|
|
|
|
Johnsonburg defats Ridgway in Holiday Tournament |
|
|
|
Wednesday, 30 December 2009 |
By Greg Reedy
Sports Editor
ST. MARYS - Johnsonburg defeated Ridgway 60-53 in a closely contended game during the Elk County Holiday Tournament last night at St. Marys Area High School.
Ridgway (3-4) led 28-27 at halftime but the Rams got off to a 6-0 run to start the second half to take a 33-28 lead just 70 seconds into the half. Ridgway rallied to take a 36-35 lead midway through the third quarter on a shot from Eric Matheson. The Rams (5-1) responded on the ensuing possession with a field goal from Matt Shuey. Shuey had a game-high 25 points for the Rams.
"I think we got the ball inside more in the second half," Johnsonburg coach Bill Shuey said. "We were able to get some easy points inside. Ridgway's a good shooting team. They hustled. We expected a battle and we got it. I'm sure they shot a high percentage."
Coach Shuey felt there was a matchup advantage inside.
"They didn't match up well with us inside," coach Shuey said. "They pressured our guards and our wing people. We didn't have an easy go of it, that's for sure."
Ridgway coach Anthony Allegretto said Ridgway had to stop Shuey from having a big game.
"He's quick, he's quick off the ground plus he's big," Allegretto said. "He works hard and they get him the ball. I told our guys, if he scores 30, we're in trouble. We needed to stop the penetration, the penetrating pass to the post. We need to double down on him, we didn't do that a couple times on him."
Johnsonburg took a 41-38 lead into the final minute until Ridgway got a 2-pointer from Jordan Lundin to close the margin to one entering the final quarter.
The Rams scored the first four points in the first three minutes to take a 45-40 lead until Ridgway rallied with a 5-2 run to close within two at 47-45 with 3:25 left.
A 5-0 run from the Rams extended the lead to seven at 52-45 with just under two minutes left. Ridgway would get as close as four but the Rams ultimately prevailed by seven.
"We're young, we had a little bit of trouble attacking the 1-3-1 press," Allegretto said. "We were satisfied with passing up top back and forth. Nobody was attacking with the dribble. We needed to punch it in the gut with the dribble and find skip passes. Our guys were afraid to throw the skip pass and when we did throw it, we threw a soft skip pass that was intercepted."
Allegretto said the Elkers have to get the game in a situation where their guards can have more of an effect on the game.
"Playing in this environment, don't forget this is only their seventh game. We're young, we competed," Allegretto said. "We didn't have the outcome that we wanted but we did some good things. We have to find a way to get the lead at the end of the game so we can use our guards. That's our advantage. Right now in the post, we're not getting a lot of banging inside."
Ridgway started the game on a 9-3 run in the first 4:36 and led 13-5 with 2:12 left in the first quarter after a Ben Jaques field goal. Johnsonburg finished the quarter with seven straight points to close within 13-12 after the end of the first period, capped with a Louie Imbrogno 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Allegretto said he was unhappy with the way the first quarter ended.
"Everybody was afraid to pull the trigger it seemed. They didn't want to miss a shot. Somebody needs to step up and make a shot," Allegretto said. "Dom (Aiello) made some in the first half, he stepped up and made some big shots. I told our kids what really hurt us was when we had that lead in the first quarter and we just handed them points right back. We had poor defense at the end of the quarter, we gave them a 3-pointer. I think there were a couple turnovers and we gave them some layups. Up until that point, we had the game in control and we let them back in it."
Coach Shuey said the Rams did a good job of staying with the game plan after a hot Ridgway start.
"The season is young and I believe our kids showed some signs of maturity tonight," he said. "They didn't get rattled. They were down eight or nine at one point. They kept within the system, stuck with the game plan. That, I feel pretty good about."
Johnsonburg scored to briefly take the lead but a Dom Aiello 3-pointer put Ridgway back up 16-14. Ridgway lead 20-16 until the Rams scored seven straight to overtake the Elkers at 23-20 with three minutes left until halftime.
Ridgway scored five straight points to take the lead until a 2-point field goal from Shuey tied the scored at 25-all. Imbrogno hit a 2-pointer with 40 seconds left to take a 27-25 lead. Aiello stroked a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to give the Elkers a 28-27 lead entering the half.
Ridgway will face St. Marys in the boys consolation game scheduled for 4:30 p.m. today at St. Marys Area High School. Johnsonburg will face Elk County Catholic in the championship, scheduled for 8 p.m.
Ridgway 13 15 12 13 - 53
Johnsonburg 12 15 14 19 - 60
Ridgway - 53
Ben Jaques 5 2-2 15, Eric Matheson 4 5-6 15, Dom Aiello 5 0-0 13, Jordan Lundin 2 6-7 10, Jesse Reynolds 0 0-1 0, Totals 16 13-16 53.
Johnsonburg - 60
Matt Shuey 10 5-8 25, Joe Holmberg 3 4-4 10, Aaron Patrick 3 3-4 9, Louie Imbrogno 4 0-1 9, Koty Gorske 2 1-2 5, Seth Weible 1 0-0 2, Totals 23 13-19 60.
3-pointers: Ridgway 8 (Jaques 3, Aiello 3, Matheson 2), Johnsonburg 1 (Imbrogno 1).
|
|
|
|
