By Andrew Koob
New Castle News

It didn’t take long for Ethan Moose to get into a rhythm.

And once he found his spot, the Neshannock High boys basketball team was able to ride his career night for a 76-43 win over over Union in the Neshannock Christmas Tournament championship game on Wednesday night.

Moose set a career-mark with 39 points and added 13 rebounds in the victory. The senior’s old record for points scored in a single game was set during last year’s season-opener, when he scored 36 in a loss to Hopewell.

“I was feeling it and my teammates were doing a good job of getting the ball,” Moose said. “I was attacking early and just trying to do my best to get an early lead and put them away.”

Moose did most of his damage inside, muscling his way through defenders and getting to the foul line. He scored most of his points in the third quarter, accounting for 14 of the Lancers’ 19 third-quarter markers.

“I expect him to have that many points every night. When he doesn’t, I’m disappointed,” Neshannock coach John Corey said. “We’ve gone on numerous times about Ethan being a great player. He makes us go, his point totals are always a plus but he effects the game in so many other ways. His ability to score and guard and play defense and rebound, it’s tremendous. When he does things like this, it doesn’t shock me because I expect him to do it all the time.”

Union opened the game with a suffocating defensive effort. In the first four minutes of the game, the Scotties forced Neshannock (8-1) to miss its first four field goal attempts while recording three steals and two blocks.

Despite the opportunity to take an early lead, the best Union (5-5) could do was score the opening four points before Moose and Jason Swope, who finished with 12 points, found their rhythm to give the Lancers a lead they would not relinquish.

“Our first four minutes were textbook defense, just excellent,” Union coach Mark Stanley said. “I think our athleticism bothered them, but they’re senior-oriented, they’re well-coached and well-schooled. You know they’re not going to do that the whole game and my biggest thing with them was their defense.

“I knew we were going to have trouble scoring on them and they do it on both ends. I was pleased with how we came out, we didn’t back down but that has to be for 32 minutes. That’s not easy to do and, with that type of team, I knew we weren’t going to maintain that the whole game and that’s a credit to them.”

Neshannock, in turn, quickened its defensive pace and switched to full-court presses and half-court traps. That helped the Lancers force 16 turnovers and push the ball for fast break transitions.

Those efforts, along with early foul trouble, thwarted a Union team that was averaging just over 58 points per contest heading into the game. The Scotties’ leading scorer, Garrison Bell, was held to just six points while Devin Wilson posted a team-high 13 points.

“Defensively, I was proud of our effort,” Corey said. “I truly believe that’s a staple of our team, our ability to switch screens and apply our own pressure in the half court. We were able to cause 16 turnovers and a lot of that was us trapping and pressuring them. So it was a combination of those two things, good half-court defense and the pressure that we applied in the full-court.”

Moose and Swope represented Neshannock on the All-Tournament team, while Bell and Joey Crivelli were named for Union. Ellwood City’s Rick Roth filled out the team.