Local Sports

Juniata holds off charging Mount Union in tournament

Trojans’ strong fourth not enough

THREE SPRINGS -- Despite a strong and physical defense, the Mount Union offense nearly scored as many points in the fourth as it did in the previous three quarters. Ultimately, the comeback attempt fell just short as the Trojans fell to the Juniata Indians, 59-54, during the first round of the Southern Huntingdon Tip-Off boys basketball tournament Friday night.

Mount Union trailed by 17 points after three quarters of basketball. In the fourth, the Trojans scored 25 points after scoring 29 in the previous three.

A large reason for the big comeback was credited to the intensity of the Mount Union defense as the Trojans were bringing the heat and Juniata struggled to respond to the defensive pressure.

Mount Union then went on a tear offensively behind the efforts of Dayvon Wilson and Andrew Cuff who combined for 16 of the team's 25 points in the fourth which eventually brought the lead down to single digits making it 58-54 prior to a Juniata timeout.

But the Indians managed to make the free throws late in the quarter to carry them to victory in large part due to the clutch free throws from senior Max Lauver who nailed five of six attempts at the line.

"It's the first game of the season, you're going to have some good runs and some bad runs. We had some really good runs early in the game. Then in the fourth quarter we didn't handle the pressure as well as I thought we would have and we didn't continue to run our offense," Indians coach Al Ream said. "We started to just pass the ball and not attack the basket like we've been doing through the first three quarters so all of that led to them being able to get some buckets at the other end. We slacked on our defensive pressure a little bit which gave them some opportunities."

Despite the loss, coach Scott McClain was proud of his team's never say die mentiality.

"I definitely like the effort, I think we started to trust each other, you started to see a little bit more of less about individual play, it was more of they had a goal in mind and you can see it in the end," McClain said. "The only thing is we can't wait three quarters to do that every night, especially against a good team. They are a good team, they are well coached, they're always in the right spot. I told them that all week, this is what you're going to play. They're frustrating team to play because they play so well."

Things didn't look to be going good for Mount Union at first as the Trojans struggled to get going offensively during the first quarter. In fact, they weren't able to score a basket until near the end of the frame.

On the flip side, Juniata came out the gate swinging on offense, showcasing continuous ball movement looking to for the best shot possible. Most of the Juniata points scored in the opening period were down in the paint.

Then in the second quarter which could be best described as the GG Ortiz show as Ortiz went off, scoring 10 of the team's 18 points in the quarter. Once the Trojans started to focus on Ortiz, he quickly got the ball moving to his open teammates.

The Trojans then much like in the first quarter, started off slow. But eventually was able to get the shots to fall heading into the break down 32-20.

"They weren't good shots, I mean they were decent shots, if we made the extra pass or two we get that look," McClain said.

The Mount Union defense showed a lot of intensity in the beginning of the third quarter keeping the Juniata offense in check early on.

That was until Lauver started to spread the floor connecting with two big shots from beyond the arc. Allowing his teammates to drive into the lane to but in some extra buckets.

Juniata showed tough defense as well in the quarter holding the Mount Union offense to just nine points in the quarter.

The Indians had four different players who scored in double digits for the entire game. Lauver led the them with 14 points, while both Ortiz and Austin Derr each added another 13 points and Jacob Condo scored 12 for the night.

"I thought our offense went well for three quarters and then I told the kids and I said maybe I didn't make you understand or I didn't get it across to you but we still wanted to work the ball and look to score," Ream said. "Instead of just running time off the clock in the fourth quarter. We missed a couple easy shots, we missed a couple foul shots that would have made hits a 10 point victory instead of a five point victory."

For Mount Union, the Trojans had three players who had double digit games in Wilson, Devo Delo and Cuff. Delo and Cuff led the way with 12 points each and Wilson added another 11 for the night.

Juniata starts off the season at (1-0) will be face the Juniata Valley Hornets in the tournament finals.

"I'm pleased with our effort, I thought we played together, I thought we talked defensively. We started to rebound at the end of the game really well and I've just got to learn from our mistakes in this game and move forward," Ream said. "Fortunately it was a W for us and now we can pick up and play tommorow night and hopefully we will come out on top."

Meanwhile, Mount Union (0-1) will battle it out with the Southern Huntingdon Rockets in the third-place game. McClain is hopeful that the fourth quarter performance, will carry over into the next game.

"Defensively I think we amped it up and I think they've seen what kind of effort we need to play at a high level so I liked a lot of the fourth quarter, I don't like losing but if we would have lost by 15 or 20 and just packed it in like we could have and it would have been a different taste in my mouth," McClain said. "If it takes us three quarters again and maybe that's a problem we're going to have to address. But I think the biggest thing was trying to recipitate game speed at practice and you seen it in the first half we weren't there yet but we got better as the game went on so I'll take it."

Both games will be played today.

Juniata 59, Mount Union 54

JUNIATA

Caleb Smith 1 2-4 5, Jacob Condo 5 1-2 12, Yaniel Ortiz 5 2-5 13, Evan Leach 1 0-0 2, Austin Derr 5 3-3 13, Max Lauver 3 5-6 14, Bryce Rush 0 0-0 0, Seth Laub 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 13-20 59

3-point goals: Smith, Condo, Ortiz, Lauver 3.

MOUNT UNION

Devo Delo 6 0-1 12, Lucas Barksdale 2 0-0 4, Jayvien Brumbaugh 2 0-0 5, Bryce Danish 2 0-3 5, Dayvon Wilson 4 1-1 11, Quartey Williams 2 0-0 5, Andrew Cuff 5 2-2 12. Totals: 23 3-7 54.

3-point goals: Brumbaugh, Danish, Wilson 2, Williams.

Score by quarters

Juniata 14-18-14-13 --59

Mount Union 8-12-9-25 -- 54