Published Wednesday, Feb. 26, 1997
DISTRICT 10 A BOYS BASKETBALL
Big Reds 76
Indians 46
West Middlesex drubs Conneaut Valley
By Ed Farrell
Herald Sports Writer
West Middlesex High School boys' head basketball coach Larry Ellison placed a unique perspective on his club's 76-46 District 10 Class A semifinal victory over Conneaut Valley Tuesday evening.
Ellison recalled his Big Reds' 65-58 setback to Valley in the club's fourth game of the season, as well as a 61-37 blowout at Sharon as benchmarks that have helped steer West Middlesex on course toward this weekend's D-10 title tilt.
West Middlesex's Todd Keister muscles in for a rebound against Conneaut Valley (Gene Paulson/Herald).
The Big Reds will meet Saegertown _ a 56-53 winner over Kennedy Christian in the lidlifter of Tuesday's Mercer County Athletic Conference-French Creek Valley Conference doubleheader _ this weekend at a site and time to be announced.
``It started for our kids on this floor, in fact; after Sharon drilled us, is when we turned things around,'' Ellison recalled. ``We went out and, I think, since that time, we're 14-3 over the last 17 games.''
In the Big Red Hoop Classic, Valley dealt West Middlesex its third loss in four games to commence the campaign. And following that midseason loss on the same Sharon High floor where Ellison relished his club's D-10 semis win, Sharon reduced West Middlesex to 3-6.
But now the Big Reds are setting their sights on another source of motivation, a 55-53 setback to Saegertown approximately a month ago.
``We're lookin' forward to playing Saegertown. We owe them, too,'' Ellison said, adding in regard to the first meeting with Conneaut Valley, ``It was our fourth game of the year, we had just gotten beat on the Thursday before by Laurel for the second time in a close game. We came in the consolation game and were just flat. Of course, we didn't have (Dave) Jennings that night. He makes a difference. He's been playing real well.''
The difference Tuesday night, however, was Steve Bowers, for whom Conneaut Valley had no answer. Bowers' 21-point, 12-rebound first-half performance staked the Big Reds to a commanding 45-28 halftime lead.
In the third period, Todd Kiester came off the bench and picked up where Bowers left off. Kiester connected for 10 consecutve points and three rebounds _ finishing off a pair of fast breaks, then adding three follow-ups _ during a 21/2-minute span as West Middlesex increased its lead to 66-34 by the close of the third quarter.
``The kids came out fired up, ready to play. Everyone played well. Got a big lift from the kids coming off the bench, especially Kiester,'' Ellison praised. ``Todd has a tendency to get a little over-anxious; that's why we bring him off the bench. He does a little better job coming off the bench. And when he does, it gives us a big lift offensively; it takes some pressure off of Bowers on the boards.''
Bowers and the Big Reds were feeling no pressure Tuesday night, though. The senior southpaw finished with a game-high 24-point, 15-rebound double-double, and Kiester complemented him with 18 points and a half-dozen caroms.
Notes: West Middlesex (17-9) connected on 31 of 63 (49.2 percent) floor shots and 11 of 15 (73.3) free throws, compared with respective totals of 20 of 63 (31.7) and 4 of 11 (36.4) for Conneaut Valley (13-13). ... West Middlesex also outrebounded the Indians, 55-28.
Back to TOP // Herald
Sports // Herald
Home page
Updated Feb. 27, 1997
Questions/comments: herald@pgh.net
For info about advertising on our site or Web-page creation:
advertising@sharon-herald.com
Copyright ©1997 The Sharon Herald Co. All rights reserved.
Reproduction
or retransmission in any form is prohibited without our permission.