Tigers Calm Red Hurricanes For Section Road Win, 71-63
The North Allegheny boys’ basketball team earned an important road section win on Friday night with a 71-63 triumph at New Castle in Section 1-6A action. The victory secures a season sweep over the Red Hurricanes and vaults NA into a tie for second place with Butler.
Perimeter shooting was paramount in this matchup as the two teams combined for 19 3-pointers. New Castle’s Ralph Blundo buried six triples on his way to game-high 25 point night, and teammate Damian Harrison poured in five treys and totaled 21 points.
While Blundo and Harrison accounted for over 71-percent of New Castle’s offense, it wasn’t enough against North Allegheny’s well-balanced attack. The Tigers held a 38-29 lead at the half and matched the Red Hurricanes with a strong perimeter shooting night as well. Senior Joe Marquis was NA’s top sharpshooter with four 3-pointers for a 16-point night. Senior Anthony Sciote added a pair of treys and connected on 5-of-8 free throws in the second half to help put the game away. Sciote finished with 15 points, while senior forward Joey Dopirak netted a team-best 17 points and was a perfect 5-for-5 at the charity stripe, including four makes from the line in the fourth quarter. Senior Ty Iwanonkiw also touched double figures 13 points. Iwanonkiw and junior Carter Melzer accounted for one 3-pointer each.
With the win, North Allegheny improves to 7-10 overall and 4-2 in Section 1-6A. New Castle falls to 12-6 overall and 1-5 in the section. The Tigers will host Pine-Richland for another important section contest on Tuesday night. The game will be broadcast live by the North Allegheny Sports Network.
Boys Basketball vs. New Castle, 1-26-24
| GAME SUMMARY | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCORE BY QUARTERS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
| North Allegheny | 14 | 24 | 19 | 14 | 71 |
| New Castle | 9 | 20 | 9 | 25 | 63 |