East Palestine wins on Gysin’s last shot

His tip-in with eight seconds left beat Mineral Ridge 62-61.

By ERIC HAMILTON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

EAST PALESTINE — Despite being outscored 12-6 in the fourth quarter by Mineral Ridge’s T.J. Bevilacqua, the East Palestine boys basketball team still found a way to win its league opener for the first time in four years.

After leading by as many as 16, the Bulldogs survived Bevilacqua’s 3-point barrage in the fourth quarter and needed a tip-in by Ben Gysin with 8 seconds left to defeat the Rams 62-61 Tuesday night.

“He showed why he’s first team all-league,” said East Palestine coach Tom Bingham, who watched as Mineral Ridge’s sharpshooter buried four straight triples to single-handedly bring his team back. “We knew it was a matter of time before they started hitting, so we stayed with the zone for as long as we could.

“They are a veteran team with four starters back, so we expected them to make a run. They couldn’t get going in the first half, but we showed our inexperience in the fourth quarter and Bevilacqua was hitting shots even when we were in his face.”

The Bulldogs’ 2-3 zone kept Mineral Ridge at bay for three quarters, as the Rams struggled to get the ball inside, where they had a height advantage. Add to that a cold spell from the perimeter and East Palestine controlled the contest.

But with EP (2-0, 1-0 ITCL Tier One) leading 60-49 with less than four minutes left in the contest, Bevilacqua found his stroke. The senior drilled four consecutive 3-pointers, and the Mineral Ridge defense held the Bulldogs scoreless during a 12-0 spurt.

During the stretch, East Palestine missed a pair of free throws and turned the ball over three times. With 2:26 left, Bevilacqua’s triple got the Rams within 60-58.

After Mineral Ridge got possession on a jump ball, the senior guard gave his team the lead. He connected on his fifth trey of the contest with 35 seconds remaining to put Mineral Ridge ahead 61-60.

On East Palestine’s next offensive possession, senior Nick DiCello missed a runner in the lane, but Gysin scored off the offensive rebound to put the Bulldogs back in front 62-61 with 8 seconds left.

Mineral Ridge missed a shot in the lane at the buzzer that could have won it.

“We had a great effort on the road against one of the best teams in the league,” said Mineral Ridge (0-2, 0-1) coach Sam Racketa. “T.J. is a player capable of shooting like that. He was 2-of-15 in the first game and he finally came out of his shell there in the fourth quarter.

“Their zone gave us some problems, but we adjusted to a different zone offense and our guards were hitting more gaps. It was working for a while, but it didn’t on that last play when we needed it to.”

East Palestine was paced by 20 points, six rebounds and five steals from JC Bollinger. Gysin added 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting. Wes Best chipped in with 13 points and five assists.

Bevilacqua finished with 19 points for Ridge, while teammate Nick Miele led the Rams with 20.