Share the love: Balanced attack leads Red Raiders to cross-town victory over Mustangs
Notorious Grooms and Calvin Winfrey III are in the top 10 on Uniontown boys basketball all-time scoring list, and because of that, the duo are lauded, rightfully so, as one of the best 1-2 punches in program history.
Grooms and Winfrey followed protocol Friday night against the Red Raiders鈥� cross-town rival, Laurel Highlands, in combining for 45 points in a 79-49 victory at AJ Everhart Memorial Gymnasium in Class 5A Section 1 play, but it was teammates Kelan Milsom, Isaac Ellsworth and Cam Dugan that demonstrated why Uniontown is considered one of top teams in the WPIAL.
鈥淲henever you have guards like Calvin and Tori (Grooms), you want to spread the floor, and we put the ball in their hands,鈥� Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky said. 鈥淭hey have been very successful at it, and I thought Cam Dugan played his best game of the year. Kelan Milsom had a fantastic game, and I couldn鈥檛 be more proud of him.鈥�
Winfrey had a game-high 24 points on 11 field goals and was 2-for-3 at the foul line. Grooms put in 21 on 10 field goals, including one 3-pointer.
Grooms is second on the all-time scoring list at Uniontown with 1,445 points. Terrance Vaughns, who helped lead the Red Raiders to a WPIAL championship in 2002, is No.1 on the list at 1,721.
鈥淚t was a very emotional start, but we slowed it down, picked it up on defense and went from there,鈥� Grooms said. 鈥淭he offense was smooth, and we always talk at practice about making the extra pass.鈥�
Winfrey is at No. 10 with 1,154 career points, but thought Uniontown wasn鈥檛 at its best.
鈥淚 feel like we could have done a little better,鈥� Winfrey said. 鈥淲e came out slow but it happens. We will come out better next time. It was nice to have a good showing since this was the last time I will play against Laurel Highlands on our home court.鈥�
Milsom, who is most-likely considered the Red Raiders鈥� third scoring option, had 16 points on seven field goals, and was 2 of 2 at the line. Ellsworth, who has been Uniontown鈥檚 sharpshooter this season, made two 3-pointers, and was 4 of 5 from the foul line for 10 points. Dugan, a sophomore, came off the bench to score six points on one field goal and was 4 of 4 at the line. The Red Raiders were 12 of 16 at the charity stripe.
Uniontown holds a 71-51 lead in the all-time series after 122 meetings between the two schools that are separated by 1.6 miles.
缅北禁地 pundits claim that records are not a factor in a rivalry game, and that proved to be a fact early on in the contest, as the Mustangs, who entered the game with one win in the section, had an early 4-0 lead on the Red Raiders, who came into the game at 5-0 in league play.
鈥淢ost of our games are sold out, so I don鈥檛 think it was the crowd,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淲e just didn鈥檛 make some shots. Whenever we start driving, I鈥檓 ecstatic. Laurel Highlands is playing really competitive and a lot better, and we had a mercy-rule game. Laurel Highlands deserves a lot of credit, they played hard, but our kids played really well, too.鈥�
In typical Uniontown fashion, the Red Raiders (6-0, 11-3) stormed back to take a 6-4 lead and had an 8-6 advantage before Antwan Black, who had 11 points for LH, hit a three-pointer for a 9-8 lead.
The lead switched back-and-forth before Ellsworth made 2 of 3 at the line and Winfrey tipped the ball in for a 16-11 advantage.
Luke Martin, who led the Mustangs (1-5, 4-9) in scoring with 16 points, scored on a floater to cut the deficit to 16-13 before the home team closed the first quarter on a 6-0 run for a 22-13 lead heading into the second period.
Ellsworth and Dugan made two free throws apiece and Winfrey put in a field goal to close the frame. Uniontown was 8 of 9 at the foul line in the first period.
鈥淲e had a good start,鈥� Laurel Highlands coach John Smith said. 鈥淭hey missed a few shots, and we were able to make a few and get out to an early lead, which I thought was good, but Uniontown is a good basketball team, and they really sped us up and got us into rushing some shots.
鈥淭he lead went from seven to 16 to 30 in a few minutes. I was proud of the boys鈥� effort. They battled the whole game.鈥�
The Red Raiders increased their advantage to 44-31 at halftime, and outscord the Mustangs, 21-13, in the third quarter for a 65-44 lead heading into the fourth.
Uniontown used a 9-0 run that was capped off by a Winfrey field goal while being fouled, and he made the and-one for a 74-44 advantage with 5:16 remaining.
Laurel Highlands looks to rebound next week when it hosts Penn-Trafford (2-4, 5-6) on Tuesday and McKeesport (2-4, 4-9) on Friday.
鈥淲e have two home games this week, which I鈥檓 really excited about because we haven鈥檛 had two home games once this year,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淚 think both of those games are winnable for us.鈥�
The Mustangs could also be without Aiden Black, who suffered a head injury Friday night.
鈥淎iden is going to get checked out, and we are going to keep him in our prayers and wish him the best,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淚 definitely wasn鈥檛 going to allow him to come back in the game.
鈥淪ome of the sophomore guards were able to get into the game. Kayden (Smith) got in and did a good job, and Jude Packrone got in and did a real good job. Just that experience to play in that environment, and that鈥檚 huge for those boys.鈥�
The Red Raiders close out the first part of the section Tuesday at Franklin Regional (2-4, 6-7).
鈥淭he bottom line is we are 6-0 (in the section),鈥� Kezmarsky said.