Youngsville head coach Jesse DeLoof with, from left, Timber Bower (All-Tournament team), Gage Hendrickson (Tournament MVP) and Joe Mack (All-Tournament team).

TIONESTA, Pa. – The season may just be getting started, but there is no question that this is a different Youngsville Eagle team.

Sophomore point guard Joe Mack scored 21 points and fellow sophomore Brady Olewine bounced back from a tough shooting night in the opener, pouring in 16 to lead Youngsville to the Forest Area Tip-Off Tournament title with a 60-45 win over the host school on Saturday evening.

The Eagles (2-0) got out of the gate strong, outscoring the Fires (1-1) 16-10 in the first quarter.

Not only did they start strong, but they finished even better, with a 16-8 run to close out the game in the fourth quarter.

Ethan Kesterholt came off the bench to score six points, including 4-of-4 from the free throw line.

The Eagles showed tremendous scoring balance in the tournament, as Timber Bower and Gage Hendrickson (the Tournament MVP) led them on Friday against Bethel and Mack (who was also named to the All-Tournament team) and Olewine against Forest Area.

But coach Jesse DeLoof knows his team needs to keep improving if they want to get where they want to be.

“We need to get better and we will,” he said. “We got away with mistakes this weekend that will hurt us going forward. Too many avoidable turnovers and missed free throws. Our level of competition is about to be cranked up a couple notches.”

They look to continue the hot start when they travel to Oil City on Tuesday.

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YOUNGSVILLE (60)

Mack 9-3-4-21, Hendrickson 3-0-2-6, Bower 1-3-6-5, Peterson 1-0-0-2, Olewine 8-0-0-16, Mercado 1-0-0-2, Kesterholt 1-4-4-6, Dell 1-0-0-2, Proctor 0-0-0-0, Totals 25-10-16-60

FOREST (45)

Quinn 3-0-0-6, Meals 3-0-0-7, Bussins 5-0-2-11, Seidle 4-0-0-8, Kahle 4-0-0-9, Miller 0-0-0-0, Totals 19-0-2-45

By Quarters

Youngsville 16 12 16 16 – 60

Forest 10 11 16 8 – 45

Three-point FGs: Youngsville – None; Forest – Meals, Bussins, Kahle