Jan 6, 2017 3 min read

The boys basketball contest between Wash High and Charleroi Friday night featured the only two teams who were unbeaten in Section 4-AAA.

It didn’t turn out to be much of a contest.

Paced by five players in double figures, Washington made a strong statement, dominating the Cougars from the opening tip in a 75-25 win.

This comes on the heels of a 19-point section win against Southmoreland Tuesday as Wash High (4-0, 5-3) is starting to click.

“We’re just trying to get better,” said Wash High head coach Ron Faust. “We are starting to get people to buy in to what we are trying to do at both ends of the floor.”

Early on it was the Jacob Swartz show for the Prexies as the senior carried the Wash High offense, scoring 13 of his team’s first 15 points as WHS built a quick 19-10 lead.

Swartz finished with 17 points, all coming in the first half.

“My teammates did a good job of getting me the ball when I was open in the post,” Swartz said. “We moved the ball real well as a team and I was able to find some open spots early on.”

Swartz’s performance certainly made Faust happy as well.

“Jacob is quite an asset,” Faust said. “He has great hands inside and is doing a nice job defensively. He is getting on the glass and is the one who sparks our break with good outlet passes. He has been playing some good basketball.”

Once Wash High built up an early lead, they turned to a smothering man-to-man defense, which limited Charleroi (2-1, 5-6) to contested shots all night long.

“We are just starting to understand team defense,” Faust said. “With our athleticism and team quickness we can be a pretty good defensive team. That is where we are stressing things in practice right now. On a night where maybe you don’t shoot the ball that great, the defense is going to be invaluable. We are starting to buy into that.”

The Prexies put the game away early, going on a 37-9 run over the last 10 minutes of the first half as Wash High took a 46-16 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The beginning of the third quarter was more of the same for Wash High as the Prexies opened with a 14-3 run to extend the lead to 60-19 and get the game into the Mercy Rule before Faust emptied his bench.

“We knew we had to stop them in transition,” Charleroi head coach Bill Wiltz said. “I think we did a decent job of that at times, but we didn’t do a thing on offense. Defensively, every time they penetrated they either scored or got an offensive rebound. We tried to go zone and force them to shoot from the outside. That didn’t work. They are just too athletic.”

In addition to the big night from Jacob Swartz, Wash High’s Isaiah Robinson led all scorers with 19 points.

Matt Popeck (11), Zach Swartz (10) and Ronnie Paith (10) also scored in double figures for the Prexies.

“It’s hard to beat a team that is getting layups,” Faust said. “If we keep doing our thing and play tough defense and get rebounds and push the ball, we have enough athleticism that we can be pretty competitive.”

Charleroi was led in scoring by Caleb Carson with 11 points.