Hot shooting in first half carries Red Raiders to easy victory over Colonials, 88-57
What a difference a week makes for Uniontown boys basketball and coach Rob Kezmarsky.
One week after having to rally in the second half to defeat Albert Gallatin, 67-59, the Red Raiders (3-0) jumped out to a 30-8 lead after the first quarter and pressed its way past the Colonials (2-2) for an 88-57 victory on Friday night in non-section play at AJ Everhart Memorial Gymnasium.
“The kids everyday are getting better,” Kezmarsky said. “Twelve kids got to play, and nine or 10 kids got to play a lot. We used a rotation and I thought we played an excellent game. AG plays hard and Tavian (Mozie) is as good as any guard we’ll see all year. I was very pleased with how well we moved the ball, shot and played defense.”
Albert Gallatin held a brief 3-2 lead when Nate Bricker scored inside while being fouled and completed the three-point play, but Uniontown went on an 18-5 run to lead 20-8 with 2:01 remaining in the first quarter.
The Red Raiders’ Kam Fitzgerald, who scored 13 points, made two 3-pointers and a two-point field goal during the run.
“Kam is a sixth man but he’s like a starter,” Kezmarsky said. “I told Kam at practice the other day that he plays more than anybody. Kam is a big-time player.”
Uniontown went on a 10-0 run to end the first with a 30-8 lead. The quarter was capped off with his first of two 3-pointers by Giovani Marian, who scored eight points.
“I thought Giovani made some big shots,” Kezmarsky said. “We had some balanced scoring, too. Trent Uphold, Kam, Gio, Melo Grooms, Brandon Bell and Connor DeMoss are all juniors that never played a home game at Uniontown. We also had Billy DeShields, who is a freshman, and I thought they all did well in playing their first home game at Uniontown, which is not an easy thing to do.”
The Red Raiders outscored the Colonials, 23-16, in the second quarter for a 53-24 halftime lead. Uniontown made four 3-pointers in the second for seven in the first half. The Raiders made nine shots from behind the arc.
“They hit everything they shot,” Albert Gallatin coach Shea Fleenor said. “If they shoot in the first half like they did in the second half, we’re in a much better position. The way we played tonight, we still probably wouldn’t have won, but the game sure changes. It was a good job on their part.
“They came out ready and made shots, and we didn’t. We talked about it at halftime and we talked about it at the end of the game. You can’t come out and not be ready. We talked about not giving up second-chance points before the game and we gave up numerous second-chance points. We talked about not turning the ball over and we turned the ball over a couple of times on inbounds passes that gave them a layup. This one is on me and we have to do a better job of having them ready to play.”
Uniontown’s shooting cooled off in the third but the Raiders outscored the Colonials, 16-13, for a 69-37 lead heading into the fourth.
On an otherwise tough night, Mozie scored a game-high 22 points on eight field goals, including four 3-pointers and was 2-of-3 at the foul line. Mozie made a three before the first half ended and had two quick 3-pointers to open the third.
“He (Mozie) hit that one before the half and the first two 3-pointers in the second so that’s nine points in a row,” Kezmarsky said. “He is a terrific player and the one thing you don’t see in high school a lot is that he can create his own shot. He doesn’t say a word and plays hard.”
The Colonials outscored Uniontown, 20-19, in the fourth.
The Raiders were able to unload their bench late in the game.
Lorenzo Oden led Uniontown in scoring with 15 points and Malaky Howard added 14. Grooms came off the bench to score 11 for the Raiders.
“Lorenzo has played an excellent floor game for us,” Kezmarsky said. “Not just scoring, but he had a lot of assists as well. I though Melo played a complete game. That gave us a big spark.”
Albert Gallatin’s Joey English scored 10 points.
The Raiders open Section 3-AAAA play at 7:30 p.m. Monday at South Park (0-1, 2-3).
“We have seen every team in our section, whether in person or on Hudl,” Kezmarsky said. “The great thing is we have Lorenzo watching teams on his Hudl account and that shows that these kids really care.”
Albert Gallatin hosts Carrick (1-3) at 7:30 p.m. Monday in a non-section game and opens Section 1-AAAAA play at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Trinity (2-2).
“We have one game on Monday to get ready for Tuesday,” Fleenor said. “Carrick is more like Uniontown than Trinity is going to be. At the end of the day, we have to get ready for Trinity. That is the big one.
“We preached to the guys during timeouts to keep building for next Tuesday. I thought we did a better job in the second half of being aggressive on defense and creating some turnovers.”
Non-section
Albert Gallatin 8 16 13 20 — 57
Uniontown 30 23 16 19 — 88
Uniontown: Lorenzo Oden 15, Malaky Howard 14, Kam Fitzgerald 13, Reginald Grooms 11. Albert Gallatin: Tavian Mozie 22, Joey English 10. Records: Uniontown (3-0), Albert Gallatin (2-2).