WESTERN PA. New Castle rolls to ninth victory

The Hurricanes capitalized on Sharon's early mistakes to build a big lead.
By BOB ROTH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
SHARON -- New Castle High, with strong rebounding and a pressing defense, took advantage of Sharon's 15 first-half turnovers for a 40-13 halftime lead, and coasted to a 64-33 victory Wednesday night in a boys basketball game.
"We are inexperienced with no height," said Sharon (3-4) coach Gene Sarazen said. "We are young and raw and they are a veteran team. Tonight they beat us on the boards and their defense forced us into plenty of turnovers. & quot;
Nine players scored for New Castle (9-1) with 5-foot-7 senior guard Ashley Wise leading the way with 18 points. Freshman post player Jaleesa Sams added 12 points and had a team-high 12 rebounds. Jaleah Robinson had 10 rebounds, as the 'Canes out-rebounded Sharon, 42-24.
Wise and Sams had five assists each, while Jordan Johnson, Maria Joseph and Natalie Wallace had five steals apiece.
Effective combination
"The key to this game was our work on the boards and the transition baskets created by our pressure defense," said New Castle coach Luann Grybowski, in her 12th season.
"We did a lot of scrambling for loose balls and we were fortunate to get a lot of easy baskets," said Wise.
Added Sams: "The reason why I was able to get inside on the boards was because of my teammates blocking out so well down low."
Freshman Brittany Csatlos led Sharon with nine points and eight rebounds.
The Hurricanes, with back-to-back baskets by Wise and Robinson, took a 4-0 lead out of the gate and never lost that lead.
A 3-point basket by Aryn Christman and a field goal by Allie Schweiss pulled Sharon to within a point, 8-7, with just over three minutes remaining in the first quarter, but New Castle went on an 11-0 run, aided by four consecutive Sharon turnovers, to give the visitors a 19-7 lead.
In the second quarter, two rallies of nine and eight points helped the 'Canes outscore Sharon 21-4 for their 27-point lead at the intermission.
In the first half, New Castle was 18-for-30 from the field (60 percent), out-rebounded the Tigers 15-5 and forced 15 turnovers.