HEARTLAND HANDLES EAGLES

Columbiana, OH– The Heartland Christian Lions raced to a 25-16 lead over the visiting United Eagles in the first quarter here Friday night and never looked back en route to a convincing 83-56 victory.  Fueled by Joey Donofrio’s energy in the paint and sharp shooting by Stephen Barnes and Nate Garzanich, the Lions took a 46-34 lead at intermission.  Leading four Lions in double figures was Donofrio with 16.  Garzanich and Jonathan Bertovich each had 14, while Barnes netted 13, including a team-high four threes.  Heartland drained 14 treys overall.  Coach Josh Scott had to be pleased with the very balanced attack in the home opener.

United, plagued by turnovers, had an uphill battle from the jump.  They did have three players reach double digits in scoring.  Keaton Baker had 14 while Nate Miller and Ward Kiko had 13 and 11, respectively.

Heartland (1-1) will host Grand Valley Tuesday night.  United (0-2) will welcome Southern to kickoff their Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference schedule next Friday.

*Contributed By YSN’s Mark Franken