Dec 20, 2006 By Kevin Harrison For The 4 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – It was not one of the prettiest basketball games to watch as Connellsville hosted Latrobe in a Section 2-Quad A match up Tuesday night. The game was marred by fouls, turnovers, poor shot selection and frustration on the faces of both coaches.

By the time the final buzzer sounded, the Wildcats held on for a 61-55 win over the Falcons to improve to 2-0 in the section.

Jeff Yunetz gave Latrobe the boost it needed in the first half, scoring 20 of his game-high 29 points, while draining five three-pointers. Dylan Nowe was the only other Wildcat player in double figures with 10.

Johnny Dilworth fought his way through a swarming Latrobe defense to lead the Falcons with 20, and Lance Straughters added 10 for Connellsville.

“Latrobe did a great job with their defense, scrambling and trapping and forcing us into a lot of turnovers. A Connellsville team cannot win many games turning the ball over like we did tonight,” Falcons coach Nick Bosnic said.

“When we got down by 10, we tried to force the action and got some turnovers, but we couldn’t make the shots. Whenever we needed a big possession or a big shot we couldn’t make it happen tonight.”

The Falcons (1-1, 3-2) took the early lead, scoring the game’s first six points on baskets by Mike Omatick and Straughters.

Latrobe (2-0, 5-3) charged back with a 12-0 run to take a lead it would never relinquish. Yunetz started the run with a bucket. Andrew Fisher hit one of two free throws, and Nowe and Fisher hit consecutive baskets to give the Wildcats a 7-6 lead.

Brent Heckel drained a trey, and added another score, giving the Wildcats a 12-6 lead. Yunetz closed out the quarter with three scores that included two treys giving the Wildcats a 20-13 lead at the end of the first period.

“Jeff shot well for us tonight, and we have two or three guys that have the ability to get hot for us anytime,” Latrobe coach Brad Wetzel said. “We didn’t execute real well offensively but we did show some grit to gut this game out. Towards the end of the game we kept attacking with our press and pulled down some rebounds and that was the key to the win.”

Both teams played even in the second quarter with each scoring 14. Dilworth led the Falcons with eight in the quarter, while Yunetz offset that with eight points of his own, hitting two more three-pointers to give the Wildcats a 34-27 lead at the half.

Latrobe extended its lead to 10 in the third quarter, outscoring the Falcons 12-9 to make the score 46-36.

The Falcons made a run at Latrobe in the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to five.

Falling behind by 12 with the score at 48-36, the Falcons picked up five quick points on a basket by Scotty Hartz and a three-point play by Trent Hurley to make the score 48-41.

Nowe came back with two foul shots to extend the Wildcats’ lead to 50-41. Straughters countered with a basket, and sophomore Mason Leos hit two free throws to cut the lead to five, 50-45.

Alex Halferty scored to put Latrobe up by seven, as the Wildcats managed to hold off the Falcons for the win despite being outscored 19-15 in the quarter.

“We need some people to step up and keep us settled on the floor,” Bosnic said. ” We know who our go to players are. We’ve just got to continue to work, and get some contributions from other players and try to put ourselves in the best position we can to win some games.”