-4 14, Eric Sorenson 1 0-0 2, Andrew Hammersley 6 3-4 19, Carson Moore 4 2-2 10, Ricky Zortman 2 0-0 4, Josh Wagonseller 1 0-0 2, Chris Root 1 0-0 2, Jamie Petrush 1 0-2 2, Tim Hungerford 3 0-0 6, 25 9-14 63.
Jamestown 7 7 10 17 - 41
WCCS 23 26 10 4 - 63
3-pointers: J-J. Kinem 2, Jackie 2; W-Hammersley 4.