Wolverines capture first section win
Dec. 16—It was an all-around team effort by the Ellwood City Lincoln High boys basketball team to pick up a WPIAL Section 1-3A win on Friday.
In their first Section 1-3A game of the season, the Wolverines rolled to a 75-33 decision against New Brighton.
"All section wins are important. I don't know if we could've shot the ball much better than we did tonight," Ellwood City coach Dan Bradley said of the win. "We got contributions from everybody from the 3-points landing and we were pretty strong on the boards. I'm just really proud of our performance."
Ellwood City's (1-0 section, 2-4 overall) Nate Williams opened things up for his team in the first quarter of the game.
Williams recorded seven of his 10 total points in the first quarter to help his team enter the second quarter with an 11-point lead.
"He's just constantly getting better," Bradley said of Williams. "He had a little injury a couple of weeks ago and missed a little bit of time. But, he's been a good spark for us in transition and spot-up 3s."
The Wolverines got into a shooting rhythm in the first quarter and brought that into the second. Overall, Ellwood City produced 11 3-pointers in the game.
"We did a good job of working inside out, whether it was off the kick out or a rebound, those guys were shot ready," Bradley said. "They shot the ball very well tonight."
Ellwood City's Christopher Smiley chipped in some long balls in the second quarter to lead his team in scoring in the first half with 11 points.
"The last few games he shot the ball very well," Bradley said of Smiley "He's a confident player and is just looking to contribute in other ways."
The Wolverines entered halftime with a 46-16 advantage over New Brighton (0-1, 1-5). Bradley said the talk at halftime was to just, "Play four quarters," adding, "We haven't done that yet, I don't believe. We've had some bad quarters in wins and losses. I think we played four quarters well tonight."
Joseph Roth and Colten Crizer paced Ellwood City with 13 points.
"We started off kind of slow, some little losses, but it was good for us. We started to make sure this is where it all counts," Roth said of the win. "We came out strong and this is how we should play every game. I'm pretty happy with it.
"We're just playing really good right now. It's a lot better than last year and everybody is just hitting shots so it makes it a lot easier for everybody."
Said Crizer of the victory, "We all have trust in each other. We knocked down shots today, we work hard at practice and that's what it's all about. We're looking forward to all the other competition in the section."
Bradley said defensive execution is, "Getting better," adding, "We still have to talk more, but we're playing some good man-to-man defense and we're closing out our shots."
The mercy rule clock went into effect during the start of the second half. Ellwood City managed to outscore New Brighton 11-6 in the third quarter.
With the game quickly winding down, Bradley took out his starters and let his other players get some varsity minutes in the fourth quarter.
"You can see how close (the players) are," Bradley said of the dynamic between his starters and younger players. "They're going crazy for whenever the young guys shot 3s. It was just good to see."
Neshannock hosts the Wolverines at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
