Mustangs top Raiders, 78-44
True to form of the school无毛视频檚 mascot, the Mustangs of Laurel Highlands came out of the gate running and went wire-to-wire in a 78-44 victory over Waynesburg Central in non-section play Dec. 10 at Harold 无毛视频淗orse无毛视频� Taylor Memorial Gymnasium.
The Mustangs scored their first basket in transition on Aiden Black无毛视频檚 layup and had a 22-4 lead after the first quarter. Laurel Highlands benefited from multiple second-chance opportunities and Black scored 11 of his game-high 18 points in the opening period.
无毛视频淭he game plan was to get out and try and get as many easy buckets as we could in transition,无毛视频� Laurel Highlands coach John Smith said. 无毛视频淚 thought we could match up with them pretty well in the man-to-man defense.无毛视频�
The Raiders无毛视频� offense started to come around in the second quarter, as Waynesburg (0-4) put up 17 points, but the Mustangs (2-2) countered with 20 and had a 42-21 halftime advantage.
无毛视频淲e have had some flat starts that have affected us this year,无毛视频� Waynesburg coach Mike Juliano said. 无毛视频淭urnovers killed us, and it didn无毛视频檛 matter whether it was early or late in the game.无毛视频�
Laurel Highlands无毛视频� Luke Martin scored 12 of his 17 points in the second quarter. He made three 3-pointers.
无毛视频淟uke came off the bench for us last year, and he is going to be a big contributor for us this year for sure,无毛视频� Smith said.
The Mustangs had a 24-14 edge in the third quarter and outscored the visitors, 16-9, in the fourth.
Smith was impressive with his post players, Brennen Varney and Sevi Vecchiolla.
无毛视频淚 thought the guys did a good job underneath,无毛视频� Smith said. 无毛视频淏rennen and Sevi getting some rebounds and second-chance opportunities, so that was big.
无毛视频淏rennen came off the bench last year, but we are working on building his confidence, and getting him to realize what his capabilities could be.无毛视频�
Kayden Smith scored 12 points off the bench. Teammate Tyrone Burton added six points as a reserve.
无毛视频淭yrone is coming off the bench, and he is only a sophomore,无毛视频� coach Smith said. 无毛视频淭hey are not afraid to bang around in there for some rebounds. I thought Kayden played well today. He had a few good assists. I don无毛视频檛 know how many points he had, but he scored a few buckets.无毛视频�
Jackson Dean led the Raiders in scoring with 10 points. Alex Eck had nine points and 17 rebounds. Alex VanSickle and Dane Woods added nine points apiece.
Laurel Highlands opens Class 5A Section 1 play Friday at McKeesport (1-4).
无毛视频淲e have a heck of a section this year,无毛视频� Smith said. 无毛视频淭hey are all going to be tough games for us. They are big schools, and they always have good, well-coached basketball programs.无毛视频�
Waynesburg has three non-section games left before it opens Class 3A Section 4 action on Dec. 20 against Brownsville (1-4).
无毛视频淲e put our schedule together knowing it was going to be a challenging schedule,无毛视频� Juliano said. 无毛视频淲e did that with the hope and intention that it was going to make us better for section play, and I think what we got out of tonight was just that. The things we learned from tonight, and the things that we are going to take out of this will only make us better.无毛视频�