Tag Archive for: High school basketball

BEAVERS DAM UP THE WILDCATS

/in /by

EAST LIVERPOOL OH- Beaver Local headed into Friday nights affair with Edison looking for answers to a tough stretch in their season. The red & white quickly answered their questions surrounding their recent lack of offensive output as the Beavers scored early and often in routing Edison 76-35 at the Beaver Dome.

Beaver Local handled the 2-3 zone of Edison quite easily in the 1st quarter sprinting out to a 23-8 lead. The Wildcats would scratch back in the 2nd quarter behind a 9-0 run cutting the margin to 23-17. Hunter Rothacker was key to the run as the Edison big man would finish the night scoring all 10 of his points in the frame. This would be as close as Edison would come as Beaver Local would find a spark from the bench just before the half.

Sophomore Hunter Warrick would connect twice from behind the arc helping lead his team to a 34-21 halftime lead. Warrick would go on to finish the night with a game high 14 points. The Beavers decided to take out all of their recent offensive frustrations on the Wildcats in the 3rd quarter. The home team went on a 17-2 run on their way to a 30 point quarter to essentially put the game away leading 64-31.

The red & white saw a balanced offensive attack as Mike Mckenzie & Evan Stephanson would tally 12 each in the victory. Owen Bzinak contributed 11 tough points inside for the Beavers Owen Hill would finish with 10 while Broc Taylor would add 9 points off the bench.

Edison (4-11) looks to get back on track Tuesday as they visit Toronto. Beaver Local (7-7) has no time to think about the win they welcome rival Wellsville to the Beaver Dome Saturday in a varsity only contest starting at 6pm.

*Contributed By YSN’s Chris Sigler

WELLSVILLE ELUDES INDIANS FOR ANOTHER EOAC WIN

/in /by

WELLSVILLE OH- Wellsville has made themselves comfortable at the top of the EOAC.  While their margin is still only a game, the way they’ve been playing of late makes that feel like a mountain.  The Tigers rushed their way to another EOAC on Friday as they kept visiting Southern at bay.  Trailing by two points after one frame, the Tigers scored 20 points in the second to grab control of the game. They would never release it from their paws on the way to a 56-47 win.

Eddie Stock had a tremendous game for the Tigers leading the scoring with 17 points.  Jaxon Brewer shared that lead with 17 as well in a gritty effort.  Isaiah Greathouse was akso in double figures on the day with 11.  Tyrell Watkins was one point off of double figures with 9.

Southern was paced by Colton Soukup who was the best in the gym. He scored a game-high 20 points.  Brady Ketchum was also j  double figures with 12 points for the Indians.

After a weekend matchup with Beaver Local on Saturday, Wellsville will return to league action Tuesday against Columbiana.  Southern will hit the road again on Tuesday traveling to United.

 

EDGEWOOD COMES UP SHORT IN BATTLE FOR FIRST

/in /by

ASHTABULA OH- There was a ton on the line Saturday afternoon in Edgewood.  Both Perry and Edgewood fans knew it too.  With a gym full of tension two talented teams struggled to see who would have a hold of first place in the CVC.  Perry needed a win to grab it outright, and Edgewood was looking to even things up. It was a game of runs with the Pirates starting fast opening up a 10-2 lead.  Edgewood would answer with a might 11-0 run and turn in to a 13-10 lead. But then it was Perry that had the counter punch ending the second quarter with a 21-11 edge in the frame.

Perry would extend that run into a 15 point lead after a dominant 13-6 3rd quarter. The Warriors lived up to their name though and had one last push. With the fourth quarter ticking away Edgewood cut the lead to as little as 5.  The Pirates just made too many plays down the stretch for Edgewood to complete their comeback.  They went on to win 59-52.

Perry was led by Grace McKoon who willed them to victory with a game-high 22 points.  Izzy McKoon was also in double figures for the Pirates with 12.  Victoria Lynch added 8 points to the Pirate cause.

Kaci Kanicki was as magical as ever scoring 21 points and practically single handedly pulled her team back in the game in the fourth.  Katie McCollister did a lot of work off the drive and was right behind Kanicki with 20 points.

The Warriors have a crossover CVC matchup on Tuesday as they host West Geauga.

WEST BRANCH DROPS DOWN ON THE DUKES

/in /by

BELOIT OH- The West Branch boys basketball team picked up its third straight win on Friday by beating Marlington 40-37. The Warriors lost the first meeting, but were able to split the season series with its rival. West Branch has now won three straight games in a row all inside the EBC.

 

West Branch quickly jumped out to an 8-0 lead to start the game, but Marlington was able to weather the storm. Both teams made small runs in the first half as the game went back and forth. The Warriors had a 22-16 lead at the half. Marlington came out of halftime red hot outscoring the Warriors 18-7 and the momentum shifted back towards Marlington. Coach Brown had a plan though as the Warriors held the Dukes to just three points in the fourth quarter. That strong defensive effort was enough for West Branch to grab the close win.

 

Joey Jackson led the way with 13 points for West Branch. Thomas Egli had a solid performance with 8 points, while Jerimiah Thomas and Jaxon Robb each contributed 7 points. Mike Kanagy anchored down that Warrior defense and pulled down some key rebounds to keep possessions alive for the offense. Coach Brown is excited that his team is continuing to make positive strides throughout the season.

 

For Marlington, they unfortunately had no one score in double figures. Beau Himmelheber and Dyland Heatherington each scored 9 points. Casey Miller contributed 7 points, while Caden Bates added 6. After a great third quarter by the Dukes, it looked like it might have had an offensive explosion in the 4th quarter. Unfortunately, because of great defense by the Warriors, that did not happen.

 

With the win, West Branch improves to 7-5 (4-3) inside the EBC. The Warriors will travel to Lake Center Christian on Tuesday. With the Loss Marlington, drops to 6-8 on the Year. The Dukes will look to bounce back on Tuesday when they travel to Louisville.

*Contributed By YSN’s Michael Ginocchi

CARDS DEAL A FINAL BLOW

/in /by

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio –

Canfield’s star trio of juniors all reach double digits in the Cardinals road victory over Chaney, 66-58.

Canfield jumped out to an early lead by as many as fourteen in the first half thanks to Dom Cruz’s 8 first quarter points and Jake Schneider’s 7 in the second period. An impressive 10-0 run to end the half however would close the Cardinal lead to just four heading into the break.

Both teams would continue to trade blows through the third quarter before Chaney would tie things up on a Josiah Gonzalez free throw. The Cardinals would never let Chaney take the lead, closing the third on a 16-8 run. The Canfield third would be highlighted by Dom Cruz’s 5 made shots from beyond the arc, Cruz would make 7 in the ballgame.

A slow start to the final quarter saw Chaney trail by double digits in the fourth while the Canfield offense was looking to drain as much clock as possible. After cutting the lead to 8 and a controversial 5-second call, the Cowboys would rally to get to within a possession.

After a front end miss on a Canfield one and one, Chaney had possession and a chance to take the lead. However, the Cowboys would turn the ball over on the ensuing drive. Another trip to the line for Canfield saw Chaney trail by 3. A missed Cowboy three pointer and a late whistle for a foot out of bounds on a baseline drive would see the Cowboys turn the ball over yet again trailing by a possession.

Canfield’s Tony Russo would proceed to put the game on ice, connecting on 4 free throws to give the Cardinals the 66-58 victory.

TOP PERFORMERS –

CHANEY:

Josiah Gonzalez – 27 points

Jason Hewlett – 20 points

CANFIELD:

Dom Cruz – 25 points

Jake Schneider – 17 points

Tony Russo – 10 points

WHAT’S NEXT –

Chaney: Finishing their three game home stand at 2-1, the Cowboys will now travel north to take on Grand River Academy. Chaney has taken the previous two matchups by a combined total of 141-67.

Canfield: After adding yet another impressive road win to their resume, the Cardinals will have the opportunity to collect another against the rival Poland Bulldogs (5-9). The Bulldogs swept last year’s season series, while Canfield dominatedboth matchups in 2020.

*Contributed By YSN’s Jamie Thomson

 

HAMILTON BARRELS HIS WAY TO 1000

/in /by

KINSMAN,OHIO- What a night it was in little Kinsman, Ohio as the Badger Braves took on the Lordstown Devils. The man of the night was Brad Hamilton, who dropped 38 points and secured his spot in the Badger record books by reaching 1,000 career points.

Hamilton got hot fast and just went with the flow. Lewis flowers added 12 points and Duncan Moy finished with 6 points, which included to big dunks that got the Braves rolling.

The Braves went on to win 83-21 to improve to a 12-2 record and look to keep the momentum going when they take on the Heartland Christian Lions tomorrow. 

*Contributed By YSN’s Matt Morrison

RAIDERS NOT TO BE DENIED

/in /by

CANFIELD OH- The Raiders were sailing high coming in to their Friday matchup with a talented Niles team.  Fresh off their dramatic comeback victory over Struthers the Raiders had all the energy in the gym. The only time South Range trailed was in the first 15 seconds of the game when the Dragons scored off the jump ball. South Range would quickly respond, take the lead, and then hold on to it wire to wire.  That is not to say that the Dragons never fought back.  On several occasions throughout the game the Raiders had to come up with big plays to keep Niles at bay.  After the Dragons made their final push towards the Raiders lead, the home team fired back with a 21 point fourth quarter to win 58-45.

The Raiders were led by a tough performance inside by Ayden Leon with 16 points.  Luke Rohan hit a trio of threes in the Raiders big fourth quarter and finished with 14 points.  Nate Lewis also found himself in double figures with 10 points.

Niles was led by Keyshon Talley who scored 13 points for the Dragons.  Sam Perrone, and Robert Strickland both contributed 8 points to the offense.  Matt Kozak had 6 as well.

South Range will put their now 6 game win streak on the line Tuesday as they travel to Girard.  Niles will also hit the road as they go to the Fieldhouse to face off with Struthers.

FALCONS SPREAD THEIR WINGS IN THE FOURTH

/in /by

AUSTINTOWN OH- In an intriguing non-conference Tuesday night matchup, The Copley Indians traveled down to Austintown in a bout with The Falcons. The two schools were scheduled to square-off for the second time in as many years after no previous meetings in the last 20 years between the programs. In the last game, Copley came away victorious after a close game 60-56 in January of 2022. This year both teams went into Tuesday night sporting winning records, setting up an exciting matchup between representatives of both The All-American Conference (AAC) and The Suburban-American Conference!`

The first quarter saw The Indians take an early lead, with Copley getting Trent Wininger and his distance shot going in the first quarter. Fitch had an answer that came in the form of Marcel Finkley and Gianni Maley, as the guard combo found their rhythm and propelled The Falcons to a 16-7 lead after a quarter. Finkley and Maley kept up the scoring consistency through the second, while Wininger found another shot from distance for Copely. Fitch was a point better in the second quarter and led 26-16 by the halftime buzzer. 

Starting out the second half, Copley cleaned up the turnovers that plagued them the two quarters prior. Pair that with Wininger continuing to splash home shots from the arc and The Indians came roaring back in the third quarter, cutting the Fitch lead down to just two points during the quarter. The Falcons sophomore guard Marcel Finkley would have his biggest quarter of the night, scoring ten points in just the third quarter alone and keeping Fitch in front heading to the final quarter of play. Austintown kicked up the defensive intensity in the final eight minutes and once again started to force turnovers from Copley. Gianni Maley would have the next big quarter as the senior scored ten in the fourth as both he and Finkley finished with 24 points a piece on the night. The Falcons out scored their adversaries 21-7 in the fourth to eventually fly away with the 65-44 win, their ninth of the season.

The loss will keep Copley (6-6) on the road, as they will head to Aurora (2-7) to try and gain their second victory of the season against The Greenmen. While Fitch (9-4) will be dealing with a green monster themselves, heading to John J. & Janet Cafaro Gymnasium for a date with Ursuline (11-1) on Friday night! It will be a battle of two teams ranked in the top five of The YSN Power Rankings and it will be live on YSN! Interviews with winning Head Coach Brian Beany and Player of The Game Marcel Finkley can be found below! 

 

Scoring (Fitch)

Marcel Finkley: 24 PTS. (Player of The Game)

Gianni Maley: 24 PTS.

Allen Hill: 6 PTS.

Carter Owens: 3 PTS.

Allex Hill: 2 PTS.

Lucas Ardino: 2 PTS.

Cam Jaros: 2 PTS.

Johnny Ruggles: 2 PTS. 

 

Scoring (Copley)

Trent Wininger: 16 PTS.

Noah Edinburgh: 7 PTS.

Wendell Parks: 6 PTS.

Ben Firestine: 6 PTS.

Christian Hood: 5 PTS.

Alex Carillo: 2 PTS.

Scooby Stanford: 2 PTS. 

 

Scoring by Quarter

Q1: Fitch 16 -7 Copley

Q2: Fitch 10 – 9 Copley

Q3: Fitch 18 – 21 Copley

Q4: Fitch 21 – 7 Copley

Final: Fitch 65 – 44 Copley

*Contributed By YSN’s Ty Bartell

CHAMPION FINDS ITS WAY BACK TO WINNING

/in /by

LIBERTY OH- On January 17th the Champion Golden Flashes made their triumphant return to the win column after breaking a 32-game losing streak with a 48-47 road victory over the Liberty Leopards.

Champion got off to a great start in the third quarter after trailing by seven points at the half and took a slim four point lead into the fourth quarter. Liberty put up a valiant effort down three players, including leading scorer Evan Bates, as they put up 15 in the fourth quarter but wound up a point short after a late game decision to hold on to the ball for over a minute and try for the final shot. Julius Ferrell in his season debut for Liberty heaved up the final shot from the corner but couldn’t hit the target and Champion came away with their first win since December 10th of 2021 when they beat Pymatuning Valley on the road.

 

Player of the game went to Brett Chanell who finished the night with 12 points and a couple of three pointers that gave Champion enough momentum to take the night. Liberty was led in scoring by Kalen Turner who put up an outstanding 24 points and Silas Robinson who finished with 13.

Champion will try and make it two in a row as they will take on Newton Falls on Saturday in a road game. Liberty finally broke a winless month of January after beating Academy for Urban Scholars on Monday, but they found themselves back on the losing side Tuesday night. The Leopards will take on Crestview this Saturday on YSN at 7:00 p.m. ET as they will look to pick up win number four against the seven-win Rebels.

*Contributed By YSN’s Alek Koberna

GIRARD BREATHES EASY DOWN THE STRETCH

/in /by

NILES OH- Last time these two met, it came down to one point. This time, it was different as a tough first half battle soon turned into a one sided affair in the second half as the Girard Indians remain undefeated in the NE8 after sweeping and beating rival Niles by the final of 66-37 on Tuesday at Niles McKinley High School. 

 

For Niles, the only one who scored in the double digits was Matthew Kozak with 11 points.  That would be followed up by a combined 14 by Anthony Budak and Robert Strickland, six for Keyshon Talley, four for Sam Perrone and two for Stephon Dorsey. 

 

For Girard, it was Gus Johnson leading the pack with 19 points.  Thomas Cardiero finished with 15 points, combining 18 for Mike Palmer and Jordan Johnson, six points for Ryan Fitzgerald, five for Bobby Alejars, two for Tuff Mcconahy, and a point for Melvin Dixon. 

 

Girard (12-2, 8-0 in NE8) will travel to Struthers to take on the Wildcats (7-5,4-3).  Niles (9-5 4-4 in NE8) will travel to North Lima to take on the South Range Raiders (5-6, 3-3)  in hopes of sweeping them.  After the game, Ian O’Brien caught up with coach Craig Hannon and player of the game Gus Johnson about the game and what to expect Friday against the Wildcats. 

 

*contributed by YSNs Ian O’Brien*