East Palestine’s Braydon Plum runs into heavy traffic as Leetonia’s Kyle Brown (30) and Chase Bondi (5) defend on the play Tuesday. (Morning Journal/Ron Firth)

Leetonia 56, East Palestine 50

LEETONIA — Leetonia was king for a day.

Junior Jason King scored a career-high 17 points and Dylan Johns had 17 more in leading Leetonia past East Palestine, 56-50, in Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference play Tuesday.

Leetonia improves to 3-8 overall and 2-4 in league play, while East Palestine falls to 0-8 and 0-6 in the EOAC.

The Bears held the lead for most of the game except for the Bulldogs jumping ahead 16-15 and 18-17. Leetonia used a 16-9 third-quarter run to take a 47-37 advantage.

Both teams started off slow as the game was scoreless for the opening 3:41.

King scored eight points in a minute and a half as the Bears took a 13-6 lead.

Johns scored nine points in the second quarter, including a three-pointer after a Chase Bondi offensive rebound, and King added two free throws to put the Bears up 30-20 with 2:36 left in the second quarter. East Palestine closed the gap to 31-28 at halftime after converting a pair of Leetonia turnovers into baskets.

Braydon Plum led the Bulldogs with 13 points and four steals. Clark Rutledge contributed 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Also for the Bulldogs, Kealin Simon added 10 points, Brad Bartels 10 rebounds and three assists and Michael Chestnut seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.

East Palestine won the two-quarter junior varsity game, 18-9. Shane Newman topped the Bulldogs with six points. Kaydn Taylor had four points for the Bears.

Both teams play Friday with Leetonia at Lisbon and East Palestine hosting Southern Local.

EP: 16-12- 9-13–50

L: 15-16-16- 9–56

EAST PALESTINE SCORING: Brad Bartels 1-0-3, Drew Bycroft 1-1-3, Peyton Rutledge 1-0-2, Braydon Plum 6-1-13, Clark Rutledge 3-4-12, Tanner Morrow 0-2-2, Michael Chestnut 2-0-5, Kealin Simon 4-0-10. TEAM TOTALS: 18, 8-18: 50.

LEETONIA SCORING: Jason King 5-6-17, Dylan Johns 6-4-17, Ethan Mathia 2-0-5, Kyle Brown 1-1-3, Aiden Hunter 3-4-10, Chase Bondi 2-0-4, Grayden Henderson 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 19, 15-22: 56.

Three-point goals: East Palestine 6 (C. Rutledge 2, Simon 2, Bartels, Chestnut), Leeonia 3 (King, Mathia, Johns).

Columbiana 58, Wellsville 50

COLUMBIANA — Columbiana made nine of 11 free throws in the fourth quarter to beat Wellsville, 58-50, Tuesday and create a logjam at the top of the Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference.

The Clippers are 8-2 overall and 5-1 in the EOAC, tied for the lead with Valley Christian and Lisbon. Columbiana will play at Valley on Friday for the league lead.

Cooper Brown led the Clippers with 22 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Senator Johnson contributed 18 points and eight rebounds. Hunter Davanzo totaled 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Wellsville moves to 3-8 overall and 3-3 in the EOAC. The Tigers will play at United on Friday.

Austin Adkins topped the Tigers with 14 points. Darnell Roe had 13 points and Andrew Mackey 10.

Wellsville won the junior varsity game, 42-37. Cooper Frank led the Tigers with 13 points. Liam McElwain had 14 points for the Clippers.

W: 14-13-13-10–50

C: 14-13-14-17–58

WELLSVILLE SCORING: Jeron Jackson 2-2-7, Darnell Roe 5-0-13, Austin Adkins 5-2-14, Clayten Kersey 0-0-0, Andrew Mackey 5-0-10, Haydin Oliver 3-0-6, Cooper Frank 0-0-0, Eric Dowling 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 20, 4-9: 50.

COLUMBIANA SCORING: Cooper Brown 7-5-22, Senator Johnson 6-5-18, Trey Snyder 0-0-0, Avery Young 1-4-7, Hunter Davanzo 5-1-11, Zander Oliver 0-0-0, Deron Winnale 0-0-0, Liam McElwain 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 19-46, 15-27: 58.

Three-point goals: Wellsville 6 (Roe 3, Adkins 2, Jackson), Columbiana 5-16 (Brown 3, Johnson, Young).

Lisbon 56, Valley 45

YOUNGSTOWN –Lisbon got back into the Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference hunt by knocking off Valley Christian 56-45 on Tuesday.

The Devils (7-3 overall and 5-1 in the EOAC) are now in a three-way tie for first with Columbiana and Valley.

Valley fell to 5-3 and 5-1 in the league.

AJ Ramgeet led the Devil charge with 19 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. Blaine Barnes added 18 points, seven assists and three steals. Aidan Ramgeet had 10 points and five rebounds.

Deion Miller had 15 points for Valley.

Lisbon will host Leetonia on Friday.

The Blue Devils won the jayvee portion, 37-34. Cooper Terdina had 14 points for the winners.

LI: 14-10-16-16–56

VC: 17-12- 5-11–45

LISBON SCORING: Aidan Ramgeet 4-0-10, Blaine Barnes 8-0-18, Aiden Myers 0-0-0, Ashton Hinchliffe 3-0-6, Logan Sturgeon 1-1-3, AJ Ramgeet 9-1-19. TEAM TOTALS: 25, 2-4: 56.

VALLEY SCORING: King Swiggett 1-0-2, Dennis Reed 0-1-1, Jordan Tutwiler 5-2-14, Deion Miller 5-0-15, Caleb Harrison 3-2-10, Armond Duval 1-0-3. TEAM TOTALS: 15, 5-10: 45.

Three-point goals: Lisbon 4 (Aidan Ramgeet 2, Barnes 2), Valley 10 (Miller 5, Tutwiler 2, Harrison 2, Duval).

United 48, Southern 36

SALINEVILLE — United’s Austin Ceresna had 15 points to help the Eagles down Southern Local 48-36 on Tuesday.

Kota Shasteen added 11 points and nine rebounds. M’Kyan Haynes had six points and nine rebounds.

For Southern, Landen Heffner had 10 points and 10 rebounds along with five steals. Mason Pitts had 14 points and five rebounds.

United moved to 6-3 overall and 4-2 in the Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference.

Southern (1-8 and 0-6 in the EOAC) is at East Palestine on Friday.

United hosts Wellsville on Friday.

UN: 17-7-10-14–48

SL: 13-5- 9- 9–36

UNITED SCORING: M’Kayn Haynes 2-2-6, Gavin Coffee 1-1-3, Adam Ceresna 4-4-15, Kadin Shonauer 0-0-0, Jason Pratt 2-0-6, Wyatt Blevins 0-0-0, Lance Rycraft 0-0-0, Matthew Hoopes 2-3-7. TEAM TOTALS: 15-51, 12-18: 48.

SOUTHERN LOCAL SCORING: Jack Pitts 0-1-1, Landen Heffner 5-0-10, Jacob McCurdy 2-4-8, Kim Charid-Guliman 0-0-0, Zac Mayfield 0-0-0, Aiden Davis 2-0-4, Mason Pitts 4-2-13, Trevor Groff 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 13-46, 7-11: 36.

Three-point goals: United 6-27 (Ceresna 3, Pratt 2, Coffee), Southern 3-16 (Pitts).

Crestview 58, Liberty 47

LIBERTY — Crestview captured its third win in five games with a 58-47 decision over Liberty on Tuesday.

Tyler Savage scored a team-high 16 points. Elijah Cope followed with 14 points and Grant Gerner 13.

The Rebels improve to 5-6 overall and 2-3 in the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Gray Tier. The Leopards drop to 1-9 and 1-4 in league play.

Crestview also won the junior varsity game, 49-24, as Caleb Gaydos scored 17 points and Micah Graham added 10.

Both teams return to action Thursday as the Rebels play at Ravenna Southeast and Liberty travels to Brookfield.

C: 15-12-21-10–58

L: 11-18- 7-11–47

East Liverpool 57, Harrison 44

EAST LIVERPOOL — East Liverpool shook off a terrible start to the game to overcome Harrison Central 57-44 on Tuesday in a Buckeye 8 game.

The Potters were down 16-3 after the first quarter, but Harrison only put up three in the second quarter to lead by one heading into halftime.

East Liverpool outscored Harrison 39-25 in the second half to pull away.

Dre’Keim Abercrombie came up big for the Potters with 15 of his game-high 22 points coming in the second half. Jayce Douglas added 10 points.

East Liverpool won the jayvee game 33-29 in overtime.

The Potters (5-4) host Medina Christian on Saturday.

HC: 16- 3- 8-17–44

EL: 3-15-19-20–57

HARRISON CENTRAL SCORING: L. Smith 2-3-7, B. Kamarec 6-2-17, J. Quito 1-0-3, Hyre 1-0-3, C. Crothers 3-1-8, A. Dulkoski 1-4-6. TEAM TOTALS: 14, 10-17: 44.

EAST LIVERPOOL SCORING: Jayce Douglas 3-4-10, Dre Brown 2-2-6, Tyler Kirby 0-2-2, Nolan Irving 3-1-7, Dre’Keim Abercrombie 9-4-22, Ben Myers 1-0-2, Javan Dawson 2-0-6, Meshach Harris 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 21, 13-22: 57.

Three-point goals: Harrison 6 (Kamarec 3, Quito, Hyre, Crothers), East Liverpool 2 (Dawson).

West Branch 45, Howland 38

BELOIT — Jeremiah Thomas had 17 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals in West Branch’s 45-38 win over Howland on Tuesday.

Kasen Weaver added 10 points. Gavin Gregory posted seven points and seven boards.

Howland won the jayvee game, 41-34. Luke Curry had 13 points for the Warriors.

West Branch (4-5) hosts Carrollton on Friday.

HO: 5-10-10-13–38

WB: 9-15- 6-15–45

HOWLAND SCORING: Gentis 3-0-6, Saul 3-0-6, Bubon 2-0-4, Fee 1-0-2, Mickel 3-1-8, Naples 4-0-11, Burgess 0-1-1. TEAM TOTALS: 16, 2-4: 38.

WEST BRANCH SCORING: Jeremiah Thomas 6-3-17, Gavin Gregory 3-1-7, Grady Hirst 3-0-7, Chase Gee 0-0-0, Zach Coffee 0-0-0, Kasen Weaver 4-1-10, Brock Woost 0-0-0, Landon Coffee 2-0-4. TEAM TOTALS: 18, 5-7: 45.

Three-point goals: Howland 4 (Naples 3, Mickel), West Branch 4 (Thomas 2, Hirst, Weaver).