MERCER COUNTY West Middlesex pulls a win

Hickory is adjusting to some growing pains.
By BILL ALBRIGHT
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- For the first 8 minutes, 33 seconds of Friday's boys basketball game between West Middlesex and Hickory, the game was anybody's for the taking as the Big Reds held a slim 12-11 lead.
But that's when West Middlesex (5-1) turned it up a notch on both ends of the floor.
For their effort, the Big Reds promptly ripped off 14 unanswered points on the front end of a 23-4 run to take a 35-15 lead before cruising to a 70-34 win over the Hornets (2-3) in the Mercer County Athletic Conference.
Avenging a loss: "I think we came out overexcited tonight and I expected them to make some mistakes," said West Middlesex coach Chad Mild about the sluggish start.
"We had a tough loss to them last year and the kids were really pumped up and I think that is why we made so many mistakes early in the game," Mild said.
"Once we settled down and attacked the hoop, I thought we played pretty well."
While Mild was happy with the performance of his team, Hickory coach Tony Mastrian was anything but pleased with the effort he got from his Hornets.
"We were trying to do some trapping in the first half," Mastrian said. "We were doing some good things on it, but we stopped moving, and if you are trapping, there is no half way.
"They stopped doing the rotation they needed to do and that allowed them to be open."
With the big lead, the Big Reds began the second half by running a patient offense that allowed them to take control of the game and extend their lead to 31.
"We are looking down the road," said Mild about the change of pace. "We are not the most athletic team, so we have to learn to play control basketball."
Scoring leaders: While Hickory failed to put anyone in double figures, the Big Reds had pair of double-digit scorers in Brock Webster with 19 points and Nate Luce with 10.
Webster had a big night for the Big Reds as he worked his way inside for a half dozen buckets while also draining a pair of treys.
"This was definitely Brock's best game of the year," Mild said. "He finally started moving without the ball. We tell him in practice that he has to be more active because he is too slow to be standing, and tonight he came out active."
With the lack of experience he had on this year's team, Mastrian knows that his club is going to have nights like this.
"With our lack of experience, every step of the way is going to be a learning experience for these guys," Mastrian said.