Lowellville sweeps Southern series, 64-50

LOWELLVILLE — The last time Lowellville and Southern locked horns, the teams combined for 179 points with the Rockets coming out on top, 90-89, on Dec. 18.

Each team placed four players in double figures while the game also featured a 47-point final period by the two teams.

Their game Friday was a stark contrast to the earlier one, taking almost 25 minutes of action for the two teams to reach 90 points — Lowellville’s total in the first contest.

Mike Mangine blistered the nets for 24 points while Mike Matisi added 14 markers as the Rockets swept the season series from the Indians, 64-50, in Inter Tri-County League Lower Tier action at the Lowellville Gymnasium.

“We came into the game wanting to take it to the hole more so than we did in the first game,” said Mangine, the son of the head coach of the same name. “That’s exactly what we were able to do.

“Defensively, we didn’t get many rebounds in the first half and coach challenged us at halftime to kick it up a notch in that area after the intermission. We did just that in the third period and that enabled us to create some distance in the final period as well.

Coach Mangine said he was just hoping to play a more deliberate, controlled game offensively.

“We feel that when we are in a controlled game offensively, hitting a bucket from beyond the arc is like a lay-up to us,” he said. “We’ve been preaching to our players that when you have one good shooter, the opposition is able to key on that player but when everyone contributes, it makes it tough to key on any one player.

“We feel that our players are finally buying into their roles and everyone from starter to those coming off the bench can be a leader offensively.”

Mangine scored seven of his game-high 24 points in the opening frame as the Rockets raced to the early 15-11 lead.

Matisi and Mangine then combined to score 12 of their team’s 14 points in the second period, helping the Rockets (10-4, 7-3) to a 29-25 halftime advantage.

“This has been an excellent rivalry over the past several years. It’s always a very physical game as they play tough defense and make it hard for us when we have the ball,” Matisi said. “This was a good battle once again tonight, but the fact that it was at home and we had the support of the crowd made it a little easier.”

Two triples by the Indians’ Trey Griffiths knotted the score at 33 at the 4:10 mark of the third period, but the Rockets went on a 14-8 run the remainder of the quarter to forge a 47-41 advantage with eight minutes remaining.

That was the closest the Indians got the rest of the way.

Baskets by Mangine and Pat Minnie mid-way through the final quarter increased the Lowellville lead to 58-48, but the Rockets outscored Southern (9-6, 5-5) by a 10-2 count in the final four minutes to seal the victory.

“They beat us off the dribble and got to the rim too easy, too many times tonight,” Indians coach George Whittaker noted. “That put pressure on our back row all night.

“Give Lowellville credit as they had other players step up and score. That is the mark of a good team.”

The loss snapped a three-game win streak for the Indians.

“We’re all juniors, graduating no one so hopefully we’ll continue to learn, play hard the remainder of the regular season and in the process get ready for tournament play,” Whittaker added.