By Andrew Petyak
New Castle News

Ryley Ferrari took his game to the next level for the Shenango High boys basketball team last night.

The guard posted a career-high 21 points as the Wildcats gained a nonsection road victory over Wilmington, 61-51.

“He had the hot hand and was knocking down the shots. Ryley is shoring up the point guard position this year,” Shenango coach Bob McQuiston said. “He’s playing hard and all the other guys are playing hard. He’s becoming more comfortable running the offense now.”

The Wildcats (6-10) ended a two-game losing skid, both road losses, thanks to eight 3-pointers, four coming from Ferrari.

“We pushed the ball up the floor to really get some buckets in transition,” McQuiston said. “One thing we’re stressing this year is we’re looking to drive and push the ball. The guys were knocking down shots.”

Ferrari scored 20 of his 21 points in the first half as the Wildcats took a 36-22 advantage into halftime.

“We did a good job coming out in the first quarter,” McQuiston said. “We knew we needed to come out with a lot of energy and we did.”

Wilmington (4-10) trailed by as much as 15 points before closing the gap to three in the third quarter.

“I thought we did a better job in the second half creating turnovers,” Greyhounds coach Mike Jeckavitch said. “I give our guys a little bit of credit for that. We just can’t make the one shot big shot. Hopefully, we’ll start to win some of these close games.”

Wilmington’s Travis Brumbaugh put the clamps down on the 5-foot-9 Ferrari defensively in the second half, limiting him to just one point.

“He stepped in as a sophomore and created some things in the defensive court,” Jeckavitch said. “He’s a little bit longer at 6-1, and I think maybe he got Ferrari out of his comfort zone a bit.”

Brumbaugh finished the game with six points to go with his strong defensive performance. Nate Anthony registered a team-high 14 points for Wilmington. Rocco Fagan was next with 12, and Jordan Smith followed with 10.

With the Greyhounds closing the gap in the third quarter, Shenango looked to its senior leader to take control.

“Greg DePorzio got them in the huddle after they cut into the lead, and after that, we got three or four stops in a row,” McQuiston said. “Greg got hurt at the beginning of the year and he hasn’t really been 100 percent until the last four or five games. We knew he was going to take on that leadership role. You know what you’re going to get from him every night.”

DePorzio finished with 11 points and has averaged 13.8 points over a seven-game stretch. Brenton Booher also scored in double figures with 10.

“I’m really proud of the effort, and all the kids played hard,” McQuiston said. “Things haven’t always gone in our favor in a lot of these games, but one thing we’re doing is playing hard. As long as the kids are doing whatever they’re doing, I’m proud of the effort.”