Falcons spoil gym opening, beat Uniontown, 57-39
Connellsville's Trent Bauer (23) pulls up to shoot against Uniontown Thursday.
John F. Brothers/HeraldStandard.com
Paul Martin goes up with a hook shot for Connellsville while
Uniontown’s Marcus Thomas tries to block it Thursday.
Uniontown's Christian Kezmarsky (4) drives the ball past Connellsville's Ryan Pearl (13) Thursday.
Uniontown's Deion Ricks (1) pulls in a rebound as teammate Josh Nypaver (13) boxes out Thursday.
The Connellsville Falcons played the role of spoilers on Thursday with a 57-39 win over Uniontown before a sizeable crowd in the first game played in the new A.J. Everhart Gymnasium.
Connellsville (7-0, 2-0) took the lead for good late in the second quarter and never led by less than five points after halftime.
Uniontown (6-2, 2-0) showed signs of fatigue in its third game in less than 48 hours as the Red Raiders suffered through cold shooting and never strung more than five points together.
Christian Kezmarsky staked the Red Raiders to their only leads by sinking a 3-point basket on the first shot taken in the new gym, and on another trey three minutes later for a 6-4 UHS edge.
After Connellsville’s Jade Maher tied the score, Paul Martin’s three-point play put the Falcons on top 9-6, and the visitors led 14-12 after one quarter.
There were two deadlocks in the second period when Birdie Winfrey’s basket tied the score at 14-14, and when Winfrey’s free throw knotted the score at 20-20.
Connellsville answered with two baskets by Nick Pittsment to lead 24-20 at halftime.
Pittsment and Martin opened the second half with baskets to give the Falcons a 28-20 lead.
After Kezmarsky’s fourth and final trey cut the lead to five, Martin scored twice around a Ryan Pearl basket and Grant Wortman added a free throw to build a 35-23 lead.
The closest Uniontown came the rest of the way was nine points twice at 35-26 and 41-32.
The win gave Connellsville a sweep of the two games against Uniontown to go with an opening win at Penn State Fayette the Eberly Campus on Dec. 9.
Connellsville coach Dan Bosnic credited his players for stepping up to earn the win.
“We talk about preparing and getting ready to compete. But we expect to be successful,” Bosnic said.
“We’re 7-0 and no one in the community or anywhere else thought we’d do this well. But we’ve worked hard and deserve to be where we are. We’re in a tough section with a lot of basketball left.”
Bosnic said his team did a good job on defense, especially in holding Uniontown senior Marcus Thomas to four points.
“Jade Maher really stepped up (on defense). Seeing his growth helps show where we are today. We’re happy to have the win. But at the end of the day, it’s always about getting better.”
Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky said, “We played two emotional games (on Tuesday and Wednesday) and didn’t have our legs tonight. It was tough to play without Chris Hall (injured on Wednesday) and having to play our smaller lineup. Connellsville is a good basketball team.”
Kezmarsky added, “In the fourth quarter we were down by nine or 10 points, and every time we had a layup it wouldn’t go in. We did not shoot well on the fly. But I couldn’t be happier than where this team is now heading back into section play.”
Kezmarsky led Uniontown with 14 points and Winfrey added 12. Martin led Connellsville with a game-high 22 points.
Both teams resume their section schedules on Tuesday with Connellsville hosting Hempfield and Uniontown hosting Southmoreland.