By Dan Irwin
New Castle News

The final score wasn’t close.

Neither was Neshannock — at least, not when it came to launching balls toward the bucket.

The Lancers enjoyed a sizzling night from beyond the 3-point arc — including a second quarter when all six of their field goals were treys — en route to routing Shenango, 78-38, in the opening of Neshannock’s own tipoff tournament.

The Lancers were 11 of 20 from 3-point range, including six of eight in the second period when they stretched a six-point advantage to an 18-point lead by intermission. Junior Matt McKenzie and freshman Frank Fraschetti each dropped in four of the long-range scores en route to 16- and 13-point nights, respectively.

Overall, the Lancers — who also got 12 points from Ernie Burkes and 11 from Tyler Haswell — shot 27 of 54 from the field.

“Frank being a freshman, and coming out and shooting the ball that well in his first game — no matter who you are, you hit that first one, it gives you the confidence to keep shooting,” Neshannock coach John Corey said.

“He shot really well, Matt McKinney shot really well. It was very balanced team scoring for us, and I think that’s what we need to be good this year.”

Shenango, meanwhile, was hampered when Greg DePorzio — the Wildcats’ only returning starter from last year — left the game with an injury early on and did not return.

With DePorzio out, Shenango shot just 28 percent from the floor while draining only 12 of 26 free throws.

“DePorzio going down, that hurt us at the beginning of the game,” Shenango coach Bob McQuiston said. “He’s a guy we kind of count on for scoring.

“When you don’t shoot the ball well, it’s going to be a long night. And Neshannock has shooters. I think a couple times our defense didn’t get out on them, and that cost us. But you’re not going to win too many games when you shoot like we did tonight.”

Neshannock owned the boards as well as the nets, finishing with a 39-18 rebound advantage.

“We talked about we had to do work on the boards,” Corey said. “We talked about having a double-digit lead on the boards, and we did that. That was one of our goals.”

The Lancers will meet Mercyhurst Prep, a 58-47 winner over Union, in today’s 7:30 p.m. championship game. The Scotties and Wildcats will clash in the 6 p.m. consolation tilt.

McQuiston didn’t know if DePorzio would be back, but he believes his team will shake off last night’s setback.

“This is just one game of many,” he said. “I’m sure there were a lot of pre-game jitters for the first time for a lot of these kids. They’ll bounce back.

“It’s not how you want to start the season, but we knew coming in we lacked experience. You’re going to take a couple on the chin until you get used to playing.”

(Email: d_irwin@ncnewsonline.com)