Jan 14, 2016 By Adam Brewer for The 4 min read

CARMICHAELS — With a logjam of four teams in Section 4-AA with 2-3 records, the Waynesburg Central boys’ basketball finished the first half of the section schedule strong with a 60-48 victory over Carmichaels Wednesday night.

“We knew what the standings were and we talked a lot about the importance of this game,” Waynesburg coach Kirk King said. “There are four teams log-jammed in the middle of the section and this is a big win for us to go to 3-3. We had to get this to build momentum towards the second half of the section schedule.”

Both squads brought in identical section records, but both teams play the game in contrasting styles.

Waynesburg averages around 68 points per game, second best in Section 4-AA, while Carmichaels gives up an average of 44 points per game, lowest in the section.

The difference maker in the contest, however, was a stout defensive effort by the Raiders (6-6, 3-3) in the second half. Waynesburg gave up a total of 19 points in the second half, including just four in the third quarter.

“Carmichaels plays stout defense and they are always in your face,” King said. “They are a scrappy bunch and are well-coached. We knew we had to rely on our defense tonight. We have lost our way on defense the last couple of games and we weren’t playing sound man-to-man defense. That hurt us, but I really liked what I saw tonight.”

Darton McIntire poured in 30 points for Waynesburg with five shots from beyond the arc, while Mitch Warman collected 17 and went 7-for-8 from the foul line.

The Mikes (7-6, 2-4) were led by 13 points from Liam Shea. Nick Mundell and Cody Brown added nine and eight points, respectively.

“We have struggled all season on offense and sometimes we go into those stretches where we can’t put the ball in the hoop,” Carmichaels coach Don Williams said. “That was the case in the second half and we couldn’t recover from it. I wish I could put my finger on it, but sometimes we just don’t shoot the ball very well.”

After Waynesburg opened up the game with a 7-4 lead, Carmichaels answered back with a 12-5 spree and held a 19-14 lead at the end of one.

In the second stanza, the Mikes stretched its lead to 29-21 after a trey by Mundell, but the Raiders tallied the final seven points in the quarter via a 3-pointer from McIntire, two free throws by Warman and an inside hoop by Ron Howard.

Carmichaels scored four of the first five third quarter points, but Waynesburg pulled away with 12 unanswered points to retake the lead. McIntire scored eight points in the period and the Raiders carried a 41-33 lead into the fourth.

“We wanted to slow down number 10 (McIntire) and keep things under control,” Williams said. “We did that for the most part in the first half, but things got away from us in the second half. We got into foul trouble and we didn’t contest enough of his shots.”

After the teams exchanged baskets to start the final frame, Waynesburg got separation from a 48-40 lead with eight consecutive points.

The Mikes made things interesting with back-to-back treys from Alex Hoy and Shea, but two free throws by Brandon Turcheck sealed the win for the Raiders in the final minute.

“We were grinding things out on offense and we knew we just had to stick with it,” King said. “We were able to make our shots and drive to the basket. We couldn’t settle for jump shots, and we had to be aggressive. We brought the right intensity into the game.”

Waynesburg travels to Brownsville on Friday to start the second half of the section schedule, while Carmichaels is idle until a non-section contest at home versus Avella on Saturday.