Uniontown crushes Derry
Like a blockbuster movie taking the country by storm, the Uniontown boys basketball highlight show is continuing into its third week and is still going strong. And still receiving rave reviews, some of which can barely be put into words.
“They’re very good. I don’t know what else to say,” said amazed Derry coach Tom Esposito after watching the spectacular Red Raiders take apart his visiting Trojans by an 80-37 count inside Uniontown Senior High School’s A.J. Everhart Memorial Gymnasium, on Tuesday night.
After pondering just for a moment, Esposito did find a few words to express his impression of coach Rob Kezmarsky’s unbeaten squad.
“They’re quick, they’re athletic, they play good defense, they’re well coached,” said Esposito, whose team fell to 3-6 overall and 1-2 in Section 3-AAA. “They forced us to rush, forced us out of our comfort zone.”
Uniontown (7-0, 3-0) was impressive at both ends of the floor.
On offense, Junior Mays continued his hot shooting by hitting three 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 29 points, to go along with eight rebounds, most of them on the offensive end. Kelvin Brown followed with 12 points and eight boards. Reese Hodge had 10 points and nine rebounds, Paul Gmutza contributed eight boards and four points, and Eric Johnson chipped in with eight points, as 13 different Uniontown players got into the scoring column.
On defense, the Red Raiders limited Derry’s top scorer, Ryan DeMary, to just seven points, and held the Trojans’ starters to 19 points. Dewey Schmitt led the way with 10, while Derry’s other three starters combined for just two points.
“We’ve really worked to improve on defense,” Kezmarsky said. “I have to give my assistant coaches (Jason Hutchinson and Warare Gladman) credit for that, and for all the coaching they do to help this team.”
Hodge and Mays opened the game’s scoring with buckets before Schmitt and DeMary countered to knot the score at 4-4. Mays scored the next eight points in a 14-point run, and Uniontown was in charge the rest of the way.
Derry’s difficulties were highlighted late in the period when Esposito used his second time out with 1:40 left, then, after Brown hit a pair of free throws, watched as his team was forced to call another one – still at the 1:40 mark – when it couldn’t get the ball inbounds against Uniontown’s full-court press.
The Red Raiders led 22-6, 50-19 and 70-28 at the breaks.
When Mays hit a jumper with 5:30 left in the third period it put Uniontown up 60-20 and invoked the mercy rule – a continuously running clock – for the fifth time this season.
Mays’ work on the offensive glass, especially in following his own shot in textbook fashion, is something that has caught Kezmarsky’s eye, too.
“By far the best thing Junior does is offensive rebounding,” Kezmarsky said. “The other night he missed a three from one corner and tracked it down all the way down in the other corner. He just has a nose for the basketball. He doesn’t take it for granted that his shot is going in.”
Kezmarsky was surprised at how easily his team handled the Trojans.
“We watched them on film, and saw them beat (Quad-A) Woodland Hills, and they gave Latrobe a good battle, too,” Kezmarsky said. “I guess we’re just sort of hot right now.
“We did a good job of taking DeMary out of the game. I have to give credit to Lou Allen, Leroy Ingram and Eric Johnson for that, because they rotated on him.
“Derry’s a better team than they showed tonight. They’ll bounce back.”
Esposito thought so as well.
“We’re a much better basketball team than this,” said Esposito, who is now pulling hard for the Red Raiders. “We need them to win every game the rest of the way, because the way I see it, it’s them, and then all the rest of us – Yough, Mount Pleasant, Belle Vernon, Brownsville – battling for the other playoff spots. Hopefully, they’ll sweep everyone else, which I think they will do.”
If Uniontown does slip up, Esposito doesn’t see it happening on its home floor.
“Every team in our section that comes in here is going to have to play a near-perfect game to beat them,” Esposito said.
Add Esposito to those coaches who have already witnessed the Red Raider show close up, and have given it a “thumbs-up” rating.