Jan 14, 2006 By Kevin Harrison For The 3 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – The Swamp was swinging early, as the Geibel Catholic Gators hosted California in a battle for second place in Section 2-A Friday night. The Gators took advantage of California’s first-half foul trouble to break the game open and survived a fourth-quarter rally by the Trojans to take a 67-52 win.

“Tonight was the first time we really played together as a team since the Brownsville game,” Gators coach Kenny Misiak said. “We’ve been sputtering for a while, but tonight we put five guys together and got a good game from everybody and it showed.”

The Gators had four players finish in double figures on the night. Josh Herman scored a game-high 19 points to lead the Gators. John Maczko followed with 17. Mitch Erdely added 11, and Mario Fragello finished with 10.

Chris McVicker led the Trojans with 15, and teammate Waugh Carter came off the bench to toss up 10.

The Gators (5-1, 7-3) took a 17-11 lead in the first period. Geibel was leading 8-5, when California center Mike Hrivnak hit two straight from the field to give the Trojans a 9-8 lead Geibel closed out the quarter with a 9-0 run to regain the lead. During that time Hrivnak went to the bench with his third foul with 29-seconds left in the quarter.

“Having Mike in foul trouble early didn’t help us tonight,” California head coach Phil Pergola said. “We did beat them at Christmas time without him. We were down to four guards with John McVicker out with an injury, which didn’t allow us to play certain defenses against Geibel that were effective at Christmas time.”

With Hrivnak on the bench, the Gators went on a second-quarter tear. The Gators inched out to a 20-16 lead and called a timeout with 4:22 left in the half. After the timeout, the Gators went on a 17-2 run to open up a 37-18 lead. The Gators went into the locker room at the half, with a 39-20 lead.

In the third quarter, with Hrivnak on the floor, the Gators went to center Maczko who scored six straight, allowing Geibel to open up a 45-22 lead.

Carter came off the bench for Cal to provide some inside scoring; picking up six points but the Trojans trailed 53-35 at the end of three. During that time Hrivnak picked up his fourth foul.

“We intended to attack the center,” Misiak said. “I told the kids to get the ball to the basket and get it to Maczko and I told him to take it up strong. He is starting to come along and getting a little better each game.”

California (4-2, 10-6) made a surge in the fourth quarter, as they closed to within 11 points with two minutes left to play, as Chris McVicker, Mike Gallis, and Donte Valentino led the charge with five points each to make the score 63-52.

“California is a good team, and I knew they were going to make a run at us,” Misiak said. “I think I pulled my kids back a little to early and we lost a little intensity.”

The Gators rebounded with baskets from Maczko and Erdely to close out the scoring and take the win.

After the game both coaches agreed the second half of the section will be quite interesting, as the Gators have to visit Cal, and Carmichaels must also go on the road to face Cal and the Gators.