Wonderful Winfrey: Uniontown senior paces Red Raiders with 30 points in victory over Colonials
Entering Friday鈥檚 game against Albert Gallatin in Class 5A Section 1 play, Uniontown鈥檚 Calvin Winfrey III needed 43 points to reach 1,000 for his career.
The senior didn鈥檛 reach the milestone, but he made a run at it before a sold out crowd at AJ Everhart Memorial Gymnasium.
Winfrey scored the game鈥檚 first 11 points and finished with a career-high 30 in the Red Raiders鈥� 74-59 victory over the Colonials.
Winfrey, who made 12 field goals, including four 3-pointers, and was 2 for 3 at the foul line, heads into Tuesday鈥檚 section game at Latrobe (1-0, 5-0) needing 13 points for 1,000.
鈥淲e were really pumped up because they said they were going to beat us, so we took that personally and got the win,鈥� Winfrey said. 鈥淚 was definitely feeling good to start the game. I had been dealing with some cramps in my legs and other issues, but I have been eating better and I feel really good right now.
鈥淚t would have been nice to get 1,000 points at home, but if it comes on the road, we can come back home and have a big celebration the next time.鈥�
Notorious Grooms broke up his teammate鈥檚 personal run with a three-pointer with 4:37 left in the first quarter and Isaac Ellsworth connected from behind-the-arc for a 17-0 lead halfway through the opening period before the Colonials鈥� Shymere Wilson stopped the bleeding with a three-pointer at 3:25 of the first.
Grooms finished with 16 points on six field goals, including four from 3-point range.
鈥淲e practiced hard all week because if you practice hard, you are going to play hard,鈥� Grooms said. 鈥淲e came into this game focused because we knew what we had to do to get the job done.
鈥淲hen we got the big lead, the goal was to put them away to not leave any chance for a comeback. We know teams will be coming to knock us off, but we will stay prepared and not slack off any.
鈥淲e fell short to Belle Vernon, but sometimes we need those types of games to see what we need to work on.鈥�
Ellsworth, who had been Uniontown鈥檚 sharpshooter the first four games this season, was held to one 3-pointer and seven points because of the respect Albert Gallatin gave him, but that allowed Grooms, Winfrey and Kelan Milsom, who had 11 points, to get open shots.
鈥淭heir defensive game plan was to take away our three-point shooting, and they face guarded Isaac (Ellsworth) the whole game, but when they did that, Calvin (Winfrey) got a lot of wide-open layups,鈥� Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 great when he鈥檚 attacking, and Notorious (Grooms) can attack, too, but we came out shooting the ball well.鈥�
The Red Raiders (2-0, 4-1) had a 22-10 lead after the first quarter, which is never ideal, but Colonials coach Spencer Macke said put his team behind the eight-ball even more due to the atmosphere in the crowd and the rivalry aspect.
鈥淲e kind of went out there, got sucked into the crowd and our nerves got lost,鈥� Macke said. 鈥淚 think they are a really good team, and if they got off to a hot start like that, I don鈥檛 think any team is going to come back from that.
鈥淲e had a game plan going into this, and we didn鈥檛 execute it at all. The start of the game killed us.鈥�
Uniontown didn鈥檛 cool off in the second quarter, as it outscored Albert Gallatin, 23-10, for a 45-20 halftime advantage. Milsom and Winfrey had nine points apiece in the period.
鈥淜elan (Milsom) is playing the other team鈥檚 big kids and doing well,鈥� Kezmarsky said.
Despite trailing by 25 entering the second half, the Colonials (0-1, 4-2) started to get their scoring on track, as Wilson scored eight of his team-high 19 points in the third quarter, and Albert Gallatin had 15 points in the period, but the Red Raiders scored 20 to push their lead to 30 heading into the final frame.
鈥淎G battled to the end, and their coaching staff is doing a great job, their players have really improved, and we wish them well,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淎G is a physical team and they play hard. It was a great environment and both sides were into it.鈥�
Uniontown was able to unload its bench in the fourth, and Kezmarsky was impressed with his team鈥檚 all-around play.
鈥淚t was a nice win for us, and we were able to get a lot of players in there at the end that work so hard in practice,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淐am Dugan and Anthony Sheffey played great minutes for two sophomores. Aiden Kiefer, who is starting, got a lot of rebounds and is getting more comfortable. Those kids have played five games in their career. The other ones have played 85.鈥�
AG鈥檚 Jason Jackson scored 11 points on four field goals, and was 3 for 5 at the foul line.
Things don鈥檛 get any easier for the Colonials, as they host Penn-Trafford (1-1, 3-3) on Tuesday in section play, but Macke has been impressed with his team so far this season.
鈥淚鈥檓 happy with the way it鈥檚 going right now,鈥� Macke said. 鈥淲e will be a way better team in a month, and we鈥檒l be a force. We are still putting pieces together right now.鈥�