By TYSON HIMES and JON SITLER
Eisenhower missed a huge opportunity to improve its playoff seeding on Tuesday night. The Knights dropped a close game to first-place Cochranton, 57-49, at Eisenhower High School.
Article Photos
Times Observer photo by Tyson Himes
Shine time
Eisenhower’s Colin Shine tries to drive around a Cochranton defender on Tuesday during a 57-49 Region 3 loss at Eisenhower High School.
"I thought the intensity was there the whole game," said Ike assistant coach Jacoby Curtis. "In the second half, we got careless with the ball. We have to get back on defense; they got a lot of fast-break points. We have got to play a complete game. We can't give up runs like we did in the third quarter."
The Knights jumped out to a quick 10-5 lead to start the first quarter. Then the Cardinals hit three rapid fire layups in a row, two of them off of steals, to go up by one point. The teams traded buckets and Ike finished with a 16-14 lead.
Cochranton tied up the score early in the second quarter. The Cardinals put on the full-court press around the six-minute mark. They got some transition offense out of their press and went up 23-18 with 4:30 left in the half.
Eisenhower stole the lead away with a minute left, but two fouls landed Cochranton on the line and the Cardinals retook the lead again, 26-24, at the half.
The Knights came out of halftime and played even until Cochranton went on a run with 4:45 left in the third quarter. On offense, the Cardinals got three scores in a row attacking the front line of Eisenhower. A follow up shot put them up 10 with 1:45 left in the quarter.
The Knights could not make up the hole they dug themselves in the third quarter.
Cochranton used a steady dose of transition offense to keep the Knights honest on defense. The scoring was not there when they needed it down the stretch. Also, the foul shooting situation was heavily in favor of the Cardinals. They went 17-of-22 from the line while the Knights had four attempts in the game.
The loss sets up a tough game for Eisenhower this Friday night at Linesville. If Eisenhower wins, the Knights will tie Linesville for second in the region.
Ike is 12-9 overall and 3-4 and in third-place in Region 3. Linesville nipped Conneaut Lake, 45-44, on Tuesday, to improve to 4-3 and in second place in the region. Conneaut Lake is 2-5 in the region, but has lost twice to the Knights.
COCHRANTON (57): Kenny 2 0-0 4, Oertly 8 4-7 20, Troutner 2 0-0 4, Adams 2 1-3 5, Dickson 3 12-12 19, Herzberger 2 0-0 5. Totals 19 17-22 57
EISENHOWER (49): Josh Deppas 0 0-0 0, Aaron Lundmark 1 0-0 2, Carter Farrell 0 0-0 0, Jarrett Johnson 0 0-0 0, John Potts 0 0-0 0, Colin Shine 7 0-0 17, Nathan Obrien 4 0-0 8, Chris Sanders 0 0-0 0, Andrew Onoratti 1 0-0 2, Kyle Hunt 0 0-0 0, Ricky Zortman 0 0-0 0, Ryan Williams 4 1-2 9, Ben Harvey 0 0-0 0, Joe Rutsky 5 1-2 11. Totals 22 2-4 49
Cochranton 14 12 18 13 -57
Eisenhower 16 8 10 15 -49
3-pointers. C-Dickson 1, Herzberger 1. E-Colin Shine 3.
Junior varsity game
COCHRANTON (53): Roche 1 0-0 2, Saunier 9 3-5 21, Buchan 0 1-2 1, Custead 4 0-0 8, Vanderhoff 7 4-4 21. Totals 21 8-13 53
EISENHOWER(39): Carter Farrell 3 1-2 7, Jarrett Johnson 6 0-3 13, John Potts 1 0-0 2, Chris Saunders 3 3-4 9, Kyle Hunt 2 0-1 4, Ben Harvey 0 0-0 0, Ricky Zortman 2 0-0 4. Totals 14 4-10 39
Cochranton 16 8 14 15 -53
Eisenhower 14 10 8 7 -39
3-pointers. C-Vanderhoff 3. E-Johnson 1.
---
New-Penn Playoffs
Jamestown Bethel 33, WCCS 23
JAMESTOWN, N.Y. - The Warren County Christian School boys basketball team's season ended a day after the girls team's season did, as the Lions fell, 33-23, to Jamestown Bethel in the first round of the New Penn Christian Conference boys playoff tournament on Tuesday.
After playing Jamestown Bethel in a high-scoring game earlier this season, WCCS has since played well defensively against Bethel's two top scorers two straight games, but lost a defensive battle.
"It was very much a defensive game," said WCCS coach Steve Zwald, whose Lions finish 5-10 and 0-3 against Jamestown Bethel this season. "We're still basically operating with five (varsity) guys. At the end of the game, they did wear us down."
The Lions trailed 12-6 after one quarter, but fought hard the battle back. WCCS trailed 12-11 for much of the second quarter. After Bethel took 26-15 lead after three quarters, the Lions cut the lead to three, 26-23, in the fourth before Jamestown pulled away.
Carson Moore finished with eight points and nine rebounds, and WCCS will graduate three seniors - Andrew Laird, Jamie Petrush and Josh Carpenter - from this year's team.
WCCS (23): Andrew Laird 2 0-0 4, Josh Carpenter 2 2-2 6, Carson Moore 4 0-0 8, Jamie Petrush 2 1-2 5, Josh Wagonseller 0 0-0 0, Erik Sorensen 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 3-4 23.
JAMESTOWN BETHEL (33): Chang 1 0-0 3, Kinem 3 0-0 7, Pratt 5 5-8 15, Frank 2 0-0 4, Chase 1 0-0 2, Gruber 1 0-2 2. Totals 13 5-10 33.
WCCS 6 5 4 8 - 23
Jamestown Bethel 12 5 9 7 -33
3-pointers: J-Chang, Kinem; W-None.
---
Cambridge Springs 66, Youngsville 30
Youngsville falls to 0-17 overall with one game left in the regular season.
The Eagles (0-7 in Region 4) trailed 13-6 after one quarter and 31-15 by halftime to Cambridge Springs (6-2 in the region and 14-7 overall).
Coll Dininny had team-high 13 ponts to lead Youngsville, which hosts 1-19 Union City on Friday in the final game.
CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS (66): Palmero 4 5-6 14, Hohn 0 3-4 3, Huff 1 0-0 2, Drake 1 0-0 2, Merry 1 0-0 2, Palmero 4 5-7 13, Porter 5 1-2 12, Fiely 4 0-0 8, VanWinkle 3 4-6 10. Totals 23 18-25 66.
YOUNGSVILLE (30): Broc Horn 2 0-0 5, Tom Chapman 0 2-2 2, Rocco Gatta 1 0-0 2, Coll Dininny 4 5-5 13, Dan McLaughlin 2 1-2 5, Collin Lehnen 1 0-0 3, Corey Jones 0 0-0 0, Dacoda Buchanan 0 0-0 0, Levi Ecelburger 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 8-9 30.
Cambridge 13 18 23 12 - 66
Youngsville 6 9 7 8 - 30
3-pointers: C-Palmero, Porter; Y-Horn, Lehnen.
Junior varsity game
CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS (52): Huff 4 2-3 11, Hackenberry 4 2-2 10, Drake 0 1-2 1, Merry 0 2-2 2, Ferris 3 0-0 6, Moyer 0 1-3 1, Duda 4 0-0 8, Spence 1 0-0 2, Galford 2 0-0 4, O'Malley 0 3-6 3, Fiely 2 0-0 4. Totals 20 11-18 52.
YOUNGSVILLE (19): Trevor Flinn 2 0-0 6, Ben Frederick 1 0-0 2, Dustin Jesson 1 0-0 2, Dacoda Buchanan 2 0-0 4, Levi Ecelburger 0 1-7 1, Zach Sanford 1 0-0 2, Dan McLaughlin 1 0-0 2. Totals 8 1-7 19.
Cambridge 15 12 7 18 - 52
Youngsville 5 2 3 9 - 19
3-pointers: C-Huff; Y-Flinn 2.