Fitch gets win No. 2, tops East

The Falcons handed the
cold-shooting Panthers their seventh loss, 42-33.

By JIM FLICK

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

AUSTINTOWN — The Fitch Falcons outhustled a cold-shooting East squad Tuesday night and came away with a convincing 42-33 victory.

The Falcons’ win raised their record to 2-9, while East’s record evened up at 7-7.

“We played good, solid team defense,” Fitch coach Roger Day said. “Our guys kept up good ball pressure, and were always in a good position to help.”

Day added his team succeeded in slowing down the game’s tempo.

“We didn’t want to run up and down the court with East,” he said. “They’re a scrappy bunch.”

East sank only 14 of 47 shots for the night, a poor 30 percent field goal success rate. The Panthers also shot poorly from the free throw line, sinking only two of six shots.

“I’m sure East is capable of shooting better than they did tonight,” Day added.

The Fitch coach was also critical of his own team’s shooting, pointing out that the Falcons missed 13 layups.

“We had a cold night,” East coach Mark Cherol admitted. “We had a very undisciplined effort.”

Fitch was led by sophomore Jon Ballard, who sank four baskets, including a 3-pointer, and two free throws to tally 11 points. Senior Andrew Warren added nine points on two baskets and sinking five of six free throws. Warren was also a key on defense, snagging 10 rebounds. Joe Reedy added seven points and Jon Stockman added six.

But the game’s leading scorer was East’s Kenny Carter, who came off the bench to score 12 points, including five second-half field goals. Randy Oatman scored six points for East and RonCarlos Hilton contributed five points.

After Fitch scored the game’s first basket, Hilton sank a 3-point shot and on a subsequent play added a free throw to give East an early 4-2 lead. After Fitch evened the score, Oatman connected on a 3-pointer to give East a 7-4 lead. But that first-quarter bulge was the last lead the Panthers would hold all evening.

Mike Miles evened the score when he sank a 4-pointer for Fitch, and the Falcons scored five more points to take a 12-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Fitch scored the first five points of the second quarter to take a double-digit lead at 17-7. East’s cold spell continued throughout the second quarter, when the team scored only four points. The Falcons scored eight points in the quarter and held a 20-11 lead at halftime.

The Panthers’ frigid shooting continued in the second half, as they missed their first five shots of the third quarter and fell behind 24-11. For the second consecutive quarter, Austintown outscored East 8-4 and held a 28-15 lead after three quarters.

Trailing 34-20, the Panthers finally awoke in the fourth quarter. Midway through the final period, Carter stole the ball, dribbled the length of the court and slammed home a dunk. Anthony Bowers scored a layup for East with 30 seconds remaining to pull the Panthers within eight points at 39-31.

But Ballard and Warren sank free throws for Fitch in the final seconds to give the Falcons their final margin of victory.