Waynesburg Central defeats Geibel Catholic, 66-42
Geibel Catholic's Bailey Miller (25) takes a shot over Waynesburg Central's Dom Sarra during Saturday's game at Waynesburg Central High School.
Geibel Catholic's James Ewing (10) dribbles around Waynesburg Central's Dom Sarra during the 2014-15 season. Both players were named to the Small School All-Area boys basketball team.
Waynesburg Central’s Eric Coldren (23) takes a shot over Geibel Catholic’s Bailey Miller during Saturday’s game at Waynesburg Central High School.
Waynesburg Central's Colby Collins (33) dribbles around Geibel Catholic's Tucker Bokan during Saturday's game at Waynesburg Central High School.
WAYNESBURG — Trailing by one at halftime, the Waynesburg Central boys’ basketball team turned up the intensity in the second half, and held a 39-14 scoring edge, en route to a 66-42 non-section win over Geibel Catholic Saturday afternoon.
“We had to turn it up in the second half,” Waynesburg coach Drew Schifino said. “Geibel played us good in the first half, but I thought we could have played better and we had to turn it up a notch. We were more aggressive and got to the loose balls. We emphasize driving to the hoop and using our transition game to get points.”
The Raiders (3-4) had four players in double-figures, headlined by 13 points from Dom Sarra. Corey Dispenza tallied 11 points, while Wes Bristor and Jason Zeleny each scored 10 points.
James Ewing garnered a game-high 14 points for the Gators (1-3), who got into foul trouble in the middle of the third quarter and sent the opposition to the charity stripe several times in the final 12 minutes of play.
Altogether, Geibel committed 30 fouls (22 in the second half), had four of its five starters foul out and only made six baskets in the final sixteen minutes of action. For the game, the Gators only shot 33 percent (8-for-24) from the foul line.
“You can never prepare for a game in which four of your starters foul out and you send the other team to the foul line 20 times in the fourth,” Geibel coach Bill Hughes said. “You know it’s bad when the other coach apologize for the officiating. Sure we didn’t get some calls, but at the same time our defense wasn’t good enough and we didn’t make shots in the second half.”
The Raiders took advantage of the visitors’ foul problems, registering a 57 percent clip (17-of-30) from the charity stripe in the second half alone.
Waynesburg jumped out to a 10-6 lead in the opening quarter, before Geibel rallied with five straight points to end the period.
In the second quarter, the Raiders went on a 14-8 rally, capped off by back-to-back treys from Zeleny and Bristor.
After a free throw from Sarra, the Gators bounced back and ended the quarter strong with a 9-2 spurt and held a 28-27 lead at halftime. Ewing had nine of his 14 points in the second stanza.
“We had good ball movement in the first half,” Hughes said. “They used a diamond-one against our point guard and we are able to make the proper adjustments. We only go seven-deep and Waynesburg put a lot of pressure on the ball. We got to make shots and bring a high level of defensive intensity every game.”
Sarra gave Waynesburg five quick points in the opening moments of the third, courtesy of an old-fashioned three-point play and a lay-up.
“Dom is an explosive kid,” Schifino said. “How Dom plays is usually how this team goes. He was a little nicked up today with an ankle, but he battled through it. He is the engine of our team and he was a huge factor for us today.”
With the Raiders reaching the double bonus so early in the third, Waynesburg took advantage of the calls and was able to stymied Geibel’s offense, outscoring them by a 20-8 margin in the third.
Waynesburg only made four baskets in the fourth, but was able to secure the victory with 11 points from the free throw line and held Geibel to only six points in the final eight minutes.
“We are seven games into the season and we have some positives with this team,” Schifino said. “Obviously, we have to shoot the ball better as a team. Rebounding is always key for us and playing in such a competitive section (Section 5-AAA), we always need to improve. You need to get confidence in these non-section games so it can help you out later in the season.”