Usher shows the way for Charleroi
Holly Tonini
Charleroi无毛视频檚 Zach Usher (5) scores as McGuffey无毛视频檚 Phillip McCuen defends during the first quarter Friday night.
Holly Tonini/For the Observer-Reporter
McGuffey无毛视频檚 Ethan Janovich looks to pass as he splits the defense of two Charleroi players including Zach Usher (5).
Holly Tonini
Charleroi无毛视频檚 Will Wagner drives into McGuffey无毛视频檚 Brock Wallace.
Charleroi无毛视频檚 Jake Caruso lofts a shot against McGuffey during a game last season. Caruso is one of four returning starters for the Cougars.
CHARLEROI 无毛视频� During warmups Friday night before the Section 4-AAA contest between Charleroi and visiting McGuffey, the Cougars无毛视频� Zach Usher tweaked his knee and had to go to the trainer无毛视频檚 room.
Fortunately for Charleroi, the senior point guard was checked out by athletic trainer Bill McGrew and returned to the court before tipoff.
Usher finished with 27 points and controlled the floor all game long as he led Charleroi to a 52-39 win.
无毛视频淶ach came up big,无毛视频� said Charleroi coach Bill Wiltz, with a smile under his mask. 无毛视频淲e had to get him fitted for a sleeve and had to put some compression on it, but he really did respond.
无毛视频淭his is a big win for us.无毛视频�
McGuffey coach Mike Fatingante gave Charleroi credit after the game.
无毛视频淭hey outplayed us in every way,无毛视频� he said. 无毛视频淲e couldn无毛视频檛 shoot the ball, couldn无毛视频檛 get rebounds and couldn无毛视频檛 get stops. It is really difficult to win basketball games when you can无毛视频檛 do those things, but we have to tip our cap sometimes.无毛视频�
Wiltz also pointed out the pivotal play of Will Wagner.
The junior forward has played well against McGuffey (3-3, 5-4), and while he was limited to nine points this time he played a prominent role in Charleroi无毛视频檚 defense, which limited McGuffey to 13 field goals, including only four in the second half.
无毛视频淚 think they had a game plan to take Will away and they did a decent job,无毛视频� Wiltz said. 无毛视频淏ut he still played well in other aspects of the game and that was important for us.无毛视频�
McGuffey无毛视频檚 last lead was 7-6 midway through the first quarter, and Charleroi (5-3, 7-4) went on a 10-0 run to take a 16-7 lead.
Other than that specific run, the first half was played even between the teams as McGuffey无毛视频檚 largest run before halftime was three points, and other than the run that gave Charleroi the lead for good, its longest of the half was a five-point spurt.
The Cougars led 33-22 at the half, and after McGuffey无毛视频檚 Nate Witkowsky hit a three-pointer to start the second half the Highlanders didn无毛视频檛 score again in the quarter. The Cougars played solid defense to take a commanding 43-25 lead into the fourth.
Witkowsky finished with 13 points to pace McGuffey and was the only player other than Usher to score in double digits.
Charleroi, whose biggest lead was 20 points, turned the ball over 16 times and McGuffey gave it away 14 times.
Despite the loss, Fatingante said his young team will look to move forward from this loss. The Highlanders picked up two key one-possession section wins earlier in the week.
无毛视频淭his year we are playing a lot of inexperienced guys so we knew it would be kind of up and down,无毛视频� he said. 无毛视频淲e will get back to it tomorrow morning and get ready for Tuesday.无毛视频�
Both teams return to play with section games Tuesday as McGuffey hosts Waynesburg and Charleroi heads to Brownsville. After Tuesday, each of the Cougars无毛视频� five remaining games will be played at home.