Eagles soar to a 12-1 record

By Greg Gulas

Youngstown Christian defeated Leetonia for the second time this season.

LEETONIA — If you had asked Coach Dolph Carroll prior to the season if he thought that his Youngstown Christian Eagles would be 12-1 with 10 consecutive wins at this juncture, he would have replied matter-of-factly that playing .500 ball, while preparing for the tournament, would have been a much more realistic goal.

After the Eagles’ 78-64 win over Leetonia Tuesday (their second this season against the Bears), Carroll’s Eagles are flying high and rightfully so.

Olonzo Johnson had a game-high 25 points, Anthony Walker chipped in with 22 points and 11 rebounds while John Pecchia added 19 markers to pace the Eagles.

“We executed our game plan perfectly tonight and while it wasn’t a pretty game to watch at times, a win is a win especially on the road and we’ll gladly take the end result,” Carroll said. ““Anthony [Walker] and Olonzo [Johnson] did a nice job for us inside, as did John [Pecchia] and the rest of the team from the outside. We got them the ball at the right time and in the right place and they just finished the play.

“We’re a good inside-out team, a team that just works together really well,” Carroll said. “This is an unselfish group and that is another reason that we have enjoyed the success that we have thus far.”

The Eagles opened the game with an 11-2 run, only to have Leetonia battle back with a 12-2 run of its own to take a 14-13 advantage.

Johnson scored 12 of his 25 points in the first quarter for YCS, but when Andrew Trummer connected on a putback for the Bears with just one second remaining, Leetonia (6-5) took a 16-15 lead heading to the second period of play.

It was the Bears’ second and final lead of the game, something first-year head coach Vince Nittoli attributed to inconsistent play.

“We had a game plan but weren’t able to execute due to our inconsistent play,” Nittoli said. “We didn’t practice over the weekend due to the weather and being off seven days since our last game hurt as well.

Nittoli said his team had no answer for Johnson, Walker and Pecchia.

“They owned the glass and we hit a costly dry spell after the first period,” he said. “When you have to play from behind most of the game, it takes its toll on you.”

Pecchia nailed three 3-pointers and scored 11 of his 19 points in the second period. Walker added 12 points as well as the Eagles outscored the Bears, 27-12 to build a 42-28 halftime margin.

“We already saw them earlier this year and had to come from behind to beat them the first time we played, so we have nothing but the utmost respect for them,” Johnson said. “We just played under control and were able to execute offensively. That was the key for us tonight.”

Michael Dowling, who scored nine of his team-high 17 points in the third quarter for the Bears, helped Leetonia pull to within 10 at 61-51 heading to the final stanza.

But Johnson and Pecchia then combined for 11 of the Eagles’ final 17 points in the final quarter to seal the victory.

“We were able to counter what they threw at us and that was a key to our victory,” Walker said. “Leetonia is an excellent team, one that does not quit but we were clicking on all cylinders at both ends of the court.”

YCS was 30 of 64 from the field while the Bears were just 21 of 51.

The Eagles outrebounded the Bears, 36-25 with Trummer pulling down a team-high seven caroms for Leetonia.