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Strong 2nd half helps lift Falcons
Fitch got its first win of the season by beating Chaney.
YOUNGSTOWN — First-year Austintown Fitch coach Jason Baker has been seeing noticeable improvement during the Falcons’ first three losses of the season.
That improvement blossomed into a great second half of play Saturday afternoon against the Chaney Cowboys in the fifth annual Youngstown-Warren Holiday Classic at the Covelli Centre.
Fitch outscored Chaney 40-26 in the final two quarter to overcome an 11-point deficit in the first half and earn its first win of the season, 71-63.
The Falcon (1-3) rallied behind strong guard play from Tyron Underwood, DeAndre Richardson and Will Mahone. The trio accounted for 43 of the Falcons points.
Senior forward Terry Terrigno also knocked in 10 points and pulled down five rebounds.
“The first half was not good,” said Baker. “At halftime we challenged our guys to play as a team, to play as a program.
“We played a great second half of basketball. We played as one team. We did things we hadn’t done yet this year and I’m real proud of the guys in that locker room.”
Baker said the Falcons were selfish in the first half and not playing real good defense.
That enabled the Cowboys (1-2) to open with a 22-point first quarter.
Kenny Strong scored five of his team high 13 points in the first quarter while Tyrell Howell scored all six of his points in that period.
Chaney continued to play strong basketball the rest of the first half by attacking the basket and getting a lot of easy scores on the Falcons.
The Cowboys opened their biggest lead, 35-24, late in the second quarter on a layup and foul shot by Dominique Brown.
Chaney also dominated Fitch on the boards and ended the game with a 40-29 rebounding advantage.
Fitch battled back late in the second quarter and cut the Chaney lead to 6 points, 37-31, on a 3-point basket by Chris Miller at the buzzer.
“We had a good lead in the first half,” said Chaney coach Josh Marsh. “But just like in the East Palestine game when they hit a 3 right before the half, Fitch does the same thing.”
“It’s not a big deal because we’re up by six points but I think adversity began to set in and we are just not good at handling adversity yet as a basketball team.”
Fitch opened the second half by scoring the first five points on baskets by Underwood who finished with 16 points in the game and Mahone.
The Falcons began to take control of the game with their trio of guards and especially behind the play of Richardson.
“I think I played selfish in the first half and it hurt us,” said Richardson who scored 15 points including 12 in the second half. “I came out in the second half not frustrated and playing more team basketball.
“We were a much better team in the second half.”
Fitch pulled away in the fourth quarter on big 3-point shots by Richardson and Mahone.
Mahone’s long-range shot with 2:58 left in the game gave the Falcons their biggest lead at 67-57.
“We’ve had a lot of problems in our first three games at the start of the second halves,” Baker said. “Tonight we came out on a mission in the second half and it carried over for the remainder of the contest.
“Even in our three losses, I could see that we were improving in every game and tonight it all came together for a win.”
The Cowboys also got a 12-point scoring effort from Carlos Colon and nine points from Barnes. Strong led Chaney with a game-high 10 rebounds.