By Ron Poniewasz Jr.
New Castle News

Shenango High boys basketball standout Ryan Smith continued his torrid play last night.

Smith tossed in a game-high 28 points to lead the Wildcats to a 74-52 win over Sharpsville in the first round of the Wildcat Tournament at Shenango.

Smith, a 6-foot senior guard, came in averaging 22.1 points a game in seven contests. He’s scored at least 20 points in all but two of the Wildcats’ matchups.

Smith was 12 of 16 from the field against the Blue Devils, who are coached by former Neshannock bench boss Jim Smiley. He posted 11 of his tallies in the first frame and nine more in the second.

“He’s been shooting the ball pretty well all year,” Shenango coach Bob McQuiston said. “The guys did a good job of finding him.

“Ryan did a good job of coming off screens. When he gets an open look, we’re confident he will make the shot. He had the hot hand and our guys were smart enough to keep feeding him the ball.”

The Wildcats (5-3) built a 21-9 lead after the first quarter and pushed the buffer to 45-23 at the break.

“One thing we wanted to do was have a quick start,” McQuiston said. “That’s important coming off Christmas break.

“The guys were pretty relaxed. We wanted to take it to them off the bat and we did a nice job of coming out ready to play.”

Christian O’Hara backed up Smith’s effort with 14 points and James Micco was next with 12.

Dane Smith supplied a team-high 25 points for Sharpsville.

The Wildcats erased a three-game losing streak Monday with a 50-48 WPIAL Section 1-AA road win over New Brighton. McQuiston acknowledged the significance of his squad notching a second consecutive victory.

“It was really important,” he said. “We have one more game (today) and then we’re back in section play.

“It’s going to be nip and tuck the rest of the way. We’re happy with all of the wins we get, but we don’t want to be satisfied with them. We want to get better every day.”

Shenango will battle Sharon at 7:30 p.m. today in the finals. The Tigers are coached by former New Castle girls basketball coach Jason Rankin.

(Email: rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com)