The Herald, Sharon,
PA Published Saturday, Feb. 22, 1997

WINTER SPORTS Boys basketball

West Middlesex 78
Jamestown 61

Balanced Big Reds hold off determined Muskies

By Brad Isles
Herald Sports Writer

West Middlesex coach Larry Ellison waited all season for someone to step it up an help out Steve Bowers, the Big Reds' top scorer. Friday night in the first round of the District 10 Class A playoffs, three of his players did just that.

action shot Bowers was joined in double figures by Todd Kiester, Derek Gearhart and Dave Jennings and the quartet led West Middlesex to a 78-61 victory over Jamestown at Farrell High School.

West Middlesex's Todd Kiester (24) snares a rebound as Jamestown's Adam Johnson (50) reaches for the ball. (Jean Angelo/Herald)


``The four guys in double figures pleases me,'' said West Middlesex coach Larry Ellison. ``That shows other teams that we don't have to just depend on Bowers. They'll have to start working on guarding the other guys instead of coming up with defenses to stop Bowers.''

Bowers had his usual game, scoring 19 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. But Jennings chipped in 20 points, Kiester came off the bench for 16 points and eight boards and Gearhart had 10 points and 11 assists.

``Kiester did a nice job coming off the bench, I thought he gave us a lift,'' Ellison said.

The Big Reds (16-9) will play Conneaut Valley, 81-61 winners over Sheffield in the semifinals. The date, place and time are yet to be determined.

As for the Muskies (8-16), they were making their first playoff appearance in 10 years. Coach Scott Taylor was sporting newly shaved head to mark the occasion.

``This is the `welcome to District 10 playoffs' haircut,'' Taylor said. ``I told the guys about three years ago that if we make District 10 playoffs, they could shave my head. These sophomores never forgot that so today at the pep assembly, they shaved it. I kind of like the look.''

Four of Taylor's players also scored in double figures in their playoff debut. Jered McElhaney led the way with 12 points, while Joe Yurisic chipped in 11 and Adam Johnson and Calvin Clayton each had 10.

Battling Kiester and Bowers who are 6-5 and 6-3 respectively, for rebounds was Jim Grim, who is 5-9. He finished with nine boards, and dished out five assists.

Clayton, at 6-foot-1, was the tallest player on the floor for the Muskies, but it didn't matter as they drove to the basket seemingly without fear.

``We always play hard,'' Taylor said. ``The kids play with a lot of heart and a lot of intensity every night, not just tonight. That's just the way they played all year.''

Every time West Middlesex would put on a run and start to pull away from Jamestown, the Muskies would just take it strong to the basket.

With the Big Reds up 14-6 in the first quarter, Johnson scored on a layup and Yurisic followed with one of his own to pull the Muskies within four.

But Bowers converted a 3-point play, hit another shot in the lane and after a hoop by Gearhart, closed out the first frame with a score to give the Big Reds a 23-13 lead heading into the second quarter.

The second quarter was very similar as the Muskies cut a 13-point deficit to six after a layup by Larry McElhinny, a 3-pointer by McElhaney and a jumper by Yurisic.

``We new they took the ball to the hoop and they didn't care,'' Ellison said. ``They're little but they've been doing that all year.''

But in the second half, getting banged around by the bigger Big Reds began to take its toll on the Muskies. They shot just 10-for-30 from the field as opposed to 14-of-31 in the first half.

``In the second half their strength and size finally got to us,'' Taylor said.

Leading 56-45 after the third quarter, West Middlesex put together a 14-7 run to open the fourth quarter that Kiester capped off with a score inside with 3:10 left. From there the Big Reds iced the game with foul shots.

``It wasn't pretty but we'll take it,'' said West Middlesex coach Larry Ellison. ``We'll have to play better (in the next game) than we did tonight or we're going to get knocked out.''

Although their season ended with a loss, Taylor said his team learned from the whole playoff experience.

``For a program that's been kind of down and out the last few years, getting to this point is a step in the right direction,'' Taylor said. ``Our younger guys can take this and say `Hey, let's get back to this point and let's work for it.' ''
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Updated Feb. 22, 1997
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