Battle-tested: Waynesburg flourishing in section play after 0-7 start
BROWNSVILLE 鈥� Waynesburg Central began its boys basketball season with seven consecutive non-section losses and coach Michael Juliano was concerned, not about the defeats but of his team蘑菇视频 mental state as the Section 4-AAA slate was set to begin.
鈥淐redit to our guys,鈥� Juliano said. 鈥淭hey stuck with it and battled through the adversity.
鈥淭hey could鈥檝e come into the section schedule kind of frustrated and discouraged and ready to just kind of pack it in but they didn鈥檛. They just started to work harder and give a little bit more. That蘑菇视频 helped us get to where we鈥檙e at right now.鈥�
Where the Raiders were after Friday蘑菇视频 68-59 win at Brownsville was alone in second place with a 5-1 section record, just one game behind front-running Southmoreland. Waynesburg reeled off its fifth win in a row with a well-balanced attack that included five players in double figures, led by Dane Woods with 15.
Cole Headlee followed Woods with 13 points and handed out eight assists, Alex VanSickle added 12 points, Alex Eck contributed 10 points and eight rebounds and Jack Ricciuti also scored 10 points for the Raiders (5-1, 6-9).
鈥淲e鈥檝e proven that we鈥檙e pretty versatile in terms of the way we can score the basketball,鈥� Juliano said. 鈥淲hen we are willing to share the ball and play team basketball, we鈥檙e capable of being a nice well-rounded team to go up against.
The Falcons (1-4, 3-12) dropped their third in a row but still sit just one-half game behind Charleroi for the fourth playoff spot in the section.
Brownsville coach Rob Ramsey, whose team has been hampered by injuries and suspensions, felt his team battled to the end against the Raiders.
鈥淚 thought we had a great effort today,鈥� Ramsey said. 鈥淲e played hard.
鈥淚f we play like that in our three section games next week I think that will give us a shot at making the playoffs.鈥�
While Waynesburg蘑菇视频 scoring seemed to come from everyone on the floor, Ramsey noted Headlee as the catalyst.
鈥淲aynesburg蘑菇视频 pretty good. No. 0 (Headlee) played a really good game,鈥� Ramsey said. 鈥淗e just beat us to the basket and created a lot of good opportunities for Waynesburg. I thought he was the difference in the game. He was that good tonight.鈥�
The score was tied 13-13 after the first quarter but five different players scored for the Raiders in the second, including seven points by Woods and 3-pointers by Austin Surber and Rucciuti, as they used a 21-11 advantage to take a 44-34 halftime lead.
Brownsville battled back to within 51-45 after three quarters and got within five at one point in the fourth before Waynesburg bumped the margin back up to nine.
The Falcons had whittled the lead to 57-50 when Riccuiti made his second 3-pointer from the corner to give Waynesburg a 10-point lead and Headlee scored a drive to the basket to make it 62-50 with four minutes left.
Brownsville pulled within seven again after a three-point play by Kaden Wimmer with 1:37 left and again on a basket by Jaiden Praster with 50 seconds left but could get no closer.
鈥淲e played well enough to get the job done,鈥� Juliano said. 鈥淎t the end of the day when we can get stops at crunch time that蘑菇视频 very important. We have the ability to play defense at a really high level. I don鈥檛 know that we did that for significant stretches of the game tonight, but when it mattered most we got the job done.鈥�
Praster scored a game-high 20 points, including three 3-pointers, to lead Brownsville which also got 13 points from Cameron Phillips, 12 from Wimmer and five from Maxime Dieodonne.
Surber just missed giving Waynesburg six players in double digits as he wound up with eight points.
The Raiders swept the season series, having also defeated the Falcons in Waynesburg on Dec. 20 for their first win of the season.
鈥淚t蘑菇视频 hard to win on the road in the section. Credit to their guys,鈥� Juliano said of Brownsville. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e matured a lot throughout the course of the season. They鈥檙e starting to round into form and they made it as difficult on us as they could.鈥�
Juliano feels his team蘑菇视频 challenging non-section schedule helped it get ready for the Section 4-AAA battles that loomed..
鈥淥ne hundred percent. We put together a pretty tough non-section schedule for a reason,鈥� Juliano said. 鈥淲e felt like we were going to have a chance to compete in the section so we wanted our non-section schedule to prepare us for section play.
鈥淪o far I think that蘑菇视频 worked out. I don鈥檛 think I ever would鈥檝e imagined that we wouldn鈥檛 have won any of those games in the early part of the season. But we played some really tough opponents and we did some things really nice for significant stretches in some of those games but we were playing some really tough teams.鈥�
Waynesburg goes seven deep usually and the players all gel together well, according to Juliano.
鈥淭he beautiful thing is they all bring unique things to the table that are helpful for us in different ways,鈥� Juliano said.
鈥淐ole was kind of banged up early in the year. He was sick during the preseason and then had a couple nagging injuries that he battled through around Christmas time. Now he蘑菇视频 starting to feel healthy and look like the guy we鈥檝e always known he could be.
鈥淗e is our floor general. He蘑菇视频 a sophomore and has got a bright future ahead of him. He蘑菇视频 my coach on the floor. He knows what I鈥檓 thinking and I know what he蘑菇视频 thinking. He can see it and go do it.鈥�
VanSickle and Eck are the Raiders鈥� two senior starters.
鈥淎lex VanSickle has been around, he brings the most experience to the table,鈥� Juliano said. 鈥淗e蘑菇视频 just a competitor on both ends of the floor. He蘑菇视频 going to give you everything he has for 32 minutes. He finds different ways to score, whatever it takes.
鈥淎lex Eck is our post player and he蘑菇视频 our rebounder. He knows his role is to go out there and get stops in the post and get every rebound. And when he can grab them and put them back in the hoop, that蘑菇视频 another plus. He蘑菇视频 averaging double-digit rebounds for us and close to averaging a double-double for the season.鈥�
Juniors Surber and Woods fill out the starting five.
鈥淎ustin Surber is our defensive beast man,鈥� Juliano said. 鈥淗e蘑菇视频 always going to guard the other team蘑菇视频 best player and he蘑菇视频 going to get the job done. Sometimes I wish he鈥檇 be a little more aggressive on the offensive end. When he can get out and run in transition, he can do some creative things with the basketball. He蘑菇视频 our energizer bunny.
鈥淒ane Woods might be our all-around best player 鈥� athletic, big, physical, can score inside and outside. This year and last year he蘑菇视频 been our highest percentage 3-point shooter but he can bang inside, too. We like to have the ball in his hands and let him and let him make decisions and reads.鈥�
Ricciuti and Jackson Dean are Waynesburg蘑菇视频 first two players off the bench.
鈥淛ack Ricciuti is our first post player off the bench and Jackson Dean is usually our first guard off the bench,鈥� Juliano said. 鈥淛ack is versatile, though. He蘑菇视频 athletic. He can guard anybody, one through five. He can stretch the floor and shoot it. He had a big three for us tonight.鈥�
The second half of Waynesburg蘑菇视频 section schedule included a home game at Charleroi that was scheduled to be played Tuesday and then three road games against first-place Southmoreland tonight, and Ligonier Valley (Feb. 4) and Mount Pleasant (Feb. 7) next week.
At this point it蘑菇视频 just one game at a time,鈥� Juliano said. 鈥淥ur guys are going to compete, I know that much.鈥�