By ALLEN SEYBERT
General McLane left the Joseph A. Massa Memorial Gymnasium the same way it entered on Friday.
Article Photos
Times Observer photo by Allen Seybert
No look
Warren’s Austin Jerman attempts a layup in front of a General McLane opponent during Friday’s Region 7 boys basketball game at Warren Area High School. Jerman opened his eyes in time to make the shot, finishing with 12 points in the Dragons’ 68-63 loss.
Undefeated.
In between, it was an all out war in front of a feisty capacity crowd.
Warren (13-5, 8-3 Region 7) gave the Lancers (18-0, 12-0) all they wanted and more during a 68-63 Region 7 boys basketball loss at Warren Area High School.
"I felt the difference in the game was the free throw line," said Warren coach Jeff Berdine. "We finished 11-of-17 from the line and three of those misses were front ends of one-and-ones. Against a good team, you need to take advantage of every opportunity and we didn't do that."
Berdine also pointed to several second-chance opportunities and subsequent scores that gave Lancers added momentum in the game's key moments.
"I felt Mark (Davis) was very active and trying to block shots in our matchup zone," said Berdine. "When he's doing that, we need our guards to drop down and cover on the boards. They didn't do a good job of that and Hank (Morrison) was left alone down there too many times."
The undefeated Lancers started the game strong by scoring the first four points of the contest. The Dragons responded with an 11-2 run and took an 11-8 lead into the second quarter.
The Dragons kept the momentum early in the second and were able to push the advantage to eight at 22-14. The Lancers responded with five straight points, including a 3-pointer by J.R. Mountain, to get within three and closed the half on a 16-6 run to lead 30-28 at halftime.
Mountain had a huge second quarter for the Lancers, hitting three 3-pointers and scoring all nine of his points in the frame.
Warren found itself down five points early in the third quarter, but senior Preston McMeans responded with a three-point play and a layup to knot things up at 36-36. The next run belonged to the visitors who clipped off eight straight points to build their biggest lead of the evening at 44-36.
Again, a resilient Warren club would not give in.
Morrison made a pair of free throws and McMeans hit a mid-range jumper to make it 44-40 at the end of three quarters.
The intensity - and scoring - picked up in the final stanza as McLane would score 24 points to the Dragons' 23. McLane managed to hold the lead throughout until the 5:01 mark when Austin Jerman's jumper put the Dragons up 51-50.
After a McLane free throw, Davis hit a jump shot that made it 53-51. However, McLane would take advantage of two Warren turnovers and score six points in the next 29 seconds to go on top, 57-53.
As had been the case all night, Warren fought right back. Morrison made a free throw and jumpers by Matt Sandberg and McMeans surrounded a McLane free throw, tying the game at 58-58 with 2:00 left on the clock.
McLane's next possession was a big one. Standout Jaymon Mason drove to the basket and finished, getting fouled in the process. The three-point play made it 61-58 and Davis picked up his fifth foul on the play.
Warren failed to score on its next possession and McLane's Chad Kulka was fouled, making one of two to push the lead to four. With 0:32 left on the clock, Sandberg hit a three-pointer to make it 62-61. Warren fouled right away and Mason made both freebies, pushing the lead to three.
Berdine called timeout and the Dragons looked for a possible game-tying shot. However, Jerman's pass was intercepted by Matt Astorino who immediately passed to Kulka whose layup made it 66-61. Jerman added a jumper and Mason two free throws in the game's final 12 seconds and the game ended 68-63.
All five Dragons who scored reached double figures. Davis had the biggest game for the Dragons, scoring a team-high 15 points and adding eight rebounds and seven blocks. McMeans scored 13 points with four steals, Sandberg and Jerman each scored 12 points and Morrison had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Mason scored a game-high 22 points for McLane and Josh Ponsoll added 16 markers.
Warren will look to rebound from the loss Monday when it visits Harbor Creek for a make-up game.
McLane won the junior varsity game, 66-50. Collin Fantaskey led the Dragons with 16 points.
MCLANE (68): Mountain 3 0-0 9, Mason 8 5-8 22, Hallett 1 0-0 2, Astorino 1 1-2 3, Kulka 3 1-3 7, Thompson 3 3-4 9, Ponsoll 4 8-10 16, Totals: 23 18-27 68
WARREN (63): Mark Davis 6 3-6 15, Austin Jerman 6 0-1 12, Matt Sandberg 4 3-4 12, Kory Thomas 0 0-0 0, Hank Morrison 4 3-4 11, Preston McMeans 5 2-2 13, Grayson Foley 0 0-0 0, Collin Fantaskey 0 0-0 0, Totals: 25 11-17 63
General McLane 8 22 14 24 - 68
Warren 11 17 12 23 - 63
3-pointers: G- Mountain 3, Mason; W- Sandberg, McMeans
Junior varsity game
MCLANE (66): Erdman 1 3-7 5, Hallett 10 0-1 23, Kulka 9 3-4 21, Schmidt 3 0-0 8, Smith 4 0-0 9, Totals: 27 4-8 66
WARREN (50): Grayson Foley 0 0-0 0, Derek Hanlin 1 0-0 2, Austin Schwanke 0 0-0 0, Ryan Gustafson 1 0-0 2, Collin Fantaskey 7 1-1 16, Cody McGraw 0 0-0 0, Andrew Hammersley 2 0-0 4, Jacoby Passmore 3 0-2 7, Tanner Stanz 3 0-0 7, Andrew Stanton 0 0-0 0, Jack Daley 2 2-2 6, Totals: 19 9-11 50
General McLane 17 19 13 17 - 66
Warren 7 14 12 17 - 50
3-pointers: G- Hallett 3, Schmidt 2, Smith; W- Fantaskey, Passmore, Stanz
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Ridgway 76, Sheffield 44
RIDGWAY - Ridgway is undefeated for several reasons.
One of the biggest reasons is Eric Matheson.
Matheson scored 38 points Friday, singlehandedly overwhelming the Sheffield Wolverines in a 76-44 victory at Ridgway High School.
"We were able to break their press all night," said Sheffield coach Todd Fitch. "However, once we got past half court, we were a mess. We turned the ball over way too much. We got into a running game with (the Elkers) and they are very talented. There's a reason they are undefeated."
The loss drops Sheffield to 11-8 on the season.
Mark Sprandle led the Wolverines' offensive attack with 15 points. Nick Bonavita scored 11 points and Kalil Slaughter added nine.
The Wolverines will try for their 12th victory of the season Tuesday when they host Curwensville.
Ridgway suffocated the Wolverines' junior varsity team in a 42-18 decision. Noah Heeter and Dylan McNeal scored six points each in defeat.
SHEFFIELD (44): Ike Nearing 2 3-5 7, Mark Sprandle 6 0-0 15, Kalil Slaughter 4 1-2 9, Nick Bonavita 5 0-0 11, Josh Anderson 0 0-0 0, George Fitch 1 0-0 2, Dylan McNeal 0 0-0 0, Dylan Reynolds 0 0-0 0, Tyler Fitzgerald 0 0-0 0, Totals: 18 4-7 44
RIDGWAY (76): Matheson 13 5-8 38, Reynolds 3 2-2 8, Lundin 7 0-0 17, Sorge 2 0-0 5, Mitchell 1 0-0 2, Oknefski 0 1-2 1, Byrd 1 0-0 2, Littner 0 1-2 1, Stark 0 0-2 0, Roselli 1 0-0 2, Totals: 28 9-16 76
Sheffield 10 11 8 15 - 44
Ridgway 21 20 17 18 - 76
3-ponters: S- Sprandle 3, Bonavita; R- Matheson 7, Lundin 3, Sorge
Junior varsity game
SHEFFIELD (18): Nic Confer 1 0-0 2, Luke McCracken 0 0-0 0, Kwante Johnson 0 0-0 0, Noah Heeter 3 0-0 6, Dylan McNeal 2 1-2 6, Dylan Reynolds 0 0-0 0, Brandon Kipp 0 0-0 0, Travis Peterson 1 0-0 2, Tyler Fitzgerald 1 0-0 2, Totals: 8 1-2 18
RIDGWAY (42): Roselli 5 0-0 13, Horning 0 1-2 1, Bobby 3 0-0 6, Stark 2 0-0 4, Jacques 4 0-0 8, Byrd 5 0-0 10, Totals: 19 1-2 42
Sheffield 5 5 4 4 - 18
Ridgway 12 10 9 11 - 42
3-pointers: S- McNeal; R- Roselli 3
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Jamestown Bethel 48, WCCS 29
JAMESTOWN, N.Y. - Josh Carpenter scored 17 points, but Warren County Christian was outscored in every quarter in a New Penn Christian Conference road loss on Friday.
"Defensively we played a very good game," said WCCS coach Steve Zwald, whose Lions held Jamestown Bethel to 48 points after it scored 60 in a win over WCCS last game. "Our goal was to shut down their inside game, we did that. The other guys stepped it up."
Jamestown Bethel's big guys (Frank and Pratt) combined for 43 of 60 points in the first meeting, but only 18 points on Friday.
But, offensively, the Lions "were a six-cylinder engine running on four tonight," said Zwald.
Andrew Laird had eight steals for WCCS (4-8), and Carson Moore 13 rebounds.
WCCS is at Tidioute Charter on Monday.
WCCS (29): Josh Carpenter 5 6-7 17, Carson Moore 1 0-0 2, Josh Wagonseller 2 0-0 6, Jamie Petrush 2 0-0 4, Andrew Laird 0 0-0 0, 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 10 6-7 29.
JAMESTOWN BETHEL (48): Chang 2 0-0 5, Kinem 2 2-6 7, Nixon 1 0-0 2, Pratt 2 1-2 5, Chase 4 0-0 9, Ye 1 0-0 2, Gruber 2 1-2 5, Frank 6 0-1 13. Totals 20 4-11 48.
WCCS 5 7 6 11 - 29
Jamestown Bethel 11 10 15 12 - 48
3-pointers: W-Carpenter, Wagonseller 2; J-Chag, Kinem, Chase, Frank.
Junior varsity game
WCCS (16): Daniel Lauffenburger 2 1-2 5, Eric Sorenson 2 0-1 4, Josiah Poindexter 3 0-1 7, Marcus Root 0 0-0 0, Tommy Jones 0 0-0 0, Totals 7 1-4 16.
JAMESTOWN (24): Z. Heilman 4 0-0 8, Nixon 5 0-0 10, J. Heilman 2 0-0 4, Hartman 1 0-0 2, Totals 12 0-0 24.
WCCS 2 6 0 8 - 16
Jamestown 8 2 10 4 - 24
3-pointers: W-Poindexter; J-None.