Dec 11, 2018 3 min read

McMURRAY – More often than not, getting outrebounded by double digits and committing 16 turnovers would be the recipe for a loss.

Peters Township was able to avoid that scenario by playing strong zone defense and finding accuracy from behind the three-point stripe as the Indians held off an athletic New Castle squad, 67-61, Tuesday evening in McMurray.

Colin Cote and Dax Ploskina paced the Indians (2-1) with 24 and 16 points, respectively. Much of their damage came from behind the three-point arc as the duo combined for five three pointers for the game.

Sheldon Cox and Drew Cox led the Class AAAA Red Hurricanes (2-1) with 15 and 14 points, respectively.

“That is a real tough team and as good a program as you’re going to find,” Peters Township coach Gary Goga said. “That was a great non-conference test for us. I have so much respect for their program and was glad they came down and played us.”

New Castle used their speed and athleticism to force Peters Township out of its offensive flow for large parts of the game. The Indians also crashed the boards to the tune of a 32-21 rebounding edge. But the Peters Township front line of Sean Werner and Max McCaig was able to alter and reject many close-in shots, stifling the Red Hurricanes and giving the Indians an edge in the half-court for much of the night.

“We have to rebound better; it’s that simple,” Goga said repeatedly after the game. “We have to get a body on a body and get better positioning than we did tonight. We also have to take better care of the ball. Can’t have more than 10 turnovers in a game, period.”

Peters Township got off to a strong start, thanks to Cote’s 10 first quarter points. His outburst helped offset the Red Hurricanes’ 7-1 rebounding edge in the opening frame as the Indians closed the period with a 23-16 lead.

A late second-quarter Ploskina three-pointer stretched the Indians advantage to 34-28 at the break.

The second half began with the hosts flexing their defensive muscles. Using an active match-up zone, the Indians held the Red Hurricanes to 2 of 12 shooting from the field. They also forced six turnovers in the quarter and stretched the advantage to 45-35 at the end of the third.

“We’re a zone team for sure,” Goga said. “We did a good job there keeping them out of the paint and forcing some bad shots.”

New Castle began to claw back into the contest using a trapping, full-court press that forced turnovers. A 6-0 run cut the deficit to 49-43 early in the quarter. After a McCaig lay-up stretched the lead to eight, Demetris McKnight (10 points) tipped in a miss to again cut the Indians’ lead to six. But Ploskina restored order with a three-point dagger that stretched the lead to nine at 54-45 midway through the quarter.

Peters Township looked to put the game on ice when Ploskina drained another three with 3:40 left in the game to extend the lead to 59-48. But an 8-3 New Castle run, capped by a Michael Wells (11 points) three pointer, sliced the advantage to six again, as Peters Township held a 62-56 lead with 1:10 remaining.

The Indians were able to clinch the game from the foul line as Ploskina made three of four free-throws in the final minute and change. Peters Township made seven of 11 from the stripe to hold off the Red Hurricane down the stretch.