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Hurricanes fall to Raiders Next Game -
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the Red Hurricane Report Guestbook The two best teams in the WPIAL squared off today at Palumbo Center on the campus of Duquesne University for the right to be called WPIAL Champion. The Champion was decided but which team is better was not. Uniontown won the battle 60-57 but the war on the road to Hershey has yet to be decided. For four quarters these titans battled with from time to time each having the upper hand. New Castle led after one period by four 17-13, and at one time in the second period by seven but Uniontown rallied to lead at the half by two. With the Canes down, Uniontown attempted to bury them and outscored the Hurricanes 21-10 in the third quarter to lead 50-37. New Castle now had the seemingly impossible task of coming back from a 13 point deficit. But come back they did and took the lead 57-56 with just 1:26 left to play. The Raiders then made two free throws at 1:13 to regain the lead, 58-57. The Canes then had the ball with 44 seconds to play and made a bad inbounds play that resulted in Uniontown’s ball on the possession arrow. New Castle stole the ball back and worked the ball inside to Leon Ward who attempted a lay-up with two Raiders draped over him. The ball rolled off the rim and Uniontown grabbed the rebound. The Canes then fouled with 5.1 seconds left. Uniontown made both ends of the one-and-one to lead 60-57. With just 5.1 seconds to drive the court and make a ‘three’ New Castle’s inbounds pass came to Dom Joseph. Joseph quickly passed to Mark DeMonaco who drove across mid-court with a Raider defender riding him closely. The defender as had been happening all game put the body on DeMonaco, this time with his knee the defender caused DeMonaco to trip sending the ball rolling into the hands of another Raider. Time ran out and this battle was lost. New Castle got the opening tip of the game and Joseph scored to give the Canes the lead at 7:31. Uniontown missed their first shot and Joseph grabbed the rebound. Ward was hit on the fastbreak, he layed it in and was fouled. Ward made the free throw and the Canes lead 5-0 at 7:13. The Raiders responded with two at 7:08. Dante Spino then scored at 6:48 to put the Canes up 7-2. Uniontown again scored quickly closing to within three. The next four possessions were pretty ugly for the Canes as they turned it over three times and missed a shot while the Raiders hit a ‘three’ to tie the game at 5:14. Finally Ward scored again at 4:14 to put the Canes ahead 9-7. After another Raiders’ miss Joseph grabbed another rebound and Ward scored again, 11-7 Canes with 3:47 to play in the period. Each team’s next two possessions resulted in turnovers before the Raiders put back an offensive rebound to close to 11-9 at 2:34. Another Canes’ miss and the Raiders scored tying the game at 11, at 1:59. Joseph scored at 1:42 to get the lead back but Uniontown responded at 1:19 to tie it again. Hoover Gibson scored his first two points of the game with 57 second left, 15-13 Canes. Uniontown missed and Joseph grabbed another rebound. At the other end Joseph was fouled and made both free throws. The quarter ended the with New Castle on top 17-13. Both teams missed their first shots of the second period. Uniontown went to the free throw line to shoot two at 6:53 making them both closing to within two 17-15. The Hurricanes missed their next shot but quickly stole the ball right back. Uniontown returned the favor stealing the ball and was fouled while shooting. The Raiders missed both free throws. New Castle grabbed the rebound but turned the ball back over and the Raiders hit a basket tying the score at 5:52, 17-17. Ward scored at 5:31 on a missed shot putting the Hurricanes back on top 19-17. After a Raiders miss DeMonaco hit a ‘three’ giving the Canes some momentum and a five point lead 22-17. New Castle then stole the ball and Spino scored putting the Canes ahead by seven, 24-17 at the 4:28 mark. Following another Uniontown turnover the Canes had three shots but couldn’t get the ball to fall. Finally Chris Cain was fouled and went to the line for a one-and-one. He missed the front and Uniontown got the rebound. The Raiders missed again and the Canes were flying. New Castle missed a ‘three’ on that possession and Uniontown quickly drove to the other end and was fouled while shooting. They hit both free throws closing to 24-19. New Castle turned it over on the ensuing possession and Uniontown hit a ‘three’ to close within two with 2:40 left in the half. The Canes then missed but Mark DeMonaco went up high for the ball. He and a Raider got tangled up and DeMonaco fell to the floor with the ball. Traveling was called on the play giving Uniontown the ball. The Raiders missed on that possession and Mark DeMonaco was fouled as the Canes moved back down the court. DeMonaco made the front of the one-and-one putting the Hurricanes up 25-22 at the two minute mark. At 1:47 DeMonaco was called for his third foul sending the Raiders to the line for a one-and-one. They made both ends to close to within one, 24-25. New Castle missed on their next possession, then Joseph was called for a foul and the Raiders returned to the free throw line for another one-and-one. This time they made the front only but tied the score at 25 with 1:25 left in the half. On the Canes next possession Spino was called for an offensive foul while splitting two defenders giving the ball back to the Raiders. Uniontown hit a basket with 1:17 left and grabbed a 27-25 lead. Joseph scored at the 21 second mark to tie the score but Uniontown scored with just three seconds to play in the half to hold a two point lead, 29-27 at intermission. Uniontown had possession to open the third quarter and quickly drove to the hoop scoring and was fouled. The three point play put the Raiders up 32-27 at 7:50. After a Canes’ miss the Raiders scored again to go up by seven, 34-27. A missed ‘three’ by New Castle led to another Uniontown score and the lead was now nine at 6:18. Joseph hit two free throws at 6:04 but the Raiders responded with a ‘three’ to lead 39-29 at 5:38. Joseph was fouled again at 5:10 but this time missed both free throws. Then at 4:51 Uniontown went to the line for two making them both, extending their lead to 41-29. At 4:30 Ward was fouled while shooting and went to the line for two. He made only one. The Raiders answered again with a ‘three’ moving out to a 44-30 lead at 4:11. Joseph was back at the foul line at 3:46 this time he made them both closing the gap to 12 points. Uniontown missed their next shot and Cain made them pay with a ‘three’ at 3:01 and the Hurricanes closed to within nine, 35-44. The Raiders missed again but so did the Canes. New Castle then stole the ball back but missed again. Uniontown then scored a ‘two’ at 1:32 to go back up by 11. With just 1:14 left in the period Joseph as at the foul line again for a one-and-one and He made them both again. Uniontown scored at 56 seconds to lead 48-38. New Castle missed their next shot then the Raiders were fouled while shooting. They made both free throws with just 19 seconds left in the third quarter and lead 50-37. Uniontown had possession to start the fourth but the Canes playing desperately and quickly stole the ball and DeMonaco hit a ‘three’ at 7:28 to close the gap to 10, 50-40. The Raiders scored at 7:04 to put the lead up to 12. New Castle missed a ‘three’ on their next possession but the Canes half court trap defense caused at Raider turnover. Spino hit a ‘two’ at 6:23 then after another Hurricanes’ steal Spino hit a ‘three’ and the lead was down to seven at 5:56. After another Raiders’ miss Gibson grabbed the rebound. DeMonaco was then fouled at 5:33 and went to the line for a one-and-one. He made them both and the Canes now only trailed by five. Uniontown hit a ‘two’ at 4:55 to lead by seven. Gibson then hit a lay-up at 4:28 to again narrow the gap. The Canes caused another turnover and Spino was fouled and went to the line to shoot two at 3:51. He missed them both. The Raiders missed their next shot and Joseph got the rebound. DeMonaco then nailed a ‘three’ at 3:07 and the Hurricanes closed to within two, 54-52. Each team turned the ball over on their next possession, then at 2:16 the Raiders grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back to get their lead back to four, 56-52. Joseph then scored at 2:00 to close the gap again. The New Castle defensive pressure was still causing Uniontown trouble and they turned it over again. Ward made them pay by nailing a ‘three’ at 1:26 and New Castle had the lead 57-56. Uniontown was then fouled at 1:13 and made both free throws to regain the lead 58-57. After a Raider time-out the Canes took the ball out under the Uniontown hoop. The Raiders were in their full court man-for-man defense and disrupted the pass from Ward to Cain. A jump ball was called and Uniontown took possession on the alternate possession arrow. The Hurricanes’ half court trap was still effective and Uniontown gave the ball back to the Canes when the ball was thrown back over mid-court for a turnover with just 31 seconds to play. New Castle trailing by only one worked the ball for a good shot. At the 10 second mark Joseph got the ball into Ward in the paint under the hoop. Ward slid to the side and went up with two defenders draped on him. The ball rolled across the rim Uniontown grabbed the rebound. The Canes fouled at the 5.1 second mark and Uniontown went to the line for a one-and-one. They made them both and the lead was 60-57. With just 5.1 seconds to drive the court and make a ‘three’, New Castle’s inbounds pass came to Dom Joseph. Joseph quickly passed to Mark DeMonaco who drove across midcourt with a Raider defender riding him closely. The defender as had been happening all game put the body on DeMonaco, this time with his knee the defender caused DeMonaco to trip sending the ball rolling into the hands of another Raider. Uniontown 60 New Castle 57 Dom Joseph led the Canes with 16 points. While Leon Ward added 13 and Mark DeMonaco had 12. New Castle was 12 for 20 from the free throw line. Uniontown was 13 of 16. Once again the New Castle crowd was double the size if the opponents crowd.
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