PENNSYLVANIA Wilmington loses lead to Grove City

The Greyhounds had a 10-point lead with 51 seconds remaining but lost in double overtime.
By BILL ALBRIGHT
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- If you want to know what a safe lead is in basketball, you probably shouldn't ask Wilmington High boys coach Nick Cannone.
He might not be too anxious to give you an answer, especially after his team's 76-73 double overtime loss to Grove City on Tuesday.
Leading by 10 points with 51 seconds remaining in regulation, Cannone and his Greyhounds saw the advantage evaporate into a 61-all tie at the end of regulation. Brian Sansom completed a 12-2 Grove City run with a trey from deep in the corner at the buzzer.
As for Sansom's heroics in regulation, Grove City (4-1) coach Don Fee said it wasn't planned.
"It was not a set play for him," said Fee. "We were trying to look to the middle and with them covering [Mike] Johnson real tight, he was the shooter in the corner."
Overtime: Each team scored six points in the first extra period for another tie, this time at 67-all, before the Eagles outpointed their hosts by a 9-6 margin in the second overtime for the win.
"Did I think we were going to win? Probably not," Fee said. "As a coach, you try to get your kids to play it out no matter what. We have a lot of young kids who play the game, but they don't really know how to compete yet and there is a big difference."
Following the game, Cannone was very realistic about his club not being used to winning, especially in close games.
"Last year we were 5-19, and I am not frustrated, but we do have a lot of seniors," said Cannone. "To be honest about it, I expected to win this game tonight. Coach Fee does a nice job with his kids, but we have the seniors this year and a lot of his seniors graduated."
After watching the big lead get away from them, the Greyhounds (1-3) also had to go into the extra periods with starting point guard Matt Krawchyk and leading scorer Quay Rosengarth (23 points) on the bench with five personal fouls.
"I was real proud of the way we hung in there without them," said Cannone. "We had opportunities [to win the game] in both overtimes."
Fee also gave the Greyhounds a lot of credit for battling the way they did.
"I have to give Wilmington a lot of credit because despite not having a couple of their better players in there, they hung in there and took leads and had chances to win the game," said Fee.
Johnson leads way: After being held to just five points in regulation, Johnson picked up the pace in the overtime periods as he scored 12 points, including all nine in the second overtime to finish with 17. Anderson led all scorers in the game with 25 points.
In addition to Rosengarth's 23 points, Matt Maxwell had 17 and Nick Sheehan 12 for the Greyhounds. For Grove City, Krantz (12) and Denbow (10) joined Anderson and Johnson in double figures.
Kennedy Catholic 69, Slippery Rock 40: HERMITAGE, Pa. -- Nolan Reimold collected 18 points and 10 assists to lead Kennedy Catholic past Slippery Rock.
Craig Wellman was in with 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Phillip Doyle scored 16 points and Danny McElhinny 15 points in a balanced attack.
The Eagles (3-1), who have won three in a row, led 29-17 at the break before scoring 40 points in the second half.