Photo submitted to the Times Observer Eisenhower’s Luke Smelko (13) guards Union City’s Cole DeSimone (00) during their game at Union City High School, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. The Bears defeated the Knights, 58-52.

UNION CITY, Pa. — Union City connected on five of its 10 3-pointers during a 21-point second quarter on its way to a 58-52 Region 3 win over visiting Eisenhower Tuesday.

Matthew Bennett paced the Bears with half of the baskets from behind the arc in a 23-point performance. Union City outscored Eisenhower 21-14 in the second quarter, while the teams were within a point of each other in the remaining three quarters.

“It was another nail biter on the road,” Eisenhower coach Wayne Lundmark said.

The Knights (5-10 overall, 2-7 Region 3) led 13-12 after the first quarter. Threes from Union City’s (8-10, 5-4) Cole DeSimone, Keegan Hornaman and Jamon Higley, plus a pair from Bennett, broke the game open a bit and gave the Bears a 33-27 halftime advantage.

Curt Darling knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the third for Eisenhower, but Union City matched with long balls from Bennett and Shane Uber to push the lead to 45-38 heading to the fourth quarter.

Jared Martone buried a pair of threes in the fourth, but Bennett hit two of his own and DeSimone put down another to help the Bears hold off any Knights rally.

DeSimone finished with nine points.

Martone led the Knights with 13, while Luke Smelko had 11 points and Drew Williams 10 for the Knights.

Eisenhower comes home for a Friday matchup with Maplewood.

——

Eisenhower (52)

Williams 2-6-7-10, Darling 3-0-0-8, Alexander 4-0-0-8, Smelko 4-3-4-11, Martone 5-0-2-13, Lookenhouse 0-2-2-2, Total 18-11-14-52

Union City (58)

DeSimone 3-1-2-9, Hornaman 3-0-0-7, Bojaczko 2-1-1-5, Uber 1-0-0-3, Bennett 8-1-3-23, Higley 3-0-2-7, Post 1-2-4-4, Shaffer 0-0-2-0, Total 21-5-14-58

By Quarters

Eisenhower 13 14 11 14 – 52

Union City 12 21 12 – 13 – 58

3-point FGs: Eisenhower (5)-Martone 3, Darling 2. Union City (10)-Bennett 5, DeSimone 2, Hornaman, Uber, Higley.

——

HARBOR CREEK 53, WARREN 32

HARBORCREEK, Pa. — The Region 6 boys basketball standings got a little more muddied Tuesday.

Harbor Creek held visiting Warren to just nine points in the second half and picked up a big, 53-32, Region 6 win. The Huskies kept pace with Corry for second place in the region with their fifth straight win, while the Dragons dropped to fifth in the standings with the loss.

“(It was) bad offensive execution coupled with a cold shooting night,” Warren coach Jeff Berdine said.

Warren (9-7 overall, 5-4 Region 6) ran into some foul trouble early in the first half, but was able to mostly keep pace with Harbor Creek (11-7, 5-3). The Huskies led, 33-23 at the half.

“We had three starters in foul trouble in the first half,” Berdine said.

The third quarter was low scoring as the teams combined for just 10 points; however, the Huskies grabbed eight of the 10, while the Dragons netted just two on a Ben Berdine field goal.

That gave Harbor Creek all the momentum it would need to secure to crucial region victory.

“I’m disappointed in our defensive rotations,” Berdine said. “We gave up a ton of transition buckets.”

Berdine paced the Warren offense with nine points and Payton Barnes added six.

Cody Smith and Avery Ennis led the Huskies with 12 points each and Ryan Whitman had 11 in the win.

Having dropped two straight, Warren will try to get back in the win column Friday when Oil City comes to the Joseph A. Massa Gymnasium.

“We’ll look to correct a lot of our mistakes vs. Oil City at home Friday,” Berdine said.

Harbor Creek picked up a 47-39 junior varsity win.

Terrance Kline led the Huskies with 17 points and Jaden Rocco had 11 in the win.

JT Blum had eight points and Justice Greene seven in the loss.

——

Warren (32)

Arnold 1-0-0-2, Berdine 4-0-1-9, Bablak 1-0-0-2, Grosch 1-0-0-2, Blum 1-0-0-3, Gustafson 1-1-2-3, Swanson 2-0-0-5, Barnes 2-0-0-6, Rafalski 0-0-0-0, Blair 0-0-0-0, Vazquez 0-0-0-0, Total 13-1-3-32

Harbor Creek (53)

Whitman 4-3-3-11, Smith 3-3-5-9, Howell 4-1-2-9, A. Ennis 5-2-2-12, Smith 6-0-0-12, Rocco 0-0-0-0, G. Ennis 0-0-0-0, Stanyard 0-0-0-0, Krahe 0-0-0-0, Boland 0-0-0-0, Kline 0-0-0-0, Total 22-9-12-53

By Quarters

Warren 13 10 2 7 – 32

Harbor Creek 18 15 8 12 – 53

3-point FGs: Warren (5)-Barnes 2, Swanson, Blum, Berdine. Harbor Creek-None.