The third week of the Bradford Youth Basketball League arrived with intensity on the court, as three games were decided by two points or less. Results from the weekend are as follows:

Troisi CPA Wildcats 35, Bradford VFW

Tar Heels 34

Cooper Burns’ offensive explosion gave the Wildcats the boost they needed, pulling out a slim victory over the Tar Heels.

Burns was hot wire-to-wire, scoring all of the Wildcats’ first quarter points and eight of their ten points in the fourth. He led the team with 28 points, followed by Will Pantuso’s four, Keith Watts’ two points and Daniel Meister’s one point.

For the Tar Heels, Magnus Miller and Abram Kuhn each ended with 16 points in the loss, while Ryder Dempsey scored once for two points.

Georgia Pacific

Jayhawks 36, Pennhills Resources Panthers 30

After finding themselves in a deadlocked battle at halftime, the Jayhawks managed to put together two solid final quarters on the shoulders of Roman Aiello and Eli Haynoski.

Aiello and Haynoski both ended in double digits, with Aiello ending with 14 points and Haynoski ending with 12. Lucas Vecchio scored eight points while Elias Engstrom had two points in the win.

The Panthers were led by Samuel Benson, who tallied double-digit figures with 10 points. Cameron Butler, Carter Roberts and Gavin Zetwick all had four points each while Kohen Pantuso had eight.

Luciano Builders Red Raiders 38, McCourt Label Bonnies 17

The Red Raiders continued to roll through the season unblemished, bringing their win streak to five with another dominating performance.

Blake Luciano maintained his position as the team’s offensive juggernaut, scoring 23 points which included eight points in the third quarter. Nigel Bender Jack had five points, Lucas Himes had four points and the trio of Gabriel Schuster, Liam Case and Cole Goodreau each had two points, all in the fourth quarter.

The Bonnies had five players reach the scoring column, led by Brock Crappio with five points. Paul Luzzi and Tommy Winship both had four points and Kaden Christjohn and Finley Neighbour both had two points.

Luciano Builders Red Raiders 39, Pennhills Resources Panthers 32

Win No. five for the Red Raiders came with a first quarter showcase from Blake Luciano, who once again scored over 20 points to keep his team undefeated.

Luciano hit the ground running, scoring 10 of his 23 points in the first quarter. Lucas Himes contributed eight points and the pair of Nigel Bender Jack and Liam Case each scored four points.

While Kohen Pantuso’s 17 points kept the Panthers close, they just couldn’t rally late. Gavin Zetwick had eight points, Samuel Benson had five points and Carter Roberts had two points.

McCourt Label

Bonnies 24, Troisi CPA Wildcats 23

In their second down-to-the-wire game of the weekend, the Wildcats once again found themselves in a do or die situation. Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t get lucky twice, losing in the final seconds to the Bonnies.

Down one point with just a few seconds left on the clock, the Bonnies’ Brock Crappio was sent to the line for a one-and-one opportunity. Rising to the occasion, he knocked down both foul shots for the win, as well as his fifth and sixth points of the day. Paul Luzzi and Finley Neighbour led the Bonnies to their second win of the season, while Oliver Burritt scored two points.

For the Wildcats, Cooper Burns’ 18 points was just not enough for a win. Keith Watts ended with four points while Will Pantuso chipped in one point in the loss.

Georgia Pacific

Jayhawks 27, Bradford VFW Tar Heels 25

In the final game of Week 3, the Jayhawks were able to complete a fourth-quarter comeback to seal their second win of the season.

At the end of the third, the Tar Heels had managed to get a 23-16 lead, however, the pairings of Eli Haynoski and Lucas Vecchio, the latter hitting a game-winning shot late in the fourth, managed to lift the Jayhawks to victory. Haynoski led his team in scoring with 12 points while Vecchio had 10 points. Roman Aiello had three points and Vedder Silvis had two points in the win.

The Tar Heels’ scoring came almost solely from Magnus Miller, who ended with a game-high 19 points. The only other scorer was Abram Kuhn, who hit three shots to end with six points.