Rodgers

BUFFALO TWP — As the temperature outside the gym was hovering near the freezing mark Tuesday evening, the same could be said inside about Freeport's shooting woes.

The Yellowjackets scored only one basket in just over a 14-minute span, then later went scoreless over a 6:45 stretch as West Shamokin went on to post a 45-33 Section 1-AA boys basketball victory over the Yellowjackets.

"Our defense has been good all year, but, offensively, we can't put the ball in the basket," said Freeport coach Gene Rodgers. "Our shooting has not been to a point we deem acceptable.

"West Shamokin always plays good defense and they made us work for shots. If you get 20 shots, that's one thing. But when you get 50 and they don't go in, I don't know if we can keep doing more shooting drills," Rodgers added.

West Shamokin coach Mike Nagy's squad always has prided itself on its defensive play, noting it's been in the WPIAL's top 10 in scoring defense in seven of its eight years of existence.

"Defense is a trademark of ours," said Nagy. "Actually, I was a little disappointed in the preseason and our scrimmages. I didn't think our defense would be as good as it's been, but it's actually been better than in the past."

The Yellowjackets (1-5, 0-2) trailed 10-5 before an 8-0 spurt, capped by a pair of Sean Carnahan scores, gave the squad a 13-10 lead with 1:38 remaining in the first quarter.

The Wolves (5-1, 2-0), however, responded with a 16-2 run, thanks to six points apiece from Mark Brown and Mike Brown, to take a 26-15 lead with 3:39 remaining in the third quarter.

Despite the lack of scoring punch by the Yellowjackets, they pushed themselves back into the game when Derek Durand connected on a 3-pointer and Harrison Wood stole the ball and scored in a 22-second span to make it 26-20.

Following a score by the Wolves' Dylan Henderson, Freeport's Darius Frantz made a total of three free throws in consecutive possessions to make it a 28-23 score.

Henderson, however, scored with eight seconds left in the third quarter to kick-start a 12-0 run to give the Wolves a 40-23 lead with 3:36 left to seal the win.

Henderson led all scorers with 16 points while teammate Mark Brown had 11 points.

"(West Shamokin) started four seniors and last year they were a very good team," said Rodgers. "That's a very good ballclub. It's deceiving because they are very solid fundamentally.

"We can't look back. We have to get ready for Union of New Castle (today). It won't get any easier. We're young, but hopefully we can stay focused."

WEST SHAMOKIN 45Dylan Henderson 7 1-2 16, Mike Brown 4 1-3 9, Ryan Marken 2 3-4 7, Mark Brown 5 1-3 11, Adam Kough 0 0-0 0, Tyson Boarts 0 0-0 0, Nathan Knepshield 1 0-0 2, Andrew Steighner 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 6-12 45.

FREEPORT 33Nick Gentile 3 0-0 8, Alex Isenberg 3 0-0 6, Harrison Wood 2 0-0 5, Sean Carnahan 2 0-1 4, Darius Frantz 1 3-4 5, Derek Durand 1 0-2 3, Tyler Singer 1 0-0 2, Chris Speer 0 0-0 0, John Douglas 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 3-7 33.

West Shamokin 12 10 8 15—45Freeport 13 2 8 10—333-point goals: Henderson; Gentile 2, Durand, Wood

JV: Freeport, 44-35

Today: New Castle Union at Freeport