Jordan Hollabaugh scored nine of his team-high 15 points in the frame, and the Tigers connected on three of their seven 3-pointers to break the game open.

“They have two 6’4”, 230-pound kids so you’ve got to pick your poison,” Youngsville coach Jesse DeLoof said. “They hit some shots, some big shots, when they needed to.”

The Eagles (7-10 overall, 2-7 Region 3) were in control early thanks to a nice tic-tac-toe play from Gage Hendrickson to Ethan Kesterholt to Joe Mack for the finish, and a Hendrickson 3-pointer in the first quarter. Maplewood (9-9, 3-6) tied the game at 11-11 late in the frame, but Timber Bower hit a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to give the Eagles a 14-11 advantage after one.

Jake Brunot banked the first of his two 3-pointers to start the second quarter and the teams battled back-and-forth through the first four minutes of the period. Consecutive 3s from Brady Olewine and Austin Peterson gave Youngsville a 23-17 advantage. Maplewood started to make a charge, but Youngsville was able to stretch the lead to 29-22 with just under two minutes to go.

Times Observer photo by Brian Hagberg Youngsville’s Joe Mack (5) flies in for a layup past Maplewood’s Hunter Groger (2) during the fourth quarter of their game at Youngsville High School, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019. Mack scored 14 points, but the Tigers came away with a 64-54 Region 3 win.

The Tigers made a late run and closed the gap to 29-28 at the half.

“I thought we got a lot of good looks inside early and we made some 3s,” DeLoof said.

The third quarter belonged almost entirely to the Tigers. They went on a 6-0 run at the start, but the Eagles were able to come back and tie the game at 35. Maplewood countered with a 13-0 run that essentially put the game out of reach. The Tigers got hot from behind the arc with with deep 3s from Clay Cox, Brunot and Hunter Groger and a traditional 3-point play by Hollabaugh.

On the other end, the Eagles seemingly couldn’t buy a bucket, and an early 3-pointer by Hendrickson proved to be his only field goal of the half.

“They keyed on Gage,” DeLoof said. “Honestly, if I was coaching against us, I would key on him too.”

Times Observer photo by Brian Hagberg Youngsville’s Gage Hendrickson puts a shot up over the outstretched arm of Maplewood’s Jordan Hollabaugh (43) during the first half of their game at Youngsville High School, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019. Hendrickson had a game-high 19 points, but the Tigers defeated the Eagles, 64-54.

The Eagles got a bit of a surge in the fourth quarter with a 6-0 run, but the Tigers were able to slow the momentum and connected on their free throws down the stretch to close out the win.

Hendrickson had a game-high 19 points and 12 rebounds and Mack added 14 points in the loss.

Hollabaugh, Camden Mattocks (13), Clay Cox (12) and Joel Cox (12) were all in double figures for the Tigers.

Despite the loss, DeLoof was proud both of his team’s effort, and the community support they received for a big game.

“Everyone wants to win, they’re all-in,” he said. “And it was great to have the crowd we had tonight and to see that kind of support from the community.”

The Eagles are scheduled to travel to Titusville Thursday, though that game is in question due to the polar vortex. If it is postponed, they will next be in action against Sheffield at the Erie Insurance Arena in Erie Saturday.

– – –

Maplewood (64)

Hollabaugh 7-1-1-15, C. Mattocks 6-1-3-13, C. Cox 4-1-3-12, J. Cox 3-6-7-12, Brunot 2-0-2-6, Groger 2-0-0-6, H. Mattocks 0-0-0-0, Team 24-9-16-64

Youngsville (54)

Hendrickson 5-7-10-19, Mack 6-2-3-14, Bower 2-2-3-7, Peterson 2-1-1-6, Olewine 2-0-0-6, Mercado 1-0-0-2, Kesterholt 0-0-0-0, Mowrey 0-0-0-0, Team 18-12-17-54

By quarters

Maplewood 11 17 23 13 – 64

Youngsville 14 15 9 16 – 54

3-point FGs: Maplewood (7)-C. Cox 3, Brunot 2, Groger 2. Youngsville (6)-Olewine 2, Hendrickson 2, Peterson, Bower.

– - - - – –

UNION CITY 62,

EISENHOWER 26

Bronnan Higley poured in a game-high 24 points to send Union City to a 62-26 Region 3 win over Eisenhower on Tuesday.

The Bears (13-3 overall, 8-1 Region 3) jumped out to a 23-2 lead after the first quarter and never looked back.

Caleb Robinault had seven points to pace Eisenhower (1-16, 0-8), while Zane Alexander added six and Curt Darling five.

Union City also won the JV game, 50-29. Dillon Benson had 10 points for Ike and Jake Venman and Alexander seven each.