3 happy teams
ADAMS TWP — The Seneca Valley boys basketball team faced an uphill climb in the final 10 minutes of its clash with Sto-Rox Monday.
But by game's end, the Vikings were struggling toward the summit.
Trailing by 10 points, the Raiders outscored Sto-Rox 30-11 in the final 10 minutes to grab a 70-61 victory in the first round of the Mars Holiday Tournament.
The win sets up a Butler County showdown in today's title game, as Mars defeated Northgate 71-61 in Monday's final contest.
For SV coach Vic Giannotta, the key to his team's late run began with rebounding.
“Sto-Rox had 36 points in the first half and a lot of them came with second-chance baskets,” he said. “In the last 10 minutes of the game, they didn't get many second chances because we took care of the boards.”
With the Raiders trailing 52-44 late in the third period, Matt Smith drained a 3-pointer, stole the Vikings' inbound pass and put in two more points — all within five seconds.
SV struggled to start the final quarter, turning the ball over four times in the first 2:30.
But when Chad Albert hit a 3-pointer with 3:17 remaining, the Raiders held a 60-59 edge.
Two straight Vikings turnovers led to a pair of baskets by Christian Durbin and Smith for a five-point advantage.
Sto-Rox went cold from the floor down the stretch, sealing the team's defeat.
Rob Baltimore led the Vikings (3-3) with 21 points and Shawn Smith had 16.
“We have a pretty deep team, but we're trying to find the kids that will give us the most consistent play,” said Sto-Rox coach Bill Minear.
Maxfield scored a game-high 22 points for the Raiders (4-2), who also received 18 from Durbin and 11 from Albert.
“We can become a good team, but different players are going to have to step up for us,” said Giannotta.
• In Mars' win over Northgate, the Flames (2-4) couldn't cope with the Planets' balanced scoring.Mars featured four players who scored in double figures — Christian Locher (23 points), Jake Lee (15), Mitch Buzard (13) and Brad Weischedel (11) — and the Planets drained nine 3-pointers to advance to the title game of their own tournament.Lee scored his points on five 3-point goals.“Jake just keeps getting better and better,” said Planets coach Rob Carmody.“Locher scored 48 against us the last time we played,” said Flames coach Perry Harrop. “We weren't going to let that happen again, but Mars did a good job of getting the ball into the paint, then kicking it out and hitting those 3-pointers.”Buzard scored 10 of his points in a first quarter that saw the Planets take a 23-16 lead.“Mitch was sick tonight and I was worried he wasn't going to be able to play,” said Carmody. “But he gutted it out and his play was very key in that first half.”One thing Carmody wasn't impressed with was his team's defense, which allowed Northgate senior forward Josh Douglass to post a game-high 29 points.<b>Girls BasketballMars 45, Moon 27</b>The Planets overcame a slow start to defeat the Tigers and advance to today's title game against Hopewell, a 45-31 winner over Sto-Rox.After scoring just five points in the first quarter, Mars put up 17 in the second and led Moon 22-7 at halftime.“Our fullcourt man-to-man was better tonight,” said Mars coach Tony Howard. “We were able to get the ball out of their point guard's hands, forcing other players to handle the ball.”Carly Clark paced the Planets (4-3) with 15 points and Kelsey Pelles chipped in with 12.Almirah Moore scored 16 points for the Tigers (0-6).<B>Boys BoxesSTO-ROX 61</B>Rob Baltimore 9 3-8 21, Dennis James 1 0-0 3, Devin Dobsch 2 0-0 5, Randy Hutchinson 1 0-0 3, Shawn Smith 5 6-9 16, Marsett Geter 3 0-0 7, Dontez Ford 2 0-1 4, Malcolm Jones 1 0-0 2, Travis Crump 0 0-0 0. <B>Totals:</B> 24 9-18 61.<B>SENECA VALLEY 70</B>Matt Smith 3 0-0 7, Beau Barclay 1 2-2 4, Christian Durbin 6 6-8 18, Chad Albert 5 0-0 11, R.J. McCauley 1 2-4 4, Alex Maxfield 6 9-11 22, Austin Bream 2 0-0 4, Easton Bazzoli 0 0-0 0, Pat Kulp 0 0-0 0, Justin McCauley 0 0-0 0. <B>Totals:</B> 24 19-25 70.<B>Sto-Rox 18 18 16 9—61Seneca Valley 14 19 20 17—703-point goals:</B> Sto-Rox 4 (James, Dobsch, Hutchinson, Geter); Seneca Valley 3 (Smith, Albert, Maxfield).<B>NORTHGATE 61</B>Matt Lee 3 0-0 6, Dave Natale 2 0-0 6, Mackenzie Quinn 1 0-0 2, Josh Douglass 11 7-7 29, Jon Girvin 6 0-0 12, Dylan Muller 2 0-0 6, Jake Abernathy 0 0-0 0, Isaiah Driscoll 0 0-0 0, Dan Bistrican 0 0-0 0, Justin Parra 0 0-0 0. <B>Totals:</B> 25 7-7 61.<B>MARS 71</B>Jake Lee 5 0-0 15, Christian Locher 9 4-5 23, Brad Weischedel 3 5-6 11, Garrett Ashbaugh 1 0-0 3, Mitch Buzard 5 1-2 13, Alex Locher 1 0-1 2, Owen Nearhoof 2 0-1 4, Brandon Eckstein 0 0-0 0, Matt Getsy 0 0-0 0. <B>Totals:</B> 26 10-15 71.<B>Northgate 16 19 12 14—61Mars 23 20 17 11—713-point goals:</B> Northgate 4 (Natale 2, Muller 2); Mars 9 (Lee 5, Buzard 2, C. Locher, Ashbaugh).<B>Today:</B> Seneca Valley at Mars, 6 p.m.<B>Girls Box</B><B>MOON 27</B>Almirah Moore 4 8-11 16, Dani Lewis 2 2-3 6, Megan Arendsen 1 0-0 2, Marquesha Mackey 1 1-2 3, Sarah Henderson 0 0-0 0, Sarah Kelly 0 0-0 0, Kirstin Gondol 0 0-0 0, Sarah Finello 0 0-0 0. <B>Totals:</B> 8 11-16 27.<B>MARS 45</B>Alexa Lee 1 4-4 6, Carly Clark 4 3-4 15, Meghan Kelly 2 2-2 6, Kelsey Pelles 3 6-8 12, Lizz Tumminello 1 2-3 4, Randi Francis 0 2-4 2, Teresa Dallatore 0 0-0 0, Brinsley Evanson 0 0-0 0. <B>Totals:</B> 11 19-25 45.<B>Moon 3 4 9 11—27Mars 5 17 11 12—453-point goals:</B> Moon 0; Mars 4 (Clark 4).<B>Today:</B> Hopewell at Mars, 7:30 p.m.
