Jan 16, 2008 By Dave Stofcheck 3 min read

Doogie Sanner scored 20 of his team-high 24 points in the second half, and Uniontown won its seventh straight game, as it defeated Belle Vernon, 101-73, Tuesday night in non-section action at A.J. Everhart Memorial Gymnasium.

Sanner was one of five Red Raiders to reach double digits, as Uniontown jumped out to a 32-15 lead after one period and never looked back. Tuesday’s outburst marked the third time in six years under coach Robbie Kezmarsky that Uniontown has cracked the 100-point plateau, and the first since the 2002-03 season, when the Red Raiders turned the trick twice.

“We’re able to score points in spurts really well,” Kezmarsky said. “But we talked after the game and told the kids that for us to get better towards the end of the season, we’re going to have to keep rebounding the basketball, and keep playing every possession hard.

“We wanted to fine-tune some things heading into Friday. Friday is a huge game.”

Uniontown returns to Section 3-AAA action Friday with a game at Mount Pleasant. The Red Raiders occupy second place, one game behind Greensburg Salem, after posting a 4-1 mark the first time through section play.

Earlier this season against Mount Pleasant, Uniontown posted a 60-47 victory.

Against Belle Vernon Tuesday, Shawn Cicconi scored 18 of his 20 points in the first half, as Uniontown settled into a 50-38 lead at the break. After Belle Vernon’s Jacob Dudzinski knocked down a 15-footer to pull the Leopards to within 50-40 early in the third quarter, the Red Raiders took control of the game with a 17-8 run, which was book-ended by a pair of James Pratt three-pointers.

Pratt connected on five treys on his way to 17 points, and in total, Uniontown hit nine shots from beyond the three-point arc.

“I felt coming into the game the first team to score 80 points would win,” said Belle Vernon coach John Dudzinski. “We felt we could score with them, that’s our strength. But they stuck it to us in the first quarter.

“We did not come ready to play.”

Jacob Dudzinski led all scorers with 30 points, with Josh Pohlot adding 12 and Bo Lustig 11.

Six Red Raiders scored during the first quarter, as Uniontown (13-2) blew open a two-point game with a 20-7 run. Anthony Black scored five of his 13 points in the game’s opening eight minutes, and Billy Hall came off the bench to score six points during the first quarter.

Hall finished with 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Trailing by as many as 19 points in the second quarter, Belle Vernon (11-5) used a late 9-0 run to pull within 47-38 with 2.9 seconds remaining in the half. But Pratt took an inbounds pass and knocked down a buzzer-beating three-pointer to push the home team’s lead back to 12.

“I was really impressed with the way Anthony Black played, and Avery Crenshaw gave us some really good minutes off the bench tonight,” Kezmarsky said. “Tonight wasn’t a real good match-up for Billy and Cody (Caster), but when those guys came in the game, they played well.”

Uniontown led 87-60 with six minutes remaining when Kezmarsky began to empty his bench. Midway through the final quarter, the Red Raiders led, 94-65, and Caster finally put Uniontown at the century-mark when he scored on a putback with 1:28 to play.

“They’re very quick, and they’re very athletic,” John Dudzinski said, referring to Uniontown.

“And they disrupt everything you try to do with their defense. They get their hands in your face, they clog the passing lanes and they don’t let you get a good shot off.”