The top two teams in Section 1 of 6A squared off as New Castle hosted North Hills. New Castle entered this one as the only remaining unbeaten team in 6A with a perfect record of 12-0. North Hills ranks second in the section with a record of 10-4 and had won seven straight before dropping a game to Woodland Hills earlier in the week.
New Castle jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as senior, Damian Harrison, started the game with a three from the right wing. North Hills junior, Nathan Schanbacher answered with a floater, but Chase Lemmon of New Castle drained back to back threes to increase the New Castle lead.
Schanbacher answered with a three of his own to make the score 13-7 in favor of the Hurricanes. Harrison scored again with an acrobatic finish to put New Castle up 17-7 with 2:13 to go in the first quarter. New Castle ended the quarter on a 10-0 run as freshman point guard, Marino Graham, fired a pass to a cutting teammate to put the Canes up 23-7 after one.
Harrison stayed aggressive to start the second, scoring on another layup in what was a big first half for him. North Hills senior, Jackson Long, hit a three midway through the quarter as they tried to get back into this game, but North Hills still trailed 29-12.
New Castle star sophomore, Kai Cox, got in on the action by draining a three to put the Canes up 34-14 late in the first half. Shortly after, Harrison threw down his first dunk of the night in what was also his 1,000th career point.
With a minute to go in the half, Cox ripped the ball out of the hands of North Hills right after they inbounded the ball and immediately scored inside plus the foul. It was all New Castle in that first half, as they led 41-19 at the break. The Canes were playing their signature smothering defense and hitting shots from the outside, and when the three is falling for them, they’re really tough to stop.
North Hills began the third quarter on a 7-1 run as they were looking to get back in this game in a hurry with Schanbacher scoring on a step-through and-1 to start the half. Cox slashed to the basket and scored again, but Schanbacher hit another three to make the score 46-30 midway through the quarter.
Cox continued to find success in the quarter, driving and scoring and then stealing the inbounds pass and laying that up as well. Freshman sensation, Marino Graham, got going in the quarter also, scoring on a drive down the left lane and draining back to back threes from the top of the key. Graham might only be a freshman, but he plays with the poise and composure of a seasoned veteran. Cox got another steal and dumped it off to Harrison for a dunk and after three quarters, it was New Castle ahead 60-34.
Harrison’s big night continued into the fourth quarter as he began the period with another triple. Schanbacher continued to carry the offensive load for North Hills, getting the and-1 to go early and then draining a pull-up jumper midway through the fourth.
Cox found Harrison slashing to the rim again for another dunk and that seemed to put a bow on this one. From that point on New Castle really slowed things down, working the ball around quite a bit before shooting.
Both teams put their subs in the game in the last minute and when the final horn sounded, New Castle emerged victorious by a score of 77-56. New Castle got solid contributions from several players tonight with Harrison leading the way with 23 points. Cox wasn’t far behind with 21 and Graham poured in 14, which included 12 in the second half.
Cox spoke to the unselfish nature of this team after the game saying, “Coach Blundo teaches us all of the right things about how to play basketball. We all like to get each other buckets and it lets us all eat”.
New Castle moves to 13-0 on the season and is looking like another title-bound team for Head Coach, Ralph Blundo. He spoke about his team and the way this town rallies around them each season saying, “The kids in this community love to play and our community gives them a lot to play for”.
North Hills is off until next week when they take on Butler, but New Castle will be back in action on Saturday when they face off against Lincoln Park in the Ron Galbreath Classic at Westminster College.