Connellsville downs Brownsville in opener
As it turned out, anybody sitting along either foul line had the best seats in the house. There were times when it seemed that was where most of the action was taking place.
But over the long run, Connellsville led from wire to wire, pulling away in the third quarter, to defeat Brownsville 83-67 in the opening round of the Laurel Highlands Shootout Basketball Tournament Friday.
Connellsville grabbed a 16-11 quarter lead, Brownsville came back in the second to trail by two at the half, 36-34, then Connellsville had a 22-10 edge in the third and took a 59-44 lead into the fourth.
Overall, there were 51 personal fouls. Connellsville was 27-for-38 on the line, and Brownsville made 25-of-35. Ironically, CAHS’ Shane Kovack started the scoring with a free throw in the opening minute of the game, and he closed the game with two free ones.
Connellsville coach Nick Bosnic felt it was “a bad game, and we can’t allow ourselves to get into a hole playing like that for we have too many young players without a lot of experience. We have to improve our board work and get our guards down there to move the ball up the floor.”
Brownsville coach Pete Logan said, “It’s the first game so you had to figure what you could get out of them. We have a tough schedule ahead … I think one of the toughest for any 3-A school with a list of very strong opponents, so we have to get a look at everybody and see what they can do.
“Our freshman player Adam Kezmarsky came off the bench and played like he’s going to push somebody for a spot. Overall, we played well in spurts, but you have to keep playing steady to get ahead. We did that in the second quarter and had a good quarter overall. Connellsville is not a one-man team like some observers might think. I thought they all did well.”
Brownsville’s second quarter featured a hot shooting exhibition by Carson Thomas. Of the 23 Falcon points, Thomas scored 17 with as many shots from as many angles, and he wound up as game high scorer with 34 points, one ahead of 33 by Connellsville’s James Hairston, the latter’s card including 10-for-10 on the foul line. Kevin Bell added 16 for CAHS.
Early in the second, CAHS led by nine, then Brownsville chipped away and finally cut the deficit to two, 24-22, with 4:10 to go in the half. CAHS stayed out of reach and got the lead back to seven, only to have BHS rally to within three at the half, 37-34, on two Thomas baskets.
Early in the third, Brownsville got within five, 45-40, then CAHS broke up the proceedings with a 10-point run on an Andra Sledge basket, Bell a free one, then a three-point play when he was fouled as he scored a basket, and two free ones each by Matt Brown and Hairston, for a 55-40 lead. The closest Brownsville got after that was 12 in the fourth, 70-58 and 73-61.