ERIE - Kory Thomas' desperation half-court shot at the buzzer bounced off the rim, giving the Mercyhurst Prep Lakers a 60-57 win over the Warren Dragons Tuesday at Mercyhurst Prep.
The loss was the first of the season for the Dragons, but Warren played well in defeat despite not executing down the stretch. The Dragons were also hurt by the 24 points of Mercyhurst Prep standout Dwayne Canady.
"It was a back and forth game and we just didn't execute well enough late," said Warren coach Jeff Berdine. Canady really hurt us and a lot of his points came from mental mistakes on our part. He got some easy looks and can't allow that and win close games against teams like Mercyhurst Prep."
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Times Observer photo by Allen Seybert
Open look
WCCS forward Carson Moore shoots over a Meadville Calvary Baptist defender during a boys basketball game between the teams Tuesday at WCCS.
Warren carved out an early lead against the Lakers, but watched as the hosts pulled ahead as Hank Morrison, Preston McMeans and Mark Davis all missed significant time in the opening half with foul trouble.
The Lakers went up by as many as seven points, but Warren weathered the storm and cut the deficit to one by halftime.
Late in the game, Warren trailed by two points when Austin Jerman was fouled and sent to the line for two shots. He missed the first, forcing him to miss the second intentionally, but the Lakers garnered the rebound.
On the other end, the Lakers made one of two freebies to push the lead to 62-59, setting up Thomas' desperation shot.
McMeans led the Dragons in scoring with 18 points and five steals and Jerman collected 12 points, five boards and four assists. Thomas and Morrison netted nine points each in defeat.
Mercyhurst Prep also won the junior varsity game, 53-46. Jacoby Passmore scored 18 points to lead the Dragons.
Warren (2-1) returns to action Saturday, opening region play at East. Junior varsity will tip-off at 6 p.m. with varsity to follow.
WARREN (57): Mark Davis 2 2-4 6, Austin Jerman 4 4-7 12, Matt Sandberg 0 1-2 1, Kory Thomas 4 0-0 9, Hank Morrison 4 1-2 9, Preston McMeans 6 4-5 18, Jack Daley 1 0-0 2, Drew Lobdell 0 0-0 0, Totals: 22 13-21 59
MERCYHURST PREP (60): Canady 9 4-8 24, Sheldon 2 1-1 6, Malone 2 1-2 6, Anderson 3 5-6 14, Borgis 3 1-4 7, Wagner 2 1-1 5, Totals: 21 12-21 62
Warren 15 10 10 22 - 57
Mercyhurst Prep 15 11 11 23 - 60
3-pointers: W- Thomas, McMeans 2; M- Canady 2, Sheldon, Malone, Anderson 3
Junior varsity game
WARREN (46): Ryan Gustafson 3 0-0 8, Collin Fantaskey 6 1-2 13, Cody McGraw 1 1-3 3, Jacoby Passmore 6 6-8 18, Nick Rosenquist 1 0-0 2, Tanner Stanz 1 0-0 2, Austin Schwanke 0 0-0 0, Andrew Hammersley 0 0-0 0, Totals: 18 8-13 46
MERCYHURST PREP (53): Hoss 1 0-0 3, Winschel 2 2-2 7, Holland 3 0-0 6, Pudo 4 2-2 11, Angello 3 0-0 8, Jones 4 0-0 8, Kline 2 4-4 9, Totals: 19 8-8 53
Warren 21 3 11 11 - 46
Mercyhurst Prep 17 14 11 11 - 53
3-pointers: W- Gustafson 2; M- Hoss, Winschel, Pudo, Angello 2, Kline
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Titusville 65, Eisenhower 55
TITUSVILLE - Eisenhower hung with Titusville, but couldn't overcome an 18-12 second quarter deficit in a 65-55 loss at Titusville on Tuesday.
Eisenhower gets Titusville again in a couple weeks, which will be a good benchmark for how far Ike has improved under first-year coach Dave Allenson, the coach said.
"We played with more intensity the second half of this game," said Allenson, whose Knights are 1-2. "We were in the ballgame in the first half, there just wasn't any intensity there."
Eisenhower hit some 3-pointers late, and finished with nine for the game, including four by Josh Deppas. Deppas finished with 18 points for Ike, and Aaron Lundmark added 10. Andrew Onoratti added three 3's himself.
EISENHOWER (55): Josh Deppas 6 2-2 18, Aaron Lundmark 3 4-5 10, Colin Shine 1 0-1 3, Nate O'Brien 3 0-0 6, Andrew Onoratti 3 0-0 9, Ryan Williams 1 0-0 2, Joe Rutsky 3 0-0 7. Totals 20 6-8 55.
TITUSVILLE (65): Kline 4 4-4 12, Neely 3 5-8 12, Bodamer 0 3-6 3, Ciccarelli 7 0-0 16, Corklin 7 0-0 15, Speer 3 0-0 7. Totals 24 12-18 65.
Eisenhower 13 12 15 15 - 55
Titusville 14 18 17 16 65
3-pointers: E-Deppas 4, Shine, Onoratti 3, Rutsky; T-Neely, Ciccarelli 2, Corklin, Speer.
Junior varsity game
EISENHOWER (37): Jarett Johnson 2 0-0 4, Ben Harvey 2 0-0 4, Chris Sanders 2 1-2 5, Kyle Hunt 4 0-0 9, Ricky Zortman 1 0-0 3, John Potts 3 1-1 7, Carter Farrell 2 1-2 5. Totals 16 3-5 37.
TITUSVILLE (60): Artis 4 0-0 8, Schneider 4 3-3 12, Rickerson 3 0-0 7, Hines 7 0-0 14, Copland 2 0-0 4, Anderson 3 1-2 7, Kester 2 0-0 4. Totals 26 4-5 60.
Eisenhower 9 9 12 7 - 37
Titusville 17 13 23 7 - 60
3-pointers: E-Hunt, Zortman; T-Schneider, Rickerson.
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Meadville 62, WCCS 45
Warren County Christian School played one of its best boys basketball games in recent memory, but it wasn't enough for a win in a 62-45 loss to Meadville Calvary Baptist Tuesday at WCCS.
The second quarter was the major difference in the game as the visiting Thunder outscored the Lions by 20 points.
WCCS held a three-point advantage in the other three quarters combined.
"We played a very good game against a very good team," said WCCS coach Steve Zwald. "Our shooting let us down a little bit tonight, but we recorded 23 steals and limited our turnovers to just ten."
Josh Carpenter and Carson Moore both reached double figures for the Lions, finishing with 17 points and 14 points respectively. Moore added 13 rebounds, three assists and three steals, Carpenter had seven steals, Andrew Laird added five steals and Josh Wagonseller had four.
WCCS (0-3) returns to action Tuesday, hosting Community Country Day.
CALVARY BAPTIST (62): Hough 9 2-2 21, A. McCrillis 7 1-1 15, Mumford 1 0-0 2, Hoefler 1 0-0 2, Lang 2 0-0 4, Orndorff 1 0-0 3, J. McCrillis 1 0-0 2, Bocallo 0 2-2 2, Becker 0 0-2 0, Totals: 26 8-13 62
WCCS (45): Andrew Laird 1 1-3 3, Josh Carpenter 6 1-2 17, Carson Moore 7 0-0 14, Josh Wagonseller 2 1-4 5, Jamie Petrush 3 0-0 6, Marcus Root 0 0-0 0, Tommy Jones 0 0-0 0, Daniel Lauffenburger 0 0-0 0, Eric Sorenson 0 0-0 0, Josiah Poindexter 0 0-0 0, Totals: 19 3-9 45
Calvary Baptist 16 28 11 7 - 62
WCCS 13 8 15 9 - 45
3-pointers: C- Hough, Orndorff; W- Carpenter 4
Junior varsity game
CALVARY BAPTIST (45): Orndorff 3 0-2 6, Hough 2 0-0 4, Smith 1 0-0 2, Bustamante 1 1-1 3, Sherrod 4 0-0 8, Newhard 1 0-0 2, Tapper 2 0-2 5, Silvus 1 0-0 2, J. Wilson 3 0-0 6, D. Wilson 1 0-0 2, Daisley 1 0-0 2, Csiky 0 1-2 1, Pichna 1 0-0 2, Totals: 21 2-7 45
WCCS (8): Marcus Root 0 0-0 0, Tommy Jones 0 0-0 0, Daniel Sorenson 1 0-0 2, Eric Sorenson 0 0-0 0, Josiah Poindexter 3 0-0 6, Totals: 4 0-0 8
Calvary Baptist 19 8 6 12 - 45
WCCS 0 2 2 4 - 8
3-pointers: C- Tapper; W-None