Sanner leads Red Raiders past Vikings
MT. PLEASANT – Uniontown kept its focus on an upcoming rematch with Section 3-AAA leader Greensburg Salem by not overlooking Mt.Pleasant Friday night. The Red Raiders pressed the Vikings from the opening tip and withstood a small rally in the third quarter to go home with a 65-47 win.
Uniontown (5-1, 14-2) had three players finish in double figures. Doogie Sanner lead the Red Raiders with 23 points, highlighted by a torrid 15-point second quarter. He was backed by Brian Grady with 12 and James Pratt with 10.
Mt.Pleasant (1-5, 7-11) was lead by senior center Chet Welc who scored a game-high 24 points and led the Vikings’ third quarter rally with 11. Ethan Keeler also scored 11 for the home team before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
“I have nothing but respect for Tom Traynor and his program. They played us hard all night,” Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky said. “We had a good first half and made some mistakes in the second half. The kids kept battling. It’s nice to get out of here with a win.”
Mt. Pleasant took a quick 4-0 lead before Sanner hit a three and Pratt scored to give the Red Raiders a 5-4 advantage. Uniontown took a 9-6 lead Before Welc scored and was fouled. He hit the free throw to complete the three-point play and tie the game at nine. Uniontown then went on a 12-1 run to close out the quarter to take a 21-10 lead.
Uniontown opened the second quarter with an 8-2 run, getting six points from Pratt and a basket by Sanner to make the score 29-12.
Following two Mt. Pleasant free throws to make the score 29-14, Sanner found his stroke. He hit a field goal to make the score 31-14.
Keeler scored for Mt. Pleasant, and Sanner answered with a three to make the score 34-16. Keeler hit a free throw for the Vikes, and Sanner came back with another field goal for Uniontown.
Brandon Bunting scored for Mt. Pleasant, and Sanner drained another three to give the Red Raiders a 39-19 lead. Sanner then hit two free throws as Uniontown outscored the Vikes 23-13 in the second quarter to open up a 44-23 lead at the half.
“We normally have very balanced scoring, but in the second quarter Doogie was on and the kids were getting the ball to him,” Kezmarsky said. “We have three kids averaging double figures plus we have some kids coming off the bench that can score. We just went with a group that had the hot hand and they did a good job.”
In the third quarter Welc helped the Vikings close to within 10. With Mt.Pleasant trailing 50-29 he scored six straight points to lead a 12-0 run to close out the third quarter as the host five trailed, 52-42.
“We didn’t react to Uniontown’s quickness as well as we could in the first half,” Trainer said. “We did some things in the second half that allowed us to take a little better control of what was happening in the ball game. Uniontown is a good ball team. They got their running game going before we could slow them down a little bit. By then they had a 20-point lead and it’s hard to make that up. Chet played well tonight. He’s our leader and has played hard all year. He had a good game for us tonight.”
Uniontown outscored the Vikes 12-5 in the fourth quarter, going into a stall to shorten the game and go home with the win.
“We had some lapses but I give credit to Mt.Pleasant on how hard they came at us tonight. I’m happy were 5-1 in the section,” Kezmarsky said. “Now we can put all our attention to facing Greensburg Salem, and a chance to get a piece of the section lead.”