By JOHN D’ABRUZZO
jd’abruzzo@ncnewsonline.com

Dave Smialowski never knows who’s going to have the big night for his Union High boys.

And that’s just fine with the Scotties’ first-year coach.

Smialowski witnessed a complete team effort as Union upended Monaca at home last night in WPIAL Section 1-AA action, 55-35.

“I just love the unselfishness,” he said. “I talk to the kids a lot about balance. I don’t care who scores. I’m not worried about it. I want unselfish basketball because it looks pretty out there.”

The victory also puts Union (5-0 section, 6-2 overall) in sole possession of first place in the section. Lincoln Park (3-1) and Sewickley Academy (3-2) round out the top three.

The Scotties wasted no time taking control of the contest as they went up 17-4 after the first quarter. Union could have had a much more daunting lead if not for its performance from the foul line. The Scotties, who finished the game 9 of 24 from the line, were 2 of 12 in the first period.

“We came out like a house on fire,” Smialowski said. “If we would have made some free throws in the first half, we could have stretched (the lead) more.”

Monaca (2-2, 4-5) didn’t help its cause sending Union to the line.
“Union really played an intense game,” Indians coach Tom Karczewski said. “They really pressured us and gave us some trouble. My team was too worried about playing football instead of basketball. Our focus wasn’t in the game in the beginning and that really hurt us.”

Union took a 35-14 lead into the half, but saw a different Monaca team in the third quarter. The Indians used an 8-2 run to start the period and outscored the Scotties, 13-6.

“Monaca plays hard and I knew they were going to make a run in the second half just because of how they play,” Smialowski said. “They got back better with transition in the second half.”

Union bounced right back. Midway through the fourth quarter, the Scotties went on a 10-0 run to seal the win.

“We did get some easy buckets and that’s what we need to do,” Smialowski said. “We’re not a very good halfcourt team. We’re very athletic and we need to score easy buckets.”

Jordan Clingensmith paced Union with 15 points and six rebounds. He had three 3-pointers. Anthony Thomas followed with 12 points and Jason Burkes chipped in with 11 markers.

“We’re playing team basketball,” Clingensmith said. “That’s just what we do. Everybody gives everybody the ball. It’s not me, me, me. We’re not like that.”

Matt Adamo scored four points, but came up big with 16 rebounds for Union.

“On the boards, he’s been the man for us,” Smialowski said. “He struggled a little at the beginning of the year, but we told him we need him to be strong under the boards. Since then he’s been getting 10 to 12 every game.”

The lack of rebounding was evident to Karczewski.

“(Rebounding) definitely hurt us,” he said. “They outworked us on the boards and outhustled us on the boards. That’s something we can’t have.”

Skyler Schultz led the Indians with seven points.

“It’s going to be a nice Christmas, but like I told my kids, we’re not going to relax,” Smialowski said. “We have a lot of work to do. We still have seven more games to go in the section.

“I’m not going to let these kids relax. We have to keep going.”