East overwhelms Chaney to remain atop SVC standings

By Tom Williams

YOUNGSTOWN — Before Friday’s game against Chaney, East High boys basketball coach Mark Cherol admitted he was concerned his players might be looking a little too far ahead.

A win over the Cowboys meant that East’s final two Steel Valley Conference games (against Ursuline and Warren Harding) would help decide the league championship. A defeat wouldn’t eliminate the Panthers, but would make their crown dreams much harder to accomplish.

After a tight first quarter that had the Panthers leading 12-10, Cherol’s anxieties were eased when East outscored Chaney 26-7 on the way to a 74-54 victory at Chaney.

“Our goal was to make that game mean something at the end of our season,” said senior Kenny Carter referring to the Feb. 27 showdown with Warren Harding (13-1, 2-0). “This feels really good — it’s a great Valentine’s Day present.”

Carter led the Panthers (9-6, 3-0) with 19 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Anthony Bowers had 14 points and eight rebounds.

“Anthony Bowers got started quick and I think one of the most underrated players in this area is Kenny Carter,” Chaney coach Josh Marsh said. “He’s smooth, he’s a slasher, he can score and he can pass.”

Trumane Jenkins scored 12 points and Mark Thornton had 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

“The kids showed great effort tonight,” said Cherol after the Panthers’ seventh-straight win. “I told them that Chaney has really improved, that Coach Marsh has his team playing really hard.”

The Panthers’ celebration included Bowers dumping water on Cherol during a postgame hug.

“He’s always the culprit,” said Carter of Bowers.

Carter called the dunking a tribute to the old City Series.

“There are only two [public school] teams [left] in the city, but we still wanted to win it,” Carter said.

Cherol said getting splashed was a new experience.

“It felt good, though,” Cherol said. “In all my basketball days, I’ve never had [water dumped] and I’ve been coaching a lot of years.”

Marsh wasn’t surprised at the Panthers’ strong first half.

“To East, [playing Chaney] is their biggest game of the year,” Marsh said. “Tonight, they were ready to play.

“They came out intense, ready to go,” Marsh said. “We came out a lot flat and we dug ourselves a hole. And they shot lights-out tonight.”

Baskets by Kenneth Strong and Mike Parker put the Cowboys (4-12, 1-2) ahead 10-6. But the Panthers closed the opening quarter with two buckets by Carter and another from Bowers.

Carlos Colon’s 3-pointer to open the second frame gave the Cowboys’ their final lead. The Panthers seized control with a 17-2 run.

“We played team ball, looking for each other,” Bowers said. “When we play together as a team, everything clicks just right.”

The Cowboys struggled after Parker took his third personal foul in the first minute of the second quarter.

“He’s a penetrator, he’s a guy who goes hard to the rack,” Cherol said of Parker. “He’s a good player and losing a point guard early made it hard.”

With Parker back in the game, the Cowboys produced a 9-0 run in the third quarter. But the Panthers slowed down to regain control and re-establish a 21-point edge going to the fourth quarter.

Parker finished with 16 points and four rebounds while Aaron McKinney had 12 points and five rebounds.

Bowers said being in contention heading into the final two weeks of the regular season “gives me chills just talking about. Since I’ve been in high school, we have not had the chance that we have right now.

“So to win it or even split it would mean so much to us,” Bowers said.

williams@vindy.com