CITY SERIES Bruce Smith is Wilson's warrior

The senior had 27 points, 14 rebounds and seven blocks against Chaney.
By BOB ROTH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- In the Wilson-Chaney high school boys basketball game on Jan. 6, Redmen senior center Bruce Smith scored three points in the Cowboys' 65-58 win.
Tuesday in the Redmen's gymnasium, the 6-foot-9 Smith enjoyed a career game with 27 points, 14 rebounds, seven blocked shots and four steals to lead Wilson to a 78-66 win.
"We won because everybody stepped up tonight," Smith said. "I finally began to do a lot of the things the coaches have been telling me to do for a long time."
Blow-by-blow
The contest had six lead changes and a tie, with Chaney leading 17-16 after the first quarter.
Smith's field goal 21 seconds into the second quarter put the Redmen (3-8, 2-2 City Series) ahead for keeps. A 19-10 second quarter put Wilson ahead 35-27 at halftime.
"We were outplayed in every aspect of the game tonight," Chaney coach Don D'Alesio said. "We are a team still trying to find ourselves as we lack consistency from game to game."
In the second half, Smith made 14 points on 10-of-13 shooting. His three-point play put Wilson ahead by 16 with four minutes to play.
"I knew we had to play better tonight than we did in our first meeting with Chaney and everybody did," Wilson coach Mark Cherol said. "We stepped up as a team with Bruce Smith having the best game of his scholastic career, just when we needed it."
Contributions
Recovering from an ankle sprain, Wilson senior point guard Chauncey Whitlow scored 15 points and dished out nine assists. Sophomore Justin Maxwell scored 12 points. Bert Pritchard had eight assists and four steals for the Redmen.
The Cowboys were led by senior Kelvin Shaw, who scored 21 points, giving him 51 points against Wilson.
Chaney had 21 turnovers to 15 for Wilson. Even with Smith's dominance on the boards, Chaney had a 38-37 rebounding advantage.