Boys' Basketball News

The North Allegheny boys’ basketball faced off against one of the top teams in Class 5A on Tuesday night and dropped a 53-38 decision to the Shaler Titans in non-section action.

It was Senior Night at UPMC Court and seniors Jackson Howard, Trevor Germany, Ben Lukitsch, Anthony Sciote, Joe Marquis, Ty Iwanonkiw, Joey Dopirak and Paul Rubish were all honored before the contest. All eight seniors saw significant time and played the majority of the contest.

Shaler, coached by former North Allegheny basketball player Rob Neiderberger (’99), flustered NA in the first quarter with a full-court press the forced the Tigers into several turnovers. The Titans yielded only one field in the opening stanza and held a 12-4 lead.

The Tigers started to solve the Titans pressure defense in the second quarter but couldn’t trim the deficit and still trailed by eight points at the half, 24-16.

In the second half, Shaler found its shooting stroke from beyond the arc and buried seven of their nine 3-pointers over the final 16 minutes to help the Titans pull away for a 53-38 win. Senior Kaden Orga totaled 14 points and connected on four 3-pointers. Senior Julian Vizzoca knocked down a trio of treys, all in the second half, for his nine points. Senior forward Brandon London did his fair share of damage on the glass and matched Orga for the team lead in points with 14.

North Allegheny was paced by Dopirak, who earned Wright Automotive Player of the Game honors with an 18-point performance. Marquis added 10 points and went 5-for-6 at the free-throw line.

The loss drops North Allegheny’s overall record to 6-10 on the season, while Shaler improves to 15-2 on the campaign. The Tigers return to section play on Friday night with a visit to New Castle at 7:30 p.m.

Boys Basketball vs. Shaler, 1-23-24

GAME SUMMARY
SCORE BY QUARTERS	1	2	3	4	FINAL
Shaler	12	12	18	10	53
North Allegheny	4	12	11	11	38