By Corey J. Corbin
New Castle News

Union High’s Benjamin Young reached a milestone last night.

The 5-foot-11 senior scored his 1,000th career point in the Scotties’ 71-63 WPIAL Section 1-A victory over host Rochester.

Young entered the game needing 25 points and finished with 25 points, 15 rebounds and six assists.

“It never was a major concern,” Union coach Dave Smialowski said. “We honestly never talked about it until this past week. To score 1,000 points in a high school career is a wonderful accomplishment. He’s been starting since he was a freshman and is a very hard worker. I don’t look at it as an individual accomplishment. I look at it as a team thing, because he couldn’t have done it all by himself.”

The Rams (0-5 section, 3-11 overall) focused their defensive efforts on Young, allowing Anthony Rush and Cornell Charles to put up big point totals.

Rush drained three 3-pointers en route to a season-high 19 points, while Charles tacked on 13.

“They shot well,” Smialowski said. “Rochester was doubling Ben and he was able to find the open man. When they’re knocking down shots, it takes a lot of pressure off of Ben.”

Union (2-3, 6-10) took a 37-24 lead into halftime, but allowed the Rams to cut it down to one entering the final quarter.

The Scotties proceeded to outscore Rochester 24-17 over the final eight minutes to secure the win.

“The kids played hard and it was a hard-fought game,” Smialowski said. “We needed a spurt there in the fourth to hold on. That shows they’ve grown some. I don’t know if they would’ve responded that way earlier in the year. They’re working hard and good things happen when you work hard.”

The win allows Union to stay one game ahead of Cornell (1-4, 8-6) for fourth place in the section.

“The first half is over for us,” Smialowski said. “We’re set pretty solid in that fourth position in the section. We’re happy with where we’re at. The kids have been improving.”

(Email: C_Corbin@ncnewsonline.com)