It all was working for Neshannock High’s Brandon Marinelli last night.

The senior scored a career-high 42 points and grabbed a team-best nine rebounds as the Lancers boys basketball team dominated Rocky Grove, 70-52, in a nonsection matchup. Marinelli, a 6-foot-3 guard, made three 3-pointers and was 13 of 18 from the foul line. The free throws were a direct result of what Neshannock coach John Corey said Marinelli has been focusing on in practice.

“We’ve been working with him at attacking the rim and going strong,” Corey said. “He’s good at getting to the rim, but sometimes he doesn’t go as strong as he needs to. He did a great job of finishing tonight, especially in traffic. He got fouled a lot and it was because of how he was attacking.”

Neshannock (4-1) played exceptional defense, specifically in the second quarter when the Lancers held Rocky Grove to one point. Neshannock led, 34-16, at the half. John Sansone played a big role in building that lead and in Marinelli’s spectacular performance.

“Sansone did a great job pushing the ball for us,” Corey said. “Brandon was able to get ahead of the defense a few times and get some cheap ones. And the credit goes to Sansone for pushing it and finding him in transition.”

Sansone scored 10 points and dished out five assists.

The Lancers bounced back from their first loss of the season, a 55-49 setback to Summit Academy in which Neshannock only scored one point in the first quarter. The Lancers turned the tables this time around despite a 34-point night for Rocky Grove’s Dylan Gravatt.