ST. MARYS — Neither side was stellar on offense, but Elk County Catholic used a surge at the end of the second and beginning of the third quarter to win, 35-24, over Ridgway in the Elk County Holiday tournament championship.
The crowd for the event was raucous.
The ECC student section was at least 70 strong, dressed in various jerseys, and were loud enough to fill the gymnasium by themselves. Any time an ECC player got a tough layup or made a play, the bleachers sounded like they might erupt.
The players fed off it, too.
They played with a swagger and confidence that comes from having dozens of fellow students cheering next to them.
“Our students have been great and are always great and they certainly give us a lot of energy,” said ECC head coach Aaron Straub. “It’s really nice and important to have that kind of support and we’re lucky to have that from our students.”
The first quarter did not feature much cheering from the ECC faithful, as Ridgway took an early 7-2 lead.
The Elkers did a good job finding outside looks for their shooters and got the ball down low to tournament All-Star, Dan Park. In the second quarter, the Crusaders started to find a rhythm on offense and used their height to their advantage.
ECC has a tall lineup and they began pushing the ball in the post, and did a much better job going up for rebounds. In turn, they got more second-chance points and started getting Ridgway into foul trouble.
Michael Jacobs had seven points in the second quarter to help ECC comeback and then take a 13-11 lead into halftime. The Crusaders came out of the break on fire.
They put up 14 points in the third quarter and saw five players score. ECC’s fast break and transition offense was lethal. Their guards would get steals or intercept passes and find the right man underneath for an easy layup. Jordan Wasko, Adam Straub and Jacobs all seemed to be waiting underneath the rim for an open pass.
Ridgway won on Wednesday but perhaps it cost them on Thursday. The Elkers couldn’t keep up with ECC’s pace at times, and that was what left them open.
“We full-court pressed over three quarters of the game (yesterday) and that takes a lot of energy when you’re only playing five, I think yesterday we played seven,” said Ridgway head coach Tony Allegretto. “That makes it tough to come into a day like today.”
Still, Ridgway didn’t go down without a fight.
They were down 27-15 at the end of the third and, until some late free throws, narrowed the lead to single-digits for most of the fourth. Aaron Sorg finished with 10 points and had five of them in the fourth quarter, including a silky 3-pointer. Dominic Allegretto was aggressive on defense for the whole contest and was awarded Defensive MVP for the tournament.
“We didn’t finish at the basket, we got there though,” Allegretto said. “We convert those layups, we convert the foul shots in the first half. There was a three minute segment in the first half where Catholic played harder than we did. They got the juice going, they played harder, we got our shoulders down.”
ECC will enjoy the win but it’s back to business as usual and the players won’t have it any other way.
“We’ve never had an issue with getting kids in the gym,” said Straub. “We’ve had an issue with asking the kids to leave after practice… They’re staying after each practice, getting shots in. When you have that attitude, that’s great to see.”
AT ST MARYS
Elk County Catholic (35)
Jacobs 4 3-5 11, Wasko 2 4-4 9, Breindel 1 5-7 7, Straub 2 0-0 4, Jansen 1 2-3 4 Totals: 10 14-18 35
Ridgway (24)
Sorg 3 2-2 10, Park 3 0-0 6, Benninger 2 1-3 5, Allegretto 1 1-2 3 Totals: 9 2-7 24
Elk County Catholic 2 13 27 35
Ridgway 7 11 15 24
Three-point goals: ECC 1 (Wasko), Ridgway 2 (Sorg 2); Total fouls: ECC 12, Ridgway; fouled out: Benninger (Ridgway)
CONSOLATION GAME
Johnsonburg 30, St. Marys 29
ST. MARYS — Johnsonburg used a fourth-quarter comeback to defeat St. Marys in the consolation game of the Elk County Holiday Tournament.
Jake Lobaugh led the Rams with 13 points, including three made 3-pointers, while Jefferson Freeburg added eight points. Quinn Gavazzi led the Flying Dutchmen with eight points.
AT ST. MARYS
Johnsonburg (30)
Freeburg 3 2-2 8, Myers 1 0-0 2, Lobaugh 3 2-2 13, Zimmerman 1 0-0 3, Asti 2 0-0 4, Jackson 0 0-2 0. Totals: 11 4-6 30
St. Marys (29)
Tanner 3 0-1 6, Nedinki 1 0-0 3, Gavazzi 3 0-0 8, Coudriet 2 0-0 4, Hetrick 1 1-1 3, Bille 1 0-0 2, Thorwart 1 0-0 3. Totals: 12 1-2 29
Johnsonburg 8 14 19 30
St. Marys 8 18 22 29
Three-point goals: Jburg 4 (Lobaugh 3, Zimmerman), St. Marys 4 (Nedinski, Gavazzi 2, Thorwart); Total fouls: Jburg 10, St. Marys 10; fouled out: None.
