JOHNSONBURG 73, A-C VALLEY 43

D9Sports.com powered by the RRR Roadhouse

Dec. 8, 2007

By Chris Rossetti

FOXBURG – Four players scored in double figures to lead Johnsonburg to a 73-43 non-conference road win at A-C Valley Saturday afternoon.

“We have a situation where on any given night we could have five or six guys in double figures,” Johnsonburg head coach Dan Thorwart said. “We aren’t sure who it is going to be at any given time. Getting that kind of balance has really been crucial to our start and will be crucial as we move through the season.”

One thing that has been a certainty through the first four games for Johnsonburg is junior forward Seth Streich scoring 20 points. The 6-3 transfer from Ridgway last season (he didn’t play basketball a year ago) is averaging 22.5 points per game in his first four contests. Saturday, he had 23 points and 11 rebounds.

“He has been absolutely huge for us,” Thorwart said. “Not only is he capable of giving us a double-double every night, he is blending in with the other guys. It has been a perfect marriage for us.”

Zach Padasak added 16 points, 8 rebounds, Paul Imbrogno had 12 points and Ren Yonker 11 points and nine boards for the Rams.

“We are in a fortunate situation where we have three returning starters plus Seth,” Thorwart said. “We have veteran leaders in Zach Padasak and Paul Imbrogno who just play all the time for 32 minutes. They each had their strengths. Then we have Ren, who is in his second year as the point guard. He has done a great job. We are really happy with where we are. We have as tight of a team as I have probably ever coached so far. The scoring is balanced. They like to come to work every day. They love to play.”

With the victory, Johnsonburg is 3-1, its best start since going 11-0 in 2003-04. That season the Rams finished 26-5 overall, took second in District 9 Class A and advanced to the PIAA semifinals.

“We are probably further along at this point in the year than we thought we would be,” Thorwart said. “We know we have a long way to go, and we have to improve in all phases of the game. So far, we are happy with our progress, and we know we are going to continue to get better as the season goes along.”

One thing Johnsonburg seems pretty adept at already is playing defense. The Rams, using their patented 2-3 zone defense, limited A-C Valley (1-4) to 32.1 percent shooting (17 of 53) and forced 21 Falcon turnovers.

“We have an offense, we just didn’t run it,” A-C Valley head coach Jim Marron said. “Johnsonburg has been playing a 2-3 zone ever since Moby Dick was a minnow. We knew what they were going to do, and we practiced against it last night. You get the ball inside. We just didn’t do it. We were content to shoot from 30 feet. It is a lot easier.”

Early on the game looked like it was going to be a back-and-forth affair as both teams came out on fire.

Both teams were 4 of 5 from the field in the early going with Johnsonburg holding an early 11-10 lead thanks to a perfect 3-for-3 from the free-throw line. A-C Valley actually hit 5 of 6 shots to begin the game and trailed 13-12 with 4:47 left in the opening quarter.

“We could beat anybody if we hit 80 percent of our shots,” Marron said.

Unfortunately for A-C Valley, it missed its next eight shots allowing Johnsonburg to go on a 10-0 run.

“We came out in a little more extended zone to start the game, and they were getting better looks at the basket,” Thorwart said. “We packed that zone in a little bit tighter and forced some outside shots. They weren’t quite getting the same looks. I think that was the difference.”

To say A-C Valley wasn’t getting the same looks is an understatement. The Falcons hit just three of their final 19 shots in the first half allowing Johnsonburg to build a 43-19 halftime lead.

It didn’t help the Falcons cause that Johnsonburg shot 50 percent (16 of 32) in the first half and 47.3 percent (26 of 55) for the game.

“We have been shooting like that pretty much all year long,” Thorwart said. “We like to spread the floor and attack the basket. We are getting high quality shots or are getting to the foul line.”

Johnsonburg got to the foul line 28 times Saturday making 19 of them. The Rams built the lead to 62-30 at the end of three quarters and put the Mercy Rule into effect early in the fourth quarter when they got the lead to 40 points, 72-32.

Nick McGuirk led A-C Valley with nine points, while Nate Silvis added eight. Reed Terwilliger and Allan Eaton each had eight rebounds.

Johnsonburg returns to action Monday at Port Allegany, while A-C Valley hosts Rocky Grove Monday.

JOHNSONBURG 73, A-C VALLEY 43

Score by Quarter

Johnsonburg 25 18 19 11 – 73

A-C Valley 14 5 11 13 – 43

Johnsonburg – 73

Zach Padasak 6 4-6 16, Matt Shuey 1 3-6 5, Paul Imbrogno 4 3-5 12, Seth Streich 8 7-7 23, Aaron Patrick 3 0-0 6, Ren Yonker 4 2-4 11, Emilio Sallows 0 0-0 0, Dakota Gorske 0 0-0 0, Steve Carnessal 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 19-28 73.

A-C Valley – 43

Nate Silvis 3 0-0 8, John Stumpner 1 2-2 5, Kyle Hirsch 0 0-0 0, Joe Kaufmann 0 0-0 0, Josh Austin 1 0-0 3, Nick McGuirk 4 0-0 9, Mike Himes 2 2-5 6, Reed Terwilliger 2 0-0 4, Allan Eaton 3 0-0 6, Blayne McGuirk 1 0-0 2, Tom Bell 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 4-7 43.

Three-pointers – Johnsonburg 2 (Imbrogno, Yonker). A-C Valley 5 (Silvis 2, Stumpner, Austin, Nick McGuirk).