TIGERS ON THE PROWL
By Matt Maher
GIRARD, OHIO – What a night to be a tiger because Newton Falls pounced at the opportunity to get win number one Tuesday night against Girard and boy did they win. Newton Falls, or “The Falls” as their bright orange jerseys read, outscored the Indians in all but one quarter and never looked out of place in their 47 to 26 victory.
Newton Falls came out ready to play in the first quarter by putting up an impressive 16 points. Carson Howard led the quarter with five points including a two pointer and a solid three and Landon Mcgregor found himself the benefactor of an and one after getting fouled driving for the net. Girard only found six points and all of them came from a different source, Anthony Bengala, Allen Hess-Cardona and Chris Cardiero all put up two.
The Tigers kept up their dominant play with 15 more points in the second. Jabriel Rufai found four points this quarter with a two and a much harder to find three point attempt from the line where he nailed the first two shots. Girard was led by Chris Cardiero who shot a beautiful three and went two for two from the line. Three players ended with seven points in the first half: Jabriel Rufai and Carson Howard from The Falls and Chris Cardiero from Girard.
Girard found a much better defensive game in the third limiting the Tigers to only eight points in the quarter and found more offense by putting up nine points of their own! The Indians saw Domenico Simone find some rhythm by scoring four points including a three and one of two free throws. Newton Falls Thomas Ainsworth get on the board by scoring a gritty 2 from in the paint and making one of three free throw attempts.
Newton Falls showed a similar performance in the fourth as we saw in the third by yet again finding eight points but their defense looked powerful as they only allowed Girard to find three points in the final frame. Landon Mcgregor would go two for two at the line and finish his night three for three and Ainsworth scored three more points as well. Chris Cardiero would be the only Indian to score by putting up a three.
While the Indians showed heart in the second half it would be the Tigers dominant first half that would propel them over Girard. Newton Falls ended up being led by Cameron Huff with nine points thanks to three made three pointers. Girard was led by Chris Cardiero who ended with seven points. The Tigers move to 1-1 on the season and travel to Liberty next on Tuesday December 12th at 7PM while the Indians start their season 0-1 and will face Hickory from Hermitage Pennsylvania on Saturday December 9th at 12PM.
