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Aldridge keys LaBrae past Newton Falls
By Jim Flick
LEAVITTSBURG
In a hard-fought game between traditional rivals, the LaBrae High boys basketball team pulled away in the fourth quarter Friday to defeat Newton Falls, 52-40.
Peyton Aldridge, a 6-foot-7-inch sophomore, led LaBrae, scoring 14 points and pulling down 12 rebounds.
Senior Carrington Herron tallied 11 points and snagged seven rebounds for the Vikings, and junior Carl Brown added nine points.
Cody Dillon scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Newton Falls. The senior sank four 3-point shots.
Mitchell Kovach, a senior, contributed eight points for the Tigers, including two 3-pointers.
The Vikings put the game away in the fourth quarter, exploding for 19 points while holding Newton Falls to 12.
“Overall, I’m very pleased with their effort,” LaBrae coach Chad Kiser said of the Vikings. “I think both teams really pride themselves on defense, on stopping people. I thought we did a nice job down the stretch of just spreading them out, controlling the ball without turning it over.
“We just keep our hands up and contest shots.”
Kiser said that while Aldridge “is our biggest guy” and creates match-up problems for opponents offensively and defensively due to his height, Herron “is a load down low.
“He’s strong,” the coach added.
The Vikings’ coach also praised Dillon.
“He’s one of the most prolific scorers in the area, and has been for a long time,” he said. “I’m just glad we only have to play him one more time.”
Newton Falls coach Roy Sembach said LaBrae pulled away in the fourth quarter “because we had to take some chances because we were behind.” But the Tigers missed too many shots, including not only 3-pointers, but “point-blank lay-ups,” he added.
“In the interior, they got the better of us,” Sembach said, adding that the Vikings’ Herron, Brown and junior Paul Zigmont “were more physical than our guys inside.”
“Hopefully we can learn our lessons and become a better basketball team in the next couple of months. I’m pretty confident we’ll we heard from again before this is all over.”
In the fourth quarter, LaBrae’s lead first reached 10 points when Herron sank a field goal.
The game was played in front of a noisy, sell-out crowd.
“Our crowd’s great, they really helped us,” Aldridge said.