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Knights fall just short in home opener

Eisenhower’s Drew Williams (0) grabs a rebound while teammate Luke Smelko (13) boxes out during the third quarter of a game against Union City at Eisenhower High School, Friday, Jan. 3, 2020. Williams finished with 12 points, but the Bears outlasted the Knights, 58-54.

A late fourth quarter rally fell just short as Eisenhower dropped its home opener to Union City, 58-54.

The Bears led 58-45 with 2:08 left to play, and the Knights went on a 9-0 run to close the game but couldn’t get the equalizer despite a pair of good looks in the waning seconds.

“There’s no quit in this team,” Eisenhower coach Wayne Lundmark said. “They pushed to the end and put it all on the floor. They hate to lose.”

Midway through the third quarter, Eisenhower (1-6 overall, 0-2 Region 3) looked to be in complete control. The Knights had shut down Keegan Hornaman, who had exploded for 17 points in the first quarter, and held a 42-33 lead with just under three minutes left. Union City’s (5-4, 3-0) Matthew Bennett hit the first of his four second half threes to start a 19-0 run that lasted until midway through the fourth quarter. Jamon Higley scored nine of his 14 points for the Bears during the run, which turned a nine point deficit into a 10-point advantage.

“We don’t have much (size) under the basket,” Lundmark said. “And we lost a little bit of our focus for a while.”

Eisenhower’s Curt Darling (1) tips the ball to a teammate over Union City’s Jamon Higley (21) during the first quarter of their game at Eisenhower High School, Friday, Jan. 3, 2020. The Knights’ comeback bid fell just short as they dropped their home-opener to the Bears, 58-54.

Drew Williams hit a three with 4:09 left to stop the run and start the Eisenhower comeback bid. Bennett answered with a pair of 3-pointers on consecutive possessions, but those would be the final Union City points for the game.

Luke Smelko knocked down both free throws in a 1-and-1, then the Knights got a steal on the inbounds. Jared Martone was fouled and hit both of his free throws. The Knights got the ball back on another turnover and Martone completed a 4-point play to make it 58-53 with 1:33 to go.

Eisenhower got the rebound when Cole DeSimone missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Wyatt Lookenhouse went 1-2 from the line for the game’s final point. Bennett and DeSimone each missed a free throw with under a minute to go, but Eisenhower couldn’t get any of its 3-point attempts to fall.

“We rely on our 3-point shooters,” Lundmark said.

The game started as a back-and-forth affair.

Eisenhower’s Zane Alexander (5) puts up a shot among a host of Union City defenders during the first quarter of their game at Eisenhower High School, Friday, Jan. 3, 2020. Alexander finished with eight points, but the Bears held on for a 58-54 win over the Knights.

Hornaman hit a pair of threes to give Union City an early 9-4 advantage, but Eisenhower answered with a 7-0 run to take an 11-9 lead. Hornaman responded with another three and a pull-up jumper to put the Bears on top, 14-11, but Martone’s 3-pointer knotted it at 14-14.

It looked like Martone was going to give Eisenhower the lead after the first eight minutes when he put in a layup with six seconds left, but Hornaman got the ball just across half court and knocked down a three at the buzzer to make it 17-16 Union City heading to the second. Hornaman scored all 17 Bears points in the quarter.

The Eisenhower defense neutralized Hornaman from then on as he scored just four points for the remainder of the game.

“We identified him early and I told the guys they can’t just let him stand there and take shots,” Lundmark said. “Once we started getting a hand in his face, he started missing shots.”

The Bears had trouble finding secondary scoring in the second quarter and the Knights methodically built a 33-28 halftime lead.

Hornaman and Martone each had 21 points for their respective teams.

The Bears also got 14 points from Higley and 12 from Bennett.

Williams finished with 12 points, while Curt Darling and Zane Alexander had eight each.

Union City hosts Cambridge Springs Wednesday, while Eisenhower travels to Maplewood Tuesday.

Union City held on to win the junior varsity contest, 45-42.

Wyatt Post had 15 points and Matthew Yaple 10 in the win, while Lookenhouse had 18 for the Knights.

——

UNION CITY (58)

DeSimone 1-0-3-3, Hornaman 8-2-2-21, Bojaczko 1-0-2-2, Uber 1-2-2-5, Bennett 4-0-1-12, Dufala 0-1-2-1, Higley 6-1-1-14, Post 0-0-0-0, Total 21-6-13-58

EISENHOWER (54)

Williams 4-0-2-12, Darling 3-0-0-8, Alexander 3-2-3-8, Smelko 1-2-4-4, Martone 7-4-5-21, Lookenhouse 0-1-2-1, Eckstrom 0-0-0-0, Totals 18-9-16-54

By Quarters

Union City 17 11 14 16 – 58

Eisenhower 16 17 9 12 – 54

3-point FGs: Union City (10) – Bennett 4, Hornaman 3, DeSimone, Uber, Higley; Eisenhower (9) – Williams 4, Martone 3, Darling 2.

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