GCC’s intimidating size is too much for Frazier to overcome
PERRYOPOLIS — The Centurions of Greensburg Central Catholic are impressive at first glance with size that could rival many community colleges. The Centurions put that size to use Friday, beating Frazier 90-59 to remain unbeaten in Section 4-AA.
GCC place five players in double figures. Jesse Reed and P.J. McLaughlin shared team honors with 15. Terrence Stepoli came off the bench to score 12, while Ben Klimchock and Jacob swan added 10 apiece.
The host Commodores played extremely hard despite having a distinct size disadvantage. Rob Gondura was steady for the Commodores with a 16-point night. Teammate Brandon Matthews also finished with 16, scoring 14 of those in the fourth quarter, while draining four three’s.
“We were a little intimidated in the first quarter, however, after that the kids realized they were not that different,” Frazier’s Ed Keebler said. “We can’t turn the ball over like we did tonight if we expect to stay with a team like Central. We gave them a lot of points in that first quarter. After that the kids calmed down and made a little bit of a game of it. Give Central credit. They’re a very good team.”
GCC (3-0, 10-1) took advantage of the Frazier turnovers to take control of the game early, racing out to a 27-4 lead in the first quarter. During that stretch the Centurions scored the game’s first 13 points, forcing Frazier to call a timeout.
Following the timeout Mathews scored, then GCC ran off the next 14 points before the Commodores scored again.
In that first quarter the Centurions got eight points from Reed, including two three-pointers. GCC also got three’s from Dan Sinwell and Romulus Marino.
Frazier (1-3, 8-4) started to recover a little bit in the second quarter but the Central size and lead was difficult to overcome as the Centurions outscored Frazier 22-17 in the quarter to take a 49-21 lead at the half. Frazier got a strong quarter from Gondura with five points, while Rock Vargo scored four and Josh Barota hit a three.
For Central they got six points from Reed and five from Klimchock. Reed, Sinwell and Swan all dropped in threes for the Centurions in the quarter.
“We have good guard play, we shoot the ball well and we have big guys inside so it’s a nice combination,” GCC’s Greg Bisignani said. “We’re just trying to keep working hard to get better as a team and take it one game at a time.”
In the third GCC outscored the Commodores 25-11 to open up a 74-32 lead, getting five points each from Swan, Stepoli and Klimchock. Gondura did what he could for Frazier, scoring seven in the quarter.
In the fourth quarter Mathews went to work, hitting four treys in leading Frazier to a 27-16 advantage in the period to allow the Commodores to close on a positive note despite the loss.