Lorenzo Gardner stepped up for the New Castle High boys basketball team Saturday night.

Gardner collected an offensive rebound and cashed in a field goal underneath with about 44 seconds remaining lead the Red Hurricane to a 41-40 non-section home win over Taylor Allderdice.

"This was really a good win against a quality team," said seventh-year New Castle coach Ralph Blundo. "They're athletic and we did a lot right.

"We didn't shoot it well. But we defended enough and really well. When you only score 41 points and you win that means you defended well."

The hosts were 17 of 47 from the field compared to 18 of 34 for Allderdice.

New Castle had fouls to give after Gardner's basket and the hosts took advantage of that. The 'Canes then forced a late turnover and ran out the clock.

Gardner's bucket that proved to be the game-winner accounted for his only two tallies of the game.

"I thought Zo did a great job," Blundo said of Gardner. "He played hard and he did great things on both ends.
"I was pleased with Zo; he's getting better and better."

The game was rescheduled from the Dec. 17 Hoops for a Cure Shootout at Geneva College.

The Dragons handed New Castle its lone regular season loss last year, 75-49, at the Ne-Ca-Hi Field House.

The 'Canes (14-1) were without senior guard Gino DeMonaco, who was out with the flu. DeMonaco ranks third on the team in scoring at 12.5 points a game.

"We expect to have him available for the Quaker Valley game," Blundo said. "He's rehydrating and building up his strength; he was pretty sick."

Marcus Hooker paced New Castle with 12 points and Geno Stone was next with 11. Te'Quawn Stewart notched nine markers and a team-best seven rebounds.

Shaun Morris registered 10 points to lead Allderdice (9-5).

The 'Canes (8-0 section) return to action at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday when they travel to WPIAL Section 2-4A rival Quaker Valley (7-1 league, 13-1 overall). It's a rematch of New Castle's 54-53 win on Dec. 23 at the Ne-Ca-Hi Field House.

"Quaker Valley is one of the best, well-rounded teams in the WPIAL," Blundo said. "They have great balance and they shoot it great. They can drive it and they can defend.

"It's going to be a great challenge for both us, the staff and the players. It's nice knowing we won the first one, but we have to win this one."

The Quakers' gym seats just 600.