Right at home: Falcons give Ramsey 64-50 win against alma mater
CONNELLSVILLE TWP. 鈥� Brownsville outscored Geibel Catholic 16-5 in the final five minutes of the first quarter Tuesday night, and the visiting Falcons carried the momentum forward for a 64-50 non-section win.
The Gators鈥� already short bench got shorter 45 seconds into the game when sophomore Seth Dolan left the game with an apparent wrist injury.
鈥淢ike Miller and Seth went up for the block. They collided and one stepped on someone鈥檚 ankle on the way down, and Seth just fell. I thought nothing of it serious at the time, but 鈥�,鈥� first-year coach Gary Tarbuk said of the play, adding, 鈥淭hat was a huge loss. We had one sub on the bench, so once Seth went down we had no one on the bench.鈥�
The game was tied at 5-5 early on in the opening quarter when the Falcons opened up the game and the Gators had trouble finding the basket.
Brownsville (3-3) stepped up the pressure into the second quarter and was able to extend its lead to 40-20 at halftime.
鈥淭he press was something we wanted to work on, just to get them to turn the ball over and get easy baskets. Being the course is so small, we could use that to our advantage,鈥� said Brownsville coach Rob Ramsey.
The Falcons added to their lead with a 20-12 advantage in the third quarter.
Ramsey wanted to work on the defense and felt the Falcons improved after halftime.
鈥淛ust play good team ball and play better defense. Actually, I don鈥檛 think we played good team defense in the first half, but the third quarter was pretty good,鈥� said Ramsey.
The mercy rule was invoked in the fourth quarter, but the Gators simply didn鈥檛 play out the string. The home team actually made some ground during the running clock.
鈥淚 thought the kids battled. I think the kids panicked when Seth got hurt and once halftime came, I gave a little speech to them and I think they responded in the second half,鈥� said Tarbuk. 鈥淚 like how they responded. They weren鈥檛 giving up.
鈥淭hey knew there was no bench and they still went at it. You saw that in the fourth quarter. If that clock would鈥檝e stopped, it would鈥檝e been a different game. They had momentum.
鈥淭hey came together as a team.鈥�
The Falcons鈥� Trent Wible shared game-scoring honors with 18 points. Harlan Davis scored 13 points and Rylan Johnson finished with 12 points.
Freshman Gary Tarbuk paced the Gators (0-5) with 18 points. Tommy Kolencik finished with 13 points and Mike Miller added 10.
Coach Gary Tarbuk learned a couple things about his squad as it prepares for Friday鈥檚 road game at Carmichaels.
鈥淥ur rebounding has to improve, but we鈥檙e so undersized,鈥� said coach Tarbuk. 鈥淚 think we learned today that we can play fast.
鈥淚鈥檓 proud of the effort, especially the second half.鈥�
Ramsey also saw some shortcomings that need work before Friday鈥檚 section home opener against Yough.
鈥淲e have to work on our transition defense. We weren鈥檛 very good. We were sprinting back as hard as we could, but we weren鈥檛 identifying who we had,鈥� explained Ramsey. 鈥淚t led to a ton of open looks for Geibel.
The non-section game was a homecoming, of sorts, for Ramsey. The 2005 graduate left as the program鈥檚 second all-time leading scorer.
鈥淲hen I was an assistant at Serra, they were in our section. But, it鈥檚 been a long time,鈥� said Ramsey.
Ramsey continued, 鈥淚 love this place. It meant everything to me to come here. Coach Misiak, from the first day I came here, treated me like a son. I made so many friends I still have today.
鈥淭his is a special place. I probably claim two places the most, my hometown Whitsett and Geibel Catholic. Geibel changed my life.鈥�