East Palestine clinches a share of another ITCL crown

NEW MIDDLETOWN – Trevor Reiser scored 20 points and had nine rebounds Friday as the East Palestine High boys basketball team defeated Springfield, 45-35.

Austin Cope added 10 points for the Bulldogs, who limited the Tigers to a season-low offensive output in the Inter Tri-County League game.

The win enabled East Palestine (13-2, 11-0) to clinch a share of the league title.

Having won the last Tri-County League championship and now three of the four ITCL Tier One crowns, the Bulldogs will go after the outright crown on Tuesday when they play host to United.

“When you have two teams playing a zone and are patient with their shots, like both teams were tonight then you are going to have a low-scoring game,” Bulldogs coach Tom Bingham said. “This is something new for me; clinching a share of the title this early.

The key has been great assistant coaches and excellent players,” Bingham said.

In what could best be described as a deliberate offense early on by both teams, the Tigers raced to a 5-0 lead on a bucket by Tanner Avnet and a triple from Brad Ferraro.

A hoop by Cope and a bucket from beyond the arc by Jake DiCello for the Bulldogs knotted the game at 5-all.

Six points by Reiser in the second period and a stingy Bulldogs defense that forced 13 first-half turnovers created a 17-17tie at halftime.

“It took us a while to get started but once we were able to get open, we then got some good looks and that proved to be big for us in the second half,” Reiser said. “The last seven or eight games I have felt more comfortable shooting the ball, but I cannot give you a specific reason as to why.

“It’s a great feeling to know that you have already clinched a part of the title,” Reiser said. “We must now work even harder against United Tuesday night if we expect to win the title outright.”

Bingham smiled when talking about Reiser’s play.

“Trevor is so cool under pressure, even when he misses a shot we tell him to keep shooting,” Bingham said. “He’s come a long way in learning our system and the game as well.

“We’ve accomplished one of our goals, now we’ll talk about our other goals,” Bingham said.

A triple by Cope just 15 seconds into the third period gave the Bulldogs the lead for good at 20-17. Cope and Reiser combined to score nine of their team’s 12 points in the quarter to help East Palestine build a 29-23 advantage with a quarter remaining.

“We knew that they would be patient tonight and we weren’t in a hurry to touch the ball either,” Springfield coach Eric Fender said. “Turnovers are always costly and you try to limit them in order to get better shots.

“We’ll look at the tape and try to get better but give East Palestine credit,” Fender said. “They’re a very good team and there’s a reason they stand atop the ITCL standings.”

Ben Gysin, who was held to just one free throw through the first three quarters, scored eight points, as did Reiser in the final period.

Gysin also hauled in nine caroms as the East Palestine outrebounded the Tigers (7-8, 6-5), 22-19.

Avnet had a team high 12 points for Springfield Local while Rogers, who connected on three buckets from beyond the arc, finished with 11 points for the Tigers.