By Corey J. Corbin
New Castle News

The Neshannock High boys basketball team learned its lesson.

The Lancers, coming off a 17-point loss to Riverside last week, rolled to a 72-46 WPIAL Section 2-AA home victory over Shenango last night.

“The loss to Riverside was a tough pill to swallow,” Neshannock coach John Corey said. “We moved on. We learned from our mistakes and pushed forward. We came out and played with a lot of energy. We controlled the tempo and controlled the game for 32 minutes.”

Neshannock (7-2 section, 13-3 overall) outscored its visitors 30-15 in the first quarter.

“If you want to be in a game and have a chance to win, you can’t give up 30 points in the first quarter,” Shenango coach Bob McQuiston said. “Our one key was to stop their transition and we didn’t do that (last) night. We have to finish plays.

“We had opportunities to make some layups and those are plays we have to make, because when we’d miss a shot, they’d be off to the races. Our shot selection needs to be better, so teams can’t run on us like that.”

Shenango (3-6, 6-9) and Laurel (3-6, 7-8) remained a game behind Riverside (4-5, 7-9) for fourth place in the section.

“We have to go back to the drawing board,” McQuiston said. “In the big picture, there’s still a couple teams in the running for the fourth place in the section. We have to protect our home court and get ready for this final stretch of games.

“You have to be playing for something. The good thing is we’re still playing for something. We have to keep plugging away and keep battling. Hopefully, we’ll still have a chance in the end.”

Neshannock had four players in double figures, led by Ernie Burkes’ 15 points, nine assists and five rebounds. Ethan Moose finished with 15 points and five rebounds. Matt McKinney added 11. Jimmy Medure checked in with a 10-point, 10 rebound double-double.

“We shot the ball well,” said Corey, whose team held a 33-24 edge on the glass. “The big thing was we rebounded well. We made a lot of good decisions on offense. We played with great energy defensively.”

Ryan Smith paced Shenango with 13 tallies and James Micco added 12.

The game was used as a fundraiser for Coaches vs. Cancer charitable program. The two school districts and their residents raised over $22,000 this year and brought the five-year total of the event, which is headed by Neshannock’s Mark Daugherty, to over $100,000, Corey said.

The game was dedicated to the memory of former Shenango teacher Beth Pears and in honor of Neshannock school nurse Lisa McCaskey.

Burkes and Micco received player of the game laurels for their respective teams.