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Great Scott: Wellsville wins again
By BRANDON JUDEH
LOWELLVILLE
When Wellsville and Lowellville met earlier this month it was a game for the ages as the Tigers escaped with a narrow victory.
Friday night in Lowellville was no different.
The Tigers prevailed 69–66 in another classic back-and-forth Inter Tri-County League battle that saw a Wellsville senior make history.
One minute into the second period Nate Scott sank what seemed to be a normal free throw, but this one gave him his 1,544th career point, a new school record.
Scott remained humble about his record-setting night after the game.
“The main goal was to win the game and winning the game was all I was focused on,” Scott said. “We have a great coaching staff and a bunch of great players. They deserve all the credit.”
Wellsville head coach David “Bug” Thompson said Scott, along with the team’s other seven seniors, are a special bunch.
“Scott is one of those players where when he gets going, so does the rest of the team,” Thompson said. “He’s such a great scorer and this senior class we have is special.”
Scott finished with 20 points.
Wellsville (20-2, 14-0 ITCL) and Lowellville (17-4, 11-4) exchanged blows throughout the first half with the Tigers carrying a 35-34 advantage into the locker room.
The Tigers dominated the third period, outscoring the Rockets 16-7 and grabbing what looked like a commanding 10-point lead.
The Rockets’ high-powered offense had other ideas.
Lowellville cut the deficit to just three, but that’s when Camden Douglas and company took over.
“One of our goals was to finish the season undefeated in the ITCL and we accomplished that,” Douglas said. “It wasn’t easy. Lowellville is a great team, but we are feeling good heading into the tournament next week.”
Douglas finished with 16 points and 11 assists, Jordan Sloan contributed 17 points and Seth Bradford scored 13.
Lowellville head coach Mike Mangine says he and his staff have a lot of confidence in the Rockets heading into the postseason.
“Unfortunately, the ball didn’t bounce our way tonight and we had some mishaps, but we are happy with how are kids are performing,” Mangine said. “I have to give credit to coach “Bug” and Wellsville, they are the class of the tri-county area.”
Lowellville’s Nick Ballone led all scorers with 26 points. Alex Harklerode added 13.
Though their shooting was hot, things didn’t start out that way for the Tigers as a 1-of-8 shooting performance early in the first quarter led to 10-3 Rockets lead.
Thompson called a timeout to regroup his players and the rest is history.
“I told them to focus on what we are trying to accomplish, which was run our offense and look for the good shots, not just the first shot,” Thompson said.
The Tigers finished 23 of 50 from the field.
Wellsville will next play East Canton on Tuesday in a Division IV sectional game at the Struthers Fieldhouse.
Lowellville moves on to play the winner of a sectional opener between Lordstown and Western Reserve on Friday.