Eagles roll past Knights in Backyard Brawl
Youngsville’s Joe Mack drives to the basket as Caleb Robinault (2) tries to block his shot during the first quarter of Friday’s game. Jared Martone (21) took the charge on the play for Eisenhower, but it was the Eagles who came away with a 50-26 victory.
Youngsville's Nyko Mercado looks for an open teammate.
Eisenhower's Drew Williams looks to put up a shot.
Eisenhower's Jared Martone fires a pass as Youngsville's Ethan Kesterholt defends.
Youngsville’s Joe Mack drives to the basket as Caleb Robinault (2) tries to block his shot during the first quarter of Friday’s game. Jared Martone (21) took the charge on the play for Eisenhower, but it was the Eagles who came away with a 50-26 victory.
Youngsville's Nyko Mercado looks for an open teammate.
Eisenhower's Drew Williams looks to put up a shot.
Eisenhower's Jared Martone fires a pass as Youngsville's Ethan Kesterholt defends.
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The Eisenhower boys have got the best of Youngsville in their Backyard Brawl rivalry in recent years.
Friday was a much different story.
Gage Hendrickson scored 17 points and pulled down 13 rebounds and the Eagles got a strong game from their bench en route to a 50-26 win.
"It's nice to be on the other side in this rivalry," said Youngsville second-year head coach Jesse DeLoof.
It was all Eagles (7-7 overall, 2-4 Region 3) right from the opening tip, as they jumped out to a huge lead, 27-3.
It was a balanced offensive effort for Youngsville, with Timber Bower and Brady Olewine hitting 3's in the opening eight minutes and Nyko Mercado also had a strong putback.
It was a welcome performance for a team that was looking to get the bad taste out of its mouth after they let a lead slip away in a loss at Saegertown earlier in the week.
"It was nice to bounce back," DeLoof said, indicating that this game couldn't come soon enough.
"We had two good practices and we executed tonight. That was the difference."
Jared Martone hit back-to-back 3's in the final two minutes of the half for Eisenhower (1-13, 0-6) to cut into the lead going into halftime, 27-9.
"We got sloppy at the end of the first half," DeLoof said.
Eisenhower started the second half much better than the first, as Drew Williams hit a pair of shots, but they were unable to cut into the deficit.
Hendickson went to work early in the fourth to put the game away, scoring eight points in a span of just over two minutes to give Youngsville it's biggest lead of the game, 45-16.
"We hold Gage to a high standard," said DeLoof.
The Eagle bench also provided 14 points - Mercado six, Owen Procter five and Dominic Dell three.
"Our bench has been giving us good minutes," noted DeLoof. "It's nice to get everybody in. They're putting in just as much work in practice as the starting five. I thought they did well when they were out there."
Martone led Eisenhower with 12 points, while Williams had eight and Curt Darling six.
Olewine had 13 for Youngsville.
Youngsville is back in action Tuesday, hosting Cochranton, while Eisenhower also plays Tuesday at Saegertown.
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EISENHOWER (26)
Williams 3-1-2-8, Darling 2-0-0-6, Martone 5-0-1-12, Robinault 0-0-0-0, Alexander 0-0-0-0, Warren 0-0-0-0, Totals 8-1-3-26
YOUNGSVILLE (50)
Mack 2-0-0-4, Hendrickson 7-3-3-17, Bower 1-1-2-4, Peterson 0-0-0-0, Olewine 4-2-2-13, Mercado 3-0-0-6, Kesterholt 0-0-0-0, Dell 1-0-2-3, Sorber 0-0-0-0, Procter 2-1-1-5, Mowrey 0-0-0-0, Totals 20-7-10-50
By Quarters
Eisenhower 2 7 7 10 - 26
Youngsville 15 12 7 16 - 50
Three-point FGs: Eisenhower (5) - Martone 2, Darling 2, Williams; Youngsville (3) - Bower, Olewine, Dell
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EISENHOWER (17)
Darling 1-0-0-3, Robinault 1-0-2-2, Labowski 0-2-2-2, Venman 1-2-2-4, Alexander 2-0-0-4, Benson 1-0-0-2, Savko 0-0-0-0, Warren 0-0-0-0, Totals 6-4-6-17
YOUNGSVILLE (43)
Dell 3-2-2-8, Kesterholt 1-0-1-3, Procter 4-3-4-11, Mowrey 0-1-2-1, Upton 0-0-4-0, Bies 3-1-2-7, Hogg 1-0-0-3, Crane 0-0-0-0, Totals 14-13-23-43
By Quarters
Eisenhower 5 0 8 4 - 17
Youngsville 11 13 8 11 - 43
Three-point FGs: Eisenhower (1) - Darling; Youngsville (2) - Hogg, Kesterholt