DIVISION IV East Canton ousts Lowellville, 57-52

Southern had no problems with Jackson-Milton, 73-48.
By CHUCK HOUSTEAU
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
STRUTHERS -- It was not a good night for Inter-County League teams in the Division IV district tournament at the Struthers Fieldhouse Tuesday night.
The Lowellville Rockets battled against foul trouble in the second half and were upset by East Canton, 57-52, after leading 38-30 late in the third quarter.
Jackson-Milton, with just eight players available, including five freshmen, had little chance against Southern of the Tri-County League and fell 73-48 in the opener.
The Rockets (9-12) held an eight-point lead with three minutes remaining in the third quarter before guards Jim Sudon and John Wilaj picked up back-to-back fourth fouls that forced them to the bench.
Lowellville saw its lead vanish with the guard tandem on the bench as the Hornets finished the period on a 10-2 run that tied the score at 40 heading into the fourth quarter.
Lost Wilaj early
Wilaj picked up his fifth foul at the start of the final period and Lowellville struggled to keep pace
with East Canton in the final eight minutes.
Sudon and senior Rocky Nolfi also played the fourth quarter with four fouls and senior Ed Barone was playing with a bad ankle that he injured shortly before halftime.
Despite the adversity, the Rockets forced a 50-50 tie with 2:03 remaining on a Nolfi free throw.
& quot;Our effort was above and beyond that of most teams," said Lowellville coach Mike Mangine.
"We played with a small amount of players that played hard from beginning to end.
"Sure we made our mistakes," Mangine said. "But when the fouls aren't going our way and we have to go deep into our bench early we are going to be in trouble.
"It looked like it was going to be a good game early but it turned on us and it turned fast on us."
Tied game in final minute
In the final minute, Nolfi played like he didn't want the season to end as he battled against East Canton defenders to tie the score at 52 with 45 seconds remaining.
Canton's David Greene broke the tie on a basket with 28 seconds to go yet Lowellville still had a chance when Josh Marshall missed two free throws seconds later.
The Rockets last effort failed as Mario Nero misfired on a 3-pointer with 15 seconds remaining and East Canton put the game away at the foul line.
"We've been playing much better basketball of late," said Hornets coach Joe Bogdon. "We started 0 and 12 and we've come along lately."
The Hornets were led by senior David Kreider who scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds while junior Tony Moldonado scored six of his 14 points in the fourth quarter.
Nolfi finished with 19 points and eight rebounds for the Rockets while Barone scored 15 points and Nero added nine.
Southern 73, Jackson-Milton 48
In the opening game, the undermanned Bluejays (1-20) played Southern tough in the first quarter and trailed just 14-12.
However Southern (14-7) and senior forward Dan DeSellem were just too much for Jackson-Milton the rest of the way.
DeSellem scored 29 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Indians to their school-record 14th win.
"We had goals to get to the district championship and try to win 15 games this year," said Southern coach George Whittaker. "We have a chance to accomplish that Saturday against a good Mineral Ridge team.
The Rams are the top seed in the district.
Southern's Anthony Castro chipped in with 13 points while Nick Puckett added 10.
The Bluejays were led by juniors David Woloschak, Matt Shields and Mike Nagy. Woloschak scored 16 points while Schields added 15 points and 14 rebounds. Nagy also scored in double figures with 10 points.