NEW CASTLE Hurricanes go outside to defeat Erie Central

New Castle displayed a hot-hand in the 70-60 win.
By ERIC POOLE
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- If New Castle continues to shoot with the kind of accuracy it has shown in the first seven games this season, the Red Hurricanes might have to change their nickname.
Maybe the Snipers. Or the Surgeons.
The latter might be a better fit for the Red Hurricanes, who continued a season-long trend toward clinical shooting precision to defeat Erie Central, 70-60.
New Castle is shooting better than 50 percent this season for both two- and 3-point field goals.
Erie dropped to 3-3 with the defeat. New Castle is 7-0, 1-0 in Section 3-AAAA. The Red Hurricanes play Franklin today in the opening round of the Westminster Tournament.
Bad on the boards: The downside for the Red Hurricanes is that they needed to display hot shooting. Erie Central outrebounded New Castle, 33-17.
"We got annihilated on the boards tonight," said New Castle coach John Sarandrea, who was as unhappy with his team's defense as he was with the rebounding.
"I know we can score points, but I'm concerned about our ability to get stops," he said. "What happens on nights when we aren't scoring?"
Sarandrea got an answer late in the first half against Erie Central when New Castle went almost five minutes without scoring, as a 32-17 Red Hurricanes' lead turned into a 32-25 margin.
That stretch was attributable partially to forward Dom Joseph and guard Dante Spino being on the bench with foul trouble. New Castle was whistled for 10 fouls in the first half, which also rankled Sarandrea.
Spino helped New Castle regain control of the game and ended the scoring drought with a field goal one minute into the second half. The senior guard finished with 10 points.
But senior guard Mark Demonaco had the hottest hand, scoring 13 of his 18 points in the third quarter to put the game away for New Castle.
Top scorers: Demonaco shared game scoring honors with Joseph, who scored 13 points in the first quarter as the Hurricanes opened the game with a 12-2 run en route to a 24-11 lead after the first quarter.
Hoover Gibson, who had 11 points and nine rebounds, also scored in double figures.
T.J. McCreary led Erie Central with 16 points, and James McNeil and Bryce Moffett added 12 each.
After the victory, Sarandrea was looking toward future challenges. New Castle, a perennial WPIAL title contender, is expected to advance deep in the Class AAAA playoffs again this season.
"We're offensive-minded," said Sarandrea. "We need to be defensive proud. When I look at the best teams in Quad A -- Uniontown, Mt. Lebanon, Chartiers Valley, I ask myself, 'Are we good enough to beat them tonight?'
"If not, what's it worth?"