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Knights fall to Maplewood in Region 3 action

Eisenhower’s Drew Williams (0) looks for teammate Jared Martone (21) while making a leaping pass during the second half of a game against Maplewood at Eisenhower High School, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019. The Tigers defeated the Knights, 70-29.

Coming into the year, Eisenhower knew size would not be one of its keys to success.

Maplewood took full advantage of that size discrepancy and left the John M Neese gymnasium Wednesday with a 70-29 Region 3 win.

“We’re undersized, but we have to be physical. We have to be tough,” Eisenhower coach Ryan Williams said. “They bullied us around.”

The Tigers (4-6 overall, 1-3 Region 3) came out cold from the field, but Camden Mattocks and Jordan Hollabaugh outmuscled the Knights (1-10, 0-3) in the paint to get multiple second-

chance opportunities. Maplewood led 14-0 before Zane Alexander got Eisenhower’s first points of the game with 1:39 to play in the first quarter. The Tigers led 14-4 after one.

“We got some looks early on,” Williams said. “We knew we wanted to mix our defenses and force them into some longer shots that might lead to longer rebounds.”

Eisenhower’s Thakari Warren (35) puts up a shot between a pair of Maplewood defenders during the second half of their game at Eisenhower High School, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019.

The Knights had some opportunities to drive the lane in the second quarter, but too often kicked the ball back outside instead of trying to score and the Tigers methodically pulled away.

“The man-to-man and press defense they were playing, I thought, was actually doing us a favor,” Williams said. “But those passes were just them being a little shy and not aggressive. We’ve got to learn to take advantage of those (opportunities).”

Eisenhower created, and took advantage of, some transition opportunities in the third quarter and scored 13 points in the frame. Mattocks had an answer on the other end, however, as he scored eight of his game-high 21 points in the third and Maplewood had a comfortable 51-23 advantage going into the fourth.

Joel Cox also scored in double figures for the Tigers with 15 points.

Williams led the Knights with seven points with Thakari Warren chipping in six and Martone five.

Eisenhower’s Jared Martone (21) goes in for a layup in front of Maplewood’s Gage Bahle (5) during the first half of their game at Eisenhower High School, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019. The Tigers defeated the Knights, 70-29.

Eisenhower travels to Region 3 co-leader Cochranton (7-4, 3-0) Friday.

– – –

MAPLEWOOD (70)

Mattocks 8-5-7-21, J. Cox 5-5-6-15, Nageotte 4-0-2-8, Brunot 3-0-0-7, C. Cox 3-0-0-7, Hollabaugh 3-0-1-6, Groger 2-0-0-4, Donor 1-0-0-2, Kennedy 0-0-2-0, Wright 0-0-0-0, Snell 0-0-0-0, Bahle 0-0-0-0, Koelle 0-0-0-0, Team 28-10-18-70

EISENHOWER (29)

Eisenhower cheerleaders fire up the crowd during halfttime of a game between the Knights and Maplewood at Eisenhower High School, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019.

Williams 2-3-4-7, Warren 3-0-0-6, Martone 2-1-4-5, Alexander 2-0-3-4, Robinault 1-1-2-3, Darling 1-0-0-2, Venman 1-0-0-2, Savko 0-0-0-0, Benson 0-0-0-0, Labowski 0-0-0-0, Team 12-5-13-29

By quarters

Maplewood 14 18 19 19 – 70

Eisenhower 4 6 13 6 – 29

3-point FGs: Maplewood (2)-C. Cox, Brunot. Eisenhower-None

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