North East 66 Mercyhurst Prep 41

Towards the end of the first game I decided I needed a program. I sent my husband, Kevin out to find one so I would not miss a minute of the action. He returned sometime later with a very defeated look and I knew the mission had been a failure. All the programs had been sold out. What? He said he even looked in the tops of garbage cans. I don't know how many of these were in print, but definately not enough, as these were a hot commodity.

The North East Fans came out in droves tonight. They packed one whole side of the Hammermill Center and had fans on the other side of the gym. We were lucky enough to sit by some great Grapepicker fans tonight, they were very friendly and helped me with their players names due to my no progam problem. Thank you! They even wrote their starters down for me!

The Prep fans added to their numbers when the Girard fans joined them.

I had not seen Mercyhurst all season and I had not seen North East since the tipoff tournament in Saegertown. I was very impressed with how they worked together as a team so early in the season - without a doubt they have built on what I had previously seen.

The Grapepicker starters were Szwejbka, Kirsch, Rowe, Trianna and Meehl. The Lakers started N. Arrigo, Hvedzda, Crane-Huston, Chojnacki and Macrino. Not having a program and the specific stats it appeared to me that The Lakers may have had the size advantage over the Pickers.

The opening tip went to Prep but resulted in a turnover. The first points of the game came at 7:22 from Prep. Northeast was called on an over and back much to the dismay of their fans. The refs conveened, met breifly with the coaches and the called was overturned. North East was then called on a foul at 6:36, the Laker missed one, score 0-3 Lakers. North East's first points came at 6:03 and would not stop as they continued to take the ball to the hoop the rest of the half. The Pickers threw a press at the Lakers half way through the first quarter. Prep quicly called a timeout with the score 9-7 Northeast. Mercyhurst turned the ball over on thier next possession and North East converted 2 with a fast break. I am amazed by North East no look pass skills. Mercyhurst had the ball for the last shot, but missed. Score at the end of one, 15-8 North East. For all you stat people there were 4 attempted 3 pointers 3 from Prep and 1 from North East - all missed (0%). Mercyhurst hit 3 from 2 point range, attempting 6 (50%) where North East tried 14 making 7 (50%).

The second quarter started with a missed 3 point attempt by Mercyhurst. The first points came on a turn around jumper from Northeast at 7:24. Mercyhurst next two possessions ended in turnovers, which the Pickers turned into 5 points. Timeout Lakers at 6:20, score 22-8 North East. Out of the time out - another Laker turnover resulting in North East #50 LaFuria dunk - and the fans went wild! Thanks to the Picker fans again for helping with LaFuria's name. The Picker defense held the Lakers scoreless for well over 2 minutes into the second quarter. #50 LaFuria came up big again with an awesome blocked shot and then he hit the ball off a Laker player to go out of bounds. What a heads up play! North East had a not so typical turnover which the Lakers were unable to convert to points and the Pickers called time out at 2:49, score 26-15. The Pickers were called on back to back fouls and the half came to a close with some ribbing of the officials over a questionable no call commited on North East. Officiating is a tough job. Stats, Prep was 3 for 5 from 2 point range, 1 for 2 from 3 point range. North East was 6 for 10 and 1 for 1 respectively. Score at the end of two 30-16 Northeast.

Halftime - I spotted a program rolled up in someone's back pocket and thought briefly how nice it would be to have. Rest assured I did not take it and resigned myself to scour the stands at the end of the game for any remains of a program I could get my hands on. It is always nice to know the players names and stats. It was great to meet some more of the North East fans. I spoke with several of them at the half. One of them asked what other games we were covering tonight. I responded just the one before this, but failed to say why. Big and Skinny were busy tonight working at the BIGskinny Hot Dog Shop, which opens February 22nd.

North East started the second half with the ball and scored at 7:16, 2 points and the foul. Mercyhurst was unable to score on their possession. North East took the ball down and hit a trey. Mercyhurst commited a charge at 6:06, I am sure the North East player will be feeling that today. The Pickers started to pressure the inbounds pass, Mercyhurst timeout at 5:05, score 37-16. Mercyhurst's first points of the quarter came at 4:04. North East called timeout at 2:31 after Prep made a shot plus the foul. During the timeout I spotted a program laying down by the concession area - it looked to be just left there. Score! I leaned over to tell my husband it was there but it was gone before he even saw it. Uuuugh! Stats North East went 3 for 8 from 3 point land and 3 for 7 from two point range, Mercyhurst went 1 for 3 and 3 for 6 respectively. The quarter closed with a score 46-26.

North East started the 4th quarter with the ball, took a charge, called timeout at 6:55 and then committed 4 straight turnovers which converted to fouls on #50 LaFuria and #10 Traina. This was LaFuria's 4th foul and he came out of the game, he ended up fouling out with 2:46 left to play in the game. It looked like Mercyhurst was going to the foul tactic and committed some very hard fouls on the Pickers, however with just under 2 minutes left to play in the game both teams went to their benches. Great moments for younger players to build on. Stats North East went 14-17 from the charity stripe while Mercyhurst only hit 2 for 9 in the last quarter. Meryhurst went 3 for 7 from 2 point range and 2 for 4 from 3 point range. The Pickers went 3 for 4 and 0 for 2 respectivley. There were over 20 fouls in the second half between both teams. The final score was North East 66 Mercyhurst Prep 41.

Let The Program search begin. We sat towards the top of the arena - surely we could spot some tattered program left behind from up there. None. I finally resigned myself to never knowing all the stats on these players. We began our descent and then like a ray of sun beating down, I saw it - a program laying on top of one of the brightly colored seats in the lower section. Would it be there by the time I got there? Yes! Finally I was in possession of The Program, thank you to whomever left it behind. Thank You!

Mercyhurst was led by #12 Hvezda with 26 points. The Lakers #14 Chojnacki added 7 more. The team shot 42% for the game. I wish I would have seen the Lakers in action before tonight. The Pickers just proved to be too much for them tonight. North East was led by#10 Triana with 22 points. The Pickers #20 Rouse added 19 and #00 Szwejbka added 10. Northeast was very impressive at the beginning of the season and looked great tonight. They are a fun team to watch. I love the no look passes and the players tipping the ball to their teamates on loose balls and rebounds. The Lakers numbered was Picked tonight. Outsized or not The Pickers came up with a great win tonight. Good Luck!

Opening Night

Woo Hoo! Basketball season tipped off tonight in a “BigSkinny” way. We traveled to Saegertown where the Panthers hosted the Hickory Hornets, the North East Grape Pickers and the Commodore Perry Panthers.

The first game featured the Hornets vs. the Pickers where the Hornets definitely had their number “Picked” tonight. The opening tip went to the Hornets, who executed great perimeter passing. It was 7:02 before Hickory struck first. North East’s press seemed too much as Hickory had 6 straight turnovers – the 5th ending in a dunk. The score was North East 19, Hickory 9 at the end of the 1st quarter.

The second quarter brought no relief from the Pickers press. Fouls also played a roll in the second quarter. North East was shooting on every foul with 7:15 left to play in the quarter; however 12 of Hickory’s 20 points in the second came from the line. North East saw their fair share of turnovers in the second quarter too – at least 5. Hickory continued to work the perimeter while North East liked to drive the ball. Half time left us at Northeast 40, Hickory 29.

The third quarter saw more of the same. The quarter ended with a dunk from North East’s #50 Patrick Lafuria. North East 54, Hickory 32.

The fourth quarter saw Hickory’s David Lumpp fouling out with 4:36 left to play. Both teams went to their bench to finish out the game. Final score North East 76, Hickory 44.

High scorer for Hickory was junior, #23 Jordan Wilds with 12 points. He was the only Hornet to hit the double digits. Northeast had 5 guys chalk up double digits, with senior starter #3 Aaron Meehl and senior #50 Patrick Lafuria leading with 13 points each.

North East looked good. A few turnovers, but played well. Hickory had perimeter passing, but couldn’t get anything in the paint. Lots of hustle from both teams.

Second game was a Panther showdown, with the Saegertown Panthers hosting the Commodore Perry Panthers. As always, the Saegertown student body was fired up and ready to go. There was a foul called against Commodore Perry at the tip off. Saegertown scored the first 10 points of the game and the Perry Panthers were held scoreless until 6 minutes in the first quarter. The quarter ended Saegertown 23, Commodore Perry 4.

At the end of the second quarter the Saegertown Panthers were up 40 to 16 with Saegertown’s #3 Ben Wetsell racking up 12 points and his teammate #21 Jared Campbell adding 8. We left at the end of the second quarter to check things out at the Cambridge Springs tournament.

We arrived in Cambridge halfway through the 3rd quarter and the Devils were trailing, however they pulled out a 46-42 win. Congratulations Skinny! They will be playing against Greenville tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m.

My first night was awesome. No trips to the concession stand like Big and I’m not so technical like Skinny, but I can tell you that 3 out of the 6 teams I saw tonight had matching shoes! There is something about matching shoes that make an outfit come together. Sorry guys!

Also, kudos to the announcer at Saegertown, I am not sure who he is, but he did a great job! (That would be Bruce Stainbrook)

Heather can be reached at heather@bigskinnyonline.com