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Scotties roll past Falcons, 75-54

By Rob Burchianti rburchianti@heraldstandard.Com 4 min read

HILLER — The opening two minutes of Brownsville’s game against Southmoreland on Friday night turned out to be a highlight reel for Falcons junior Noah Brown.

The game quickly morphed into the Scotties’ show, however, as coach Frank Muccino’s squad used a balanced attack in rolling to a 75-54 victory in the Brownsville Tip-Off Tournament.

Southmoreland put four players in double figures, led by Tommy Pisula’s 22, to advance to the championship game against Elizabeth-Forward on Saturday at 7 p.m.

The Warriors defeated the Gladiators, 52-36, earlier on Friday. Brownsville will play South Allegheny in the consolation game at 3 p.m.

“I’m just pleased to get a win,” said Muccino, whose team was victorious only twice last season after going winless the year before.

If Friday was any indication, Muccino can count on that losing trend to end emphatically in the 2014-15 campaign.

Following Pisula in the Scotties’ scoring column were Zak Leighty with 17, including three 3-pointers, Charles Mills with 14, including a pair of treys, and Ben Niemiec with 12, including one 3-pointer.

The game featured one long, buzzer-beating 3-pointer by each team, at the end of the second and third periods, but it was the Scotties’ quick response to Brown’s early explosion that set the tone for the game.

Brown was a terror when the game got underway, twice converting three-point plays and scoring on a coast-to-coast drive as the Falcons jumped out to an 8-0 advantage. Brown wound up as the only Falcon in double figures with 19 points.

Doug Leighty finally got Southmoreland on the board with a basket inside. Pisula followed with a driving bucket, Zak Leighty made a lay-up and Niemiec hit two free throws and a 3-pointer to cap an 11-point run.

“We kind of let our foot off the accelerator,” Brownsville coach Brian Brashear said. “We have to learn to maintain our intensity throughout the game. We’ll get better with that in time.”

A free throw by Andre Smith and a basket by Cory Lent pulled Brownsville even with 23 seconds left in the opening period, but Zak Leighty came up with a steal and fed Justin Livengood for a lay-up just before the buzzer to put the Scotties in front to stay, 13-11.

“We were a little too amped up at the beginning,” Muccino said. “But I thought once we got that first bucket we started to play well.”

The Scotties opened the second period with a 7-2 run capped by Zak Leighty’s 3-pointer. Brown hit a trey and Jared Gaddis made a free to get the Falcons within three, but they would get no closer.

Southmoreland gradually pulled away and ended the half with a bang as Mills hit consecutive 3-pointers with the second coming well beyond the 3-point arc at the buzzer to make it 38-23 at halftime.

“That was just icing on the cake for their second quarter,” Brashear said.

Muccino agreed.

“Charles gave us some good minutes and hitting that shot at the buzzer helped us end the half with an exclamation point,” Muccino said.

Brown scored six points and Len Michaux and Lent hit 3-pointers as the Falcons tried to rally in the third period, but could only chop two points off the lead and trailed 52-39 going into the fourth period.

Michaux’s trey, however, brought the house down as it came from halfcourt as time expired, rattling around the rim, off the board and in.

“That gave us a little lift and helped us keep our focus,” Brashear said. “But if their lead had been a little smaller it might have had more of an impact.”

The Falcons whittled the margin to 10 twice early in the final frame but could get no closer as the Scotties pulled away down the stretch.

Muccino praised Zak Leighty for his performance.

“Zak played really well with the ball, controlling the tempo and handling the ball,” Muccino said.

Brashear took a few positives out of the game.

“Noah played well and Lent and Andre Smith had some good minutes off the bench,” Brashear said.

Lent and Smith each scored nine points.

“We’re still getting the feel for playing together,” Brashear said. “It’s the first game so it’s good to get all of this out of our system now.”

Brownsville Tip-Off Tournament

At Brownsville High School

Southmoreland 13-25-14-23 — 75

Brownsville       11-12-16-15 — 54

Southmoreland: Tommy Pisula 22, Zak Leighty 17, Charles Mills 14, Ben Niebiec 12; Brownsville: Noah Brown 19. Records: Southmoreland (1-0), Brownsville (0-1).

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