Consistency, wins become elusive for Ringgold
Ringgold’s Seth Cooper passes to a teammate during Tuesday night’s game against Laurel Highlands.
Ringgold’s Sam Wingrove, left, and Trevor Colucci fight to control the ball from Laurel Highland’s Chayton Burchick during the second half of Tuesday’s game at Ringgold.
MONONGAHELA – When Phil Pergola came back in 2013 to coach the boys basketball team at Ringgold High School, he knew there was plenty of work ahead of him.
Two years later, the Rams have an troublesome issue they cannot seem to solve – an inability to play a complete 32-minute game of quality basketball.
That problem resurfaced against Section 4-AAA opponent Laurel Highlands Tuesday night as Ringgold was outscored 23-5 in the third quarter of a 63-49 loss.
“It’s going to take (our players) to figure out why they aren’t playing a full four quarters,” said Pergola. “When we come in here (Wednesday), somebody better have some answers.”
The Rams need an answer for their inability to protect the basketball. Laurel Highlands forced the Rams into 21 turnovers, 15 of which were steals, to push itself into a comfortable lead midway through the third quarter.
“We were really flat the whole game,” said Pergola. “It’s one thing to have a turnover because the other team forced it, but it’s another thing to have a turnover because of your own mistakes. Most of our turnovers are our own fault, not because of the defense.”
The Mustangs capitalized on both the turnovers they forced and the self-inflicted mistakes handed to them by Ringgold. The turnovers created an up-tempo style that was more conducive to the Mustangs’ liking.
“I thought we came out with really good intensity,” said Laurel Highlands head coach Rick Hauger. “We changed our defense in the second quarter, and that in turn sparked our offense because we started getting some stops.”
Defensive stops and fast-break opportunities were exactly what happened after the Mustangs changed their defense, as all of Ringgold’s turnovers came after the first quarter.
A three-point basket from Ringgold guard Anthony Pampena late in the second quarter tied the score at 25-25, but Laurel Highlands took a 29-27 advantage into halftime.
That lead for Laurel Highlands quickly grew once the third quarter started. Two putbacks from Hudson Novak and Bryce Laskey sparked a 10-point run in the first four minutes of the second half, putting the Mustangs ahead 43-28.
“We came right out, had a dumb turnover right off the bat and it just went downhill from there,” said Pergola. “It’s things like careless, soft passes and not stepping to the ball.”
Laurel Highlands (5-4, 10-7) had all things clicking on the offensively with four players reaching double figures. Leading the way was Laskey, who had a game-high 20 points. Jake Swartz finished with 12 points.
Initiating the balanced offense attack for Laurel Highlands was senior point guard Daniel Cavinee, who had five steals and nine assists.
The slow, deliberate offensive for the Rams (3-5, 7-7) proved ineffective as Pampena was the only player to reach double-digits with 17 points, connecting on five three-pointers.
“We don’t have a basketball player,” said Pergola. “We have football and baseball kids playing basketball. We don’t have a kid that eats and sleeps the game of basketball. Somebody needs to step up and be a leader.
“This program needed turned around. I’ve coached so long that winning and losing isn’t important to me, and if it was, I would’ve stayed at California. I thought if we could get the program turned around, the next coach to come in here can continue to do the same things we did. I think we have it in the right direction. I don’t regret coming back.”