Falcons sitting pretty
FOXBURG — Jim Marron knows there are a lot of games left to play.
But, for now, his A-C Valley Falcons are alone atop the KSAC South boys basketball standings.
Marron watched his team, which held a two-point lead late in the third quarter, reel off a 13-2 run into the fourth period as the Falcons defeated visiting Moniteau 75-62 Wednesday night.
Both teams entered the game undefeated in division play.
With 2:06 left in the third quarter, Marron called a timeout before the Falcons (9-1, 5-0) made their run.
"We were so tentative bringing the ball up the floor most of the night," said Marron. "Once we started passing the ball, that opened things up for us.
"The ball movement led to a couple of big 3-pointers from Blayne McGuirk, and I thought that really turned the game for us."
McGuirk, who led the Falcons with 20 points, drained a 3-pointer with six seconds left in the third period and, on Moniteau's ensuing inbounds pass, Ryan Bartley stole the ball and put in a layup just before the buzzer to give A-C Valley a 56-48 lead.
Moniteau sophomore guard Kyle Armagost was hampered by a knee injury he sustained late in the second quarter with the Warriors (4-4, 4-1) up 30-27.
Armagost did return at the start of the second half and hit a pair of 3-pointers as Moniteau tried to come back in the fourth period. But he scored 19 of his team-leading 25 points before the injury.
His last of four 3-pointers in the game cut the Falcons' lead to nine points with 1:11 remaining.
"If Kyle would have been 100 percent, we could've given it a better run there in the third. But the biggest difference in the game was the fact that we missed so many bunnies," said Moniteau coach Randy Armagost. "A-C Valley made enough plays to win, but we did things that led to this loss and we know that."
Zach McCormick had 19 points, and Zach Sloan had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Warriors.
McGuirk was just one of five players to score in double figures for the Falcons, as Allan Eaton (19), Matt Bartley (12), Josh Austin (11) and Reed Terwilliger (11 points and 11 rebounds) all had strong games.
MONITEAU 62Kyle Armagost 9 3-3 25, Zach Sloan 5 4-6 14, James Shope 1 0-0 2, Zach McCormick 9 0-0 19, Jordan Smith 1 0-0 2, Heath Lominski 0 0-0 0, Jereme Loos 0 0-0 0, Lewis Martino 0 0-0 0, Andrew Armagost 0 0-0 0, Mitch Hunter 0 0-0 0.
Totals: 25 7-9 62.
A-C VALLEY 75Blayne McGuirk 6 5-6 20, Ryan Bartley 1 0-0 2, Matt Bartley 5 2-5 12, Josh Austin 3 5-6 11, Reed Terwilliger 4 3-5 11, Allan Eaton 5 9-11 19, Alex Logue 0 0-0 0, Joe Kaufman 0 0-0 0.
Totals: 24 24-33 75.
Moniteau 9 27 12 14—62A-C Valley 12 22 22 19—753-point goals: Moniteau 5 (K. Armagost 4, McCormick); A-C Valley 3 (McGuirk 3).
Friday: A-C Valley at East Forest; North Clarion at Moniteau
