Ellwood City dominates from start to finish in first-round win over Washington
WASHINGTON – There was a chance Monday night that Joe Roth could have become the 36th boys basketball player in WPIAL history to score 2,000 career points.
That didn’t happen.
Still, it was a positive experience for Roth and his Ellwood City teammates when they traveled to Washington County for a first-round game in the WPIAL Class 3A playoff bracket.
Roth, a 6-foot-5 senior forward, did score a game-high 18 points, which left him 9 shy of the 2,000-point club. But most importantly, the ninth-seeded Wolverines (16-7) rolled to a 53-36 rout of eighth-seeded Washington (15-8).
“We just needed to win,” Roth said. “Get the win and move on to the next one. Yeah, it's cool to get 2,000. But as I said, I just want to be a winner. That’s what was on my mind tonight.”
Roth, who entered the game averaging 25.6 points per game -- that’s third in the WPIAL – will get the chance to surpass 2,000 on Thursday when Ellwood City plays top-seeded Deer Lakes (18-4) in the quarterfinals at a site yet to be determined.
Like Roth, EC’s first-year coach Dan Bradley said that winning and advancing was the No. 1 goal Monday night. Still, he’s thrilled to be part of Roth’s pursuit of 2,000.
“Yeah, it is on my mind,” said Bradley, who’s also coached Ellwood City’s football team the past two years.
“I’ve never had a 2,000-points scorer before”, added Bradley, who coached basketball at Avonworth from 2009-2020. “I’ve had a handful of 1,000-point scorers before, but 2,000. That’s a great accomplishment. For Joe getting 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in his career, that’s special. So, he’ll get it.”
When Ellwood City took the court for Monday’s 7 p.m. tip-off in Washington, it almost seemed like the Wolverines were playing at home. EC fans filled up nearly half the gym and easily out-numbered the home crowd.
And the Wolverines didn’t disappoint their fans.
From the opening tip, it was all Ellwood City in a wire-to-wire win.
The Wolverines scored first when sophomore forward Aaron Lake made the second of two free throws at the 7:45 mark of the first quarter. A minute later, Lake made it 4-0 by scoring on a drive to the basket and then adding a free throw after he was fouled on the play.
At the end of the first quarter, it was 17-11 and Roth had only scored three points.
At halftime, it was 29-13 and Roth had eight points.
He wasn’t scoring a lot but he was doing everything else well. Passing. Rebounding. Defending.
“Joe didn’t score a lot of points tonight, but he did everything else,” Bradley said.
“I didn’t hit a lot of shots, but everybody else stepped up,” Roth said. “So I didn't really have to score.”
Leading by 16 at halftime, Ellwood City maintained its double-digit lead throughout the second half. It led by 17 at the end of three quarters (42-27) and wound up winning by 17.
Senior guard Nate Williams added 13 points for the Wolverines while junior guard Chris Smiley added 9.
Defensively, EC played a 2-3 zone the entire game – it’s the most zone the Wolverines have played all season – and held Washington to its second-lowest offensive output of the season.
The only Little Prexie to score in double-digits was 6-5 forward De'Ondre Daugherty with 13 points.
“We saw their weakness was that they couldn't shoot very well from the outside, so we wanted to take advantage of that by playing zone,” Williams said. “This game just seemed like it was meant for zone.
“We watched a lot of film (on Washington),” Williams added. “We came prepared and did what we had to do. I think we played great.”
So next up for Roth and the Wolverines is a date with the reigning WPIAL 3A champs.
Last year, Deer Lakes beat Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in the WPIAL final and made it all the way to the state championship game where it lost to Philadelphia West Catholic.
On Monday night while Ellwood City was winning in Washington, Deer Lakes trounced Sto-Rox, 62-32.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Ellwood City dominates from start to finish in first-round win over Washington
