Szorady earns 1,000th in LaBrae blowout
HOWLAND
Matt Szorady had just stolen a pass in the second quarter of LaBrae’s first-round Division III sectional game against Campbell. He dribbled up the court and easily drove in for a layup. The public address announcer then said the basket was his 1,000 career point. Everybody in attendance at the Howland High gymnasium went crazy.
Everyone, that is, except for Szorady.
“I knew I needed 14 coming in and I hit 12, so I was confused for a second,” he said. “I was looking over to the scoreboard and coach just said ‘two more’. I knew it was wrong but I continued to stay with it.”
The layup was indeed only 998, but on the Vikings’ next possession No. 1,000 came on a pair of free throws.
“He deserved it,” LaBrae coach Chad Kiser said. “We have a lot of weapons and on some other teams he might be able to get a few more shots. He’s doing a nice job of just staying with what they give him and not forcing up shots.”
Szorady had a game-high 18 points in the 74-33 victory over the Red Devils.
“I just wanted to get it out of the way fast and get back to playing basketball,” Szorady said of his feat. “The team gave me good looks tonight and I knocked them down. I’m just blessed.”
The Vikings (21-0) shot 9 of 15 from the field and scored 25 points in the second quarter after leading by just nine after one.
“You have to approach every game the same way,” Kiser said. “You lose — you’re done. I told them that this is the championship game right here. That’s the way we’re going to approach every game.”
Peyton Aldridge added a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. John Richards had 14 points and Jermaine Keeney scored seven coming off the bench.
Anthony Naze led Campbell with 10 points.
Newton Falls 77, garfield 43
A few weeks ago, Newton Falls (17-3) played Garrettsville Garfield and only led by four midway through the fourth quarter. The Tigers still won, but coach Roy Semback wanted to see a stronger edge from his team in the tournament rematch.
He got it.
“I was real pleased with how focused and ready we came out in this one,” Semback said. “We took care of business and did what we had to do. The big lead helped in that.”
Eleven players figured into the scoring and Cody Dillon (13), Dale Kernan (12) and Nate Novotny (10) scored in double figures.
Berkshire 71, Girard 49
Before Girard could score its first point, the Indians (9-12) had already turned the ball over four times. They had 17 total turnovers.
In the loss, Craig Randall had 12 points, while Evan Standohar scored 12.