LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - JANUARY 26, 2020 Knicks vs Bulls In each team’s final game of the season, the Knicks and Bulls faced off for the second time. The first time these two teams matched up, the Bulls held off a late rally by the Knicks and came away with a 36-26 victory. The Knicks who have been playing some much improved basketball lately were hoping to keep that momentum going even with being without key contributors Preston Heschke and Lucas Miller going into this game. Connor Hanley provided all of the offense for the Knicks in the first half while going 2 for 5 from the field. While Thomas “Tommy Guns” Englerth and Harrison Porter combined for 8 rebounds for the Knicks. The Bulls provided a balanced attack on offense with Jackson Hubbard and Cole “Cray Cray” Cray both going 1 for 2 from the field in the first half. Also scoring for the Bulls was Cam Weber who hit one of two from the foul line. But it was Carter McClurg providing the biggest spark for the Bulls as he went 3 for 6 including a running 3 pointer from the top of the key to lead his team with 7 first half points. Combine all of that with some great defense by Dominic DeJesus and Aiden Weise and the Bulls rolled into the end of the first half with a 12-4 lead. The Knicks offense came alive in the second half. Point guard Landon “Kacz” Kacznowski took a break dealing assists all day and decided to take matters into his own hands with 2 points of his own. Owen Nichols got on the board with a nice jumper from the lane and Eli “Skull” Fortuna got hot by going 2 for 3 from the field and leading his team with 4 points in the second half. It wasn’t all offense though for the Knicks as Killian Connolly played some outstanding defense to keep his team in the game. The Bulls offense struggled a little in the second half but not because of Logan Corcimiglia who went 1 for 2 for 2 points. Since the shots weren’t falling the Bulls defense had to step it up, and step it up they did as Kiptone Cone and Andrew Sibley anchored the defense and allowed the Bulls to hold on for the 18-12 victory. The Bulls were led in scoring by Carter McClurg with 9 points. Other contributors were Cole Cray with 4 points, Jackson Hubbard and Logan Corcimiglia with 2 points and CamWeber with 1 point. The Knicks were led in scoring by Connor Hanley and Eli Fortuna with 4 points each. Other contributors were Landon Kacznowski and Owen Nichols with 2 points each. Lakers vs Celtics The final game of the 1st and 2nd Grade Basketball League season matched the undefeated Lakers and the one loss Celtics. The Celtics only loss of the season came at the hands of the Lakers during a last minute 32-30 comeback win in week 2. The first game between these two teams was high intensity and down to the wire, this game would prove to be much more of the same. They say defense wins championships and both teams took that to heart in this game as scoring was scarce throughout the game. Nate Conte set the tone early with a nice blocked shot on a 3 point attempt for the Lakers. The Lakers Dylan Loftus and Ben Biracree also played great defense and combined to grab 6 rebounds in the first half. Blake Fetzer’s hot hand provided most of the first half offense for the Lakers as he went 3 for 5 for 6 points. The Celtics defense was not going to be outdone as both Gunner Humphrey and Weston Humphrey played outstanding defense on the outside to slow down the Lakers high powered offense. With the outside taken care of, the Celtics needed some muscle down low to protect the lane and that’s where Quinton Ianni and Ben Cashin came to play. One of the key match-ups going into this game was the Celtics’ Ryker “Greek Freak” Vangalio going against the Lakers’ Sammy “Little Kobe” Bogue as both players lead their respective teams in scoring. Great defense played on each other canceled out most of their scoring as they combined for 6 total points in the first half. At the end of the half the game was tied up 8-8. In the second half the Lakers stingy defense, led by Graham Pawlick and John Amico kept up the pressure. While the Celtics offense tried to wake up a little in the second half. Zack Pocock got on the board early with 2 points in the second half along with Brody “Professor” Wilson who scored 2 points of his own for the Celtics. Joey Wujcik did his best to make sure the Lakers offense was held in check in the second half as he was relentless on defense all over the court. For the Lakers, Blake “Sweet Tea” Biracree got going with 4 points in the second half and Wyatt Whipple provided some much needed defense to keep his team in the game. But sometimes big things come from little packages as Robert Humphrey hit some huge shots down the stretch which allowed the Celtics to pull away. The Celtics were able to hold onto the win and give the Lakers their first loss of the season and also share the league title. The Celtics and Lakers both finished the season at 5-1 and were co-champions of the 1st and 2nd grade Basketball League. The Lakers were led in scoring by Blake Fetzer who had 6 points. Other contributors were Blake Biracree with 4 points and Sammy Bogue with 2 points. The Celtics were led in scoring by Robert Humphrey who had 8 points. Other contributors were Ryker Vangalio with 6 points, Brody Wilson and Zack Pocok with 2 points each. Thank you to all the league participants, coaches (Lakers - Joe Bogue and Marty Biracree, Bulls - Rich Sibley, Knicks - Nick Fortuna and Celtics - Ric Vangalio), League stat keeper (Jaime Biracree) and all the parents for making this year so much fun and successful. We look forward to next season. Boys Basketball Recaps