Still perfect: Red Raiders fight off gritty Mustangs, improve to 13-0
Laurel Highlands put up a gritty effort as a significant underdog and battled until the very end of its game against rival Uniontown on Wednesday night.
Still, when it was over, it was the Red Raiders claiming a 66-52 Section 3-AAAA victory inside a sellout crowd at A.J. Everhart Memorial Gymnasium to remain unbeaten on the season.
Jamire Braxton rang up a game-high 25 points as Uniontown improved to 13-0.
鈥淚 told my players before the game, they have good kids, they just haven鈥檛 had a lot of experience,鈥� Red Raiders coach Rob Kezmarsky said of the Mustangs. 鈥淟aurel Highlands played a slow pattern basketball game. They deserve a lot of credit. They did a really good job of playing their game. Everybody thought this was going to be a mercy rule game.
鈥淏ut still, we鈥檙e excited and happy for the win. The bottom line is we鈥檙e 4-0 in the section.鈥�
It was the 120th meeting between the crosstown rivals with Uniontown increasing its series lead to 69-51.
Laurel Highlands, which fell to 0-5 in the section and 2-13 overall, came out with energy and intensity and held a 9-7 lead with just under a minute to play in the first quarter.
Uniontown put up five quick points before the frame ended on a basket and free throw by Calvin Winfrey III sandwiched around a layup by Braxton to go up 12-9, and never trailed again.
The Red Raiders rode that momentum into the second quarter. After Kelan Milsom scored, Shane Layton sank the first of his three 3-pointers in the game for LH, but Uniontown reeled off the next 10 points with four apiece coming from K鈥橝drian McLee and Notorious Grooms along with a steal and layup by Winfrey.
鈥淭he difference in the game was turnovers,鈥� first-year LH coach John Smith said. 鈥淲e鈥檇 have a couple turnovers and they鈥檇 go on a run. They鈥檙e fast. It doesn鈥檛 take long for them to run the scoreboard up.鈥�
The 17-3 run put the Red Raiders ahead 24-12 and they would widen the gap to 17 points twice before Aiden Black banked in a 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer to pull the Mustangs within 41-27.
Laurel Highlands opened the third quarter with a 7-2 run with all seven points coming from Ethan Koffler on a 3-pointer, a runner and a layup off a turnover as the visitors sliced the deficit to single digits at 43-34.
Uniontown fired back with a 9-3 burst to close the quarter with a 52-37 advantage.
The Red Raiders took their biggest lead of 63-44 on a basket by Braxton with 2:12 remaining before Kezmarsky began going deeper into his bench.
Uniontown had a trio of players hit double digits in scoring in addition to Braxton with Winfrey, McLee and Milsom each tallying 11 points. It was Winfrey鈥檚 first game action since Jan. 2 as he missed time due to a sprained ankle suffered in practice.
As Winfrey returned, however, the Red Raiders were down another starter due to an ankle injury.
鈥淲e were without Jeremiah Hager tonight,鈥� Kezmarsky pointed out. 鈥淛eremiah does a lot for us and is a big part of our team. He should be back Monday. This was Calvin鈥檚 first game back and I thought he did well.鈥�
Kezmarsky again called on Milsom to step into the starting lineup as he did in Winfrey鈥檚 absence.
鈥淜elan has played great,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淗e gives us some offense and he played good defense tonight.鈥�
Smith lauded the Red Raiders while also commending his own team鈥檚 performance.
鈥淯niontown is a great team,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淐oach K is doing a great job with these guys, him and Coach (Calvin) Winfrey, Coach (Ray) Robinson and Coach (Warare) Gladman. I鈥檝e known those guys basically my whole basketball career. They鈥檝e got a heck of a squad.
鈥淚 tried to put together a decent game plan to disrupt them a little bit today and I thought the boys did a pretty good job executing it.鈥�
Koffler led the Mustangs with 16 points. Black wound up with 11 points, Layton totaled 10 points, six rebounds and four steals, and Sevi Vecchiolla had five points and 12 boards.
鈥淚t鈥檚 easy to come out and play hard when you鈥檙e winning games,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淏ut when you鈥檙e losing a lot of games and you鈥檙e still able to come out, put your head down and keep competing and conduct yourselves like young men, that says a lot about your character and the type of people they鈥檙e going to be later on in life.
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 be more proud of the effort.鈥�
While it wasn鈥檛 one of Uniontown鈥檚 more dominant performances, Kezmarsky had no qualms with his team鈥檚 showing.
鈥淓verything鈥檚 not going to go your way every game,鈥� said Kezmarsky whose team is now a combined 36-6 since the beginning of last season.. 鈥淣ot every shot, every layup, every foul shot, and you鈥檙e not going to control if a kid banks a shot in.
鈥淪till, once we got a significant lead I felt we had control of the game and stayed in control the rest of the way, but give Laurel Highlands credit, they kept playing hard.鈥�
Smith pointed out his team鈥檚 challenging schedule as part of the reason for the Mustangs鈥� record. Laurel Highlands鈥� non-section slate included Thomas Jefferson and Gateway, both ranked in the top five in Class AAAAA, as well as Franklin Regional, another Class AAAAA team with a 12-2 record.
鈥淚t kind of goes back to last year when we put the schedule together with the class that we had, trying to go after another WPIAL title,鈥� said Smith, who was an assistant under Rick Hauger. 鈥淲hen me and Rick sat down we said if we put this big schedule together, because of the cycle, every two years, next year we鈥檙e going to have a brutal one.
鈥淲e鈥檝e played some very good teams and have suffered some pretty bad losses, but the boys have never given up. And that鈥檚 been my message all year, just keep competing and as we evolve as a team and get better then we鈥檙e going to be able to be in any game. Continue to believe in one another, play defense, and take it one possession at a time.鈥�
Laurel Highlands is back in action Friday with another non-section game against a Class AAAAA team when it travels to Latrobe.
Uniontown is off until Tuesday when it hosts South Allegheny in a non-section game.