Uniontown defense stifles Wildcats in 72-47 rout
Joel Brewton | Herald-Standard
Uniontown’s Jordan Pratt (10) retrieves a rebound from Latrobe’s Matt Cullen (23) and P.J. Self (55) during Wednesday’s game at Uniontown Area High School.
Uniontown's Jeremy Perkins (23) dodges Latrobe's Lane Loughner (24) during Wednesday's game at Uniontown Area High School.
Uniontown's Nate Guerriere (20) goes in for the layup against Latrobe's Mario Fannie (32) during Wednesday's game at Uniontown Area High School.
Latrobe's Chad Kissell takes a jumper against Uniontown's Jeremy Perkins (23) and Xavier Ellis (5) during Wednesday's game at Uniontown Area High School.
Three players scored in double digits for Uniontown, and the Red Raiders employed a stifling full-court defense en route to a 72-47 victory over Greater Latrobe in a non-sectional boy’s basketball game Wednesday night.
Joe Campbell and Xavier Ellis scored 17 points apiece, and Jordan Pratt added 16 to lead the Red Raiders (7-0).
Uniontown came out of the gates with a bang. Just minutes into the game, the Red Raiders stole an errant Wildcat pass, then Campbell finished a fast break with a dunk. Uniontown went on a 15-0 run after Campbell’s jam.
“We had a great start against them,” said Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky. “To beat a team like Latrobe like that shows the kind of capabilities we have.”
Greater Latrobe (1-4) had a hard time completing passes with the consistent defensive pressure from Uniontown guards Ellis and Pratt.
The backcourt pair also dished out numerous passes to each other, and Campbell inside. Some of the passes went awry, however, and resulted in turnovers.
“Tonight, maybe, we overpassed a bit,” said Kezmarsky. “We’re so unselfish. If anything, sometimes they pass too much, but that’s a good problem to have.”
The Red Raiders came up with numerous steals throughout the game, and forced Greater Latrobe to rush their offense.
“If you get a shot out of the offense, it’s easier to make than getting the exact same shot without running the offense,” said Greater Latrobe coach Brad Wetzel. “Right now, we’re getting in the habit of not running the offense, and there’s no flow or rhythm.”
After being down by 19 points at the half, Greater Latrobe came out of the locker room with a noticeable increase in energy and efficiency. Chad Kissell scored all 12 of his points in the third quarter, including the Wildcats’ first six of the quarter.
“Latrobe plays hard the whole game,” said Kezmarsky. “I told the kids at halftime that they wouldn’t give up, and they didn’t, but we weathered the storm well.”
Uniontown countered Greater Latrobe’s hot second-half start with some hot shooting of their own. The teams traded baskets throughout the quarter, with both scoring 23 in the third.
While the Wildcats came close to matching the speed of the Red Raiders on effort alone, turnovers, and missed easy shots, ultimately killed the Greater Latrobe rally.
On more than one occasion, the Wildcats missed several shots on a single possession.
“Overall, we’re not real pleased with our effort tonight,” said Wetzel. “If there’s any one thing nice about sports is that we get to wake up tomorrow, and work on changing some of these things.”
Uniontown started the fourth quarter with a couple baskets, but started holding the ball, and taking time of the clock, soon after to end a game already well in-hand.