Red Raiders breeze past Falcons
CONNELLSVILLE – To say Uniontown barely broke a sweat in its 23-point win over Connellsville Friday night would be a little deceiving. True, the Red Raiders breezed to a 70-47 Section 1-AAAA on the Falcons’ home floor. But the rather convincing win was the product of a tenacious, four-quarter effort which helped lessen the sting of Tuesday’s one-point section-opening home loss to Norwin.
“I’m very proud of the kids,” Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky said. “That was a tough one-point loss for us (Tuesday night) and tonight, the kids came out and played the way they’re capable of playing.
“We’ve put ourselves back into decent position.”
Uniontown improves to 4-2 overall and evens its Section 1-AAAA mark at 1-1. The Red Raiders’ two losses thus far have been by a combined three points.
Kishaun Cook pumped in a game-high 28 points, with none of his 10 field goals coming further than three feet from the basket. In fact, Uniontown’s inside game was so dominant that all 28 of its baskets came from in close.
“I’m so pleased with Cook,” Kezmarsky said. “We’ve been talking to them in practice about staying on the block and getting into position. With Connellsville’s experience inside, we thought we’d have to do a good job on the boards to have a chance to win.
“We did a really good job of fast breaking after we got a defensive rebound.”
Several of the defensive rebounds led to easy transition lay-ups, something the taller, but slower Falcons never had an answer for.
Marc Umble added 15 points, while Eric Johnson chipped in 12 and Quindell Dean 10.
Cook and Johnson both pulled down seven rebounds, with Cook also blocking four shots.
Hurly and Terrence McCrae paced Connellsville with 10 points each, with Chris Pepe pulling down seven rebounds.
The Red Raiders trailed just once, after Clay Hurley’s lay-in gave Connellsville (3-3, 0-1) an early 2-0 lead. Cook then capped an 11-2 run with a three-point play and Uniontown eventually pulled out to a 13-8 lead after one quarter.
The Falcons stayed close early in the second quarter, pulling to within three points twice, but a 13-2 Uniontown run gave the visitors a 30-14 lead late in the first half. Uniontown then turned a 13-point halftime-advantage into a quick 19-point lead with three baskets to start the third quarter.
Cook took a pass from Dean and scored from in close to give the Red Raiders a 44-23 lead with 2:50 to play in the third quarter and Uniontown’s lead never dipped below 20 points the rest of the game.
“Uniontown did a great job tonight,” said Connellsville coach Nick Bosnic. “They turned defensive rebounds into lay-ups. It feels like 50 of their 70 points came on lay-ups. They were very determined tonight. They outran us to every loose ball.
“They won’t get beaten by many teams if they play with that intensity.”