West Branch 50, Salem 20

SALEM — Jeremiah Thomas had 26 points with 18 coming in the second half as West Branch struck down rival Salem, 50-20, Tuesday.

Gavin Gregory added eight rebounds for West Branch (6-5, 5-0 in the Eastern Buckeye Conference). Kasen Weaver had eight points, four rebounds and three assists.

Deontay Steele sparked Salem (2-8, 0-5 in the EBC) with 12 points.

West Branch won the jayvee game, 58-29 as Mason Cosma had 14 points.

West Branch hosts Minerva on Friday. Alliance is at Salem Friday.

WB: 9-12-15-14–50

SA: 1- 8- 7- 4–20

WEST BRANCH SCORING: Jeremiah Thomas 10-1-26, Gavin Gregory 1-2-4, Grady Hirst 0-3-3, Chase Gee 0-1-1, Zach Coffee 1-0-2, Kasen Weaver 2-2-8, Brock Woost 0-2-2, Landon Coffee 2-0-4. TEAM TOTALS: 11, 11-18: 50

SALEM SCORING: Ty Manion 0-1-1, Deontay Steele 3-3-12, Jack Andres 1-0-2, Karsen Dangel 0-0-0, Max Zacharias 0-1-1, Ben Severe 0-0-0, Weston Mango 0-0-0, Cam Martin 0-0-0, Zane Suarez 1-0-3, Owen Davidson 0-0-0, Braydon Carrocce 0-0-0, Braydon Fennema 0-1-1. TEAM TOTALS: 5, 6-10: 20.

Three-point goals: West Branch 7 (Thomas 5, Weaver 2), Salem 4 (Steele 3, Suarez)

East Liverpool 67, Brooke 48

EAST LIVERPOOL — East Liverpool scored the first 10 points in each the first and third quarters on the way to a 67-48 win over Brooke on Tuesday.

The Potters had a balanced effort led by freshman Javan Dawson with a game-high 19 points. Sophomore Tyler Kirby followed with 15 points, junior Dre’Keim Abercrombie 11, sophomore Dre Brown 10 and sophomore Nolan Irving eight.

It was the third straight win for East Liverpool, which improves to 7-4. Brooke had its five-game winning streak snapped to move to 6-3.

East Liverpool fell behind 31-27 at halftime before outscoring Brooke 39-17 in the second half.

The Potters took a 37-31 lead with 4:13 left in the third quarter. The closest the Bruins would get the rest of the way was four points at 40-36 and 42-38.

East Liverpool led 45-38 heading into the fourth quarter and used its defense and transition game to pull away with a 22-10 fourth-quarter outburst.

The Potters led 10-0 in the opening 3 1/2 minutes as Abercrombie scored six points. He had eight points in the first quarter before being slowed by foul trouble.

Both teams will play next at Beaver Local — East Liverpool tonight and Brooke on Friday.

BR: 10-21- 7-10–48

EL: 14-13-18-22–67

BROOKE SCORING: Grant Yost 6-2-14, Bryden Horstin 0-0-0, Ty Sperringer 1-0-2, Andrew Murdock 4-1-12, Crosby Morris 3-0-8, Pierce Ferrell 1-0-2, Kamden Sperringer 0-0-0, Pete Fodor 3-2-10. TEAM TOTALS: 18, 5-7: 48.

EAST LIVERPOOL SCORING: Jayce Douglas 1-0-2, Dre Brown 4-0-10, Tyler Kirby 7-1-15, Nolan Irving 4-0-8, Dre’Keim Abercrombie 4-3-11, Meshach Harris 0-0-0, Ben Myers 1-0-2, Elliott Fitch 0-0-0, Javan Dawson 7-3-19, Thoren Long 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 28, 7-12: 67.

Three-point goals: Brooke 7 (Murdock 3, Morris 2, Fodor 2), East Liverpool 4 (Brown 2, Dawson 2).

Brookfield 78, Crestview 46

BROOKFIELD — Brookfield broke open a close game with a 26-4 third-quarter run that gave the Warriors a 78-46 win over Crestview on Tuesday.

The Warriors improve to 7-4 overall and 5-2 in the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Gray Tier, while the Rebels suffered their fourth loss in five games to fall to 5-8 and 2-5 in league play.

Crestview led 15-8 with 1:30 to play in the first quarter, but was outscored 70-31 the rest of the way.

Brookfield tied the score at 15-15 at the end of the first quarter. The game was still tied 26-26 with 3 1/2 minutes to play in the second quarter before Brookfield claimed a 32-30 halftime lead.

It was all Brookfield after that as the Warriors opened the second half with a 16-0 run that gave them a 50-32 lead with 3:40 left in the third quarter. Crestview was held scoreless for the opening 4 1/2 minutes of the second half.

Dylan Stoffer had 15 points and five rebounds for the Rebels. Grant Gerner added 12 points. Caleb Gaydos chipped in eight points and four rebounds.

Both teams play Friday with Crestview hosting Newton Falls and Brookfield entertaining LaBrae.

Crestview’s jayvees were 40-19 winners. Brady Barnhart had 13 points for the Rebels.

C: 15-17- 4-10–46

B: 15-19-26-20–78

Toronto 63, Heartland Christian 59

By AARON PETCHAL

Sports Correspondent

TORONTO — The Toronto boys basketball team seemed to be in control early against state-ranked Heartland Christian, however, the Lions turned up the heat and were able to turn the tide against the Red Knights.

Heartland Christian turned a nine-point deficit into a five-point advantage, however, the Red Knights responded in a big way in the second half as Toronto built an eight-point advantage in the fourth quarter before holding on for a 63-59 victory against the No. 6-ranked Lions Tuesday night at George J. Kunzler Memorial Gymnasium.

It was a big win for the Red Knights against a quality opponent.

“Absolutely,” Toronto head coach Sean Tucker said. “We talked to our guys about how good of a team this is. They were ranked No. 2 in the state. They were ranked No. 6 in the state coming into tonight, and they showed why they were ranked No. 6 in the state. They are extremely well coached. They are extremely disciplined especially on offense. They run a very good defensive scheme.

“We had two really good practices coming into tonight. All of our guys prepared us for this game. Ultimately, it was a program win. It was not a team win, but it was a program win. A lot of guys who may not have stepped on the court really helped us prepare for this game.”

Both teams are 10-3.

Trailing by nine in the first quarter, the boys from Columbiana County ripped of an 18-4 run to go up by five in the second. The Lions turned up the pressure causing the Red Knights to commit some costly turnovers.

“Absolutely,” Tucker said about Heartland Christian’s defensive pressure giving his team some problems. “They outscored us 21-15 in the second. We were kind of not ourselves. It can be hard to figure out. Sometimes, you don’t know if a kid is sick or not because they are not playing their usually way.

“We came into this game well prepared. We knew what they were going to do. Sometimes, you get away from what you prepared to do. You cannot mimic their style of defense as much as you try to do. You just aren’t able to do it. Then, you see it live.

“It was a very physical game. It was a great high school basketball game to watch and it was a great high school basketball game to coach. It’s a shame that someone had to win and someone had to lose. It was a great game.”

Toronto battled back and knotted the score at 29 with 2:09 left in the first half before the visitors regained the lead on a foul shot 20 seconds later on their way to taking a 34-33 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

The Red Knights the first three points of the third to take a two-point lead, however, the Lions (10-3) countered with a pair of three-point plays to go back up by two. The Red Knights responded with a 6-0 run to end the quarter enabling them to take a 46-42 lead into the fourth.

The victors scored first in the fourth to go up by six before Heartland Christian cut its deficit down to two, however, the Red Knights regrouped and extended their advantage to 54-46 to cap a 14-4 spurt with 4:10 left to play.

“We talked a lot in the third quarter,” Tucker said. “We outscored them, 13-8, in the third. We kind of got the momentum back on our side. It was even at 17 in the fourth. We hit some big free throws, and we were able to take care of the basketball. We are very good on offense when we are patient and when we are strong with the basketball.

“I think some of our guys got fatigued. We played mainly with six guys. Our seventh guy saw some minutes.

“They are a disciplined team. They had a very good run. We were up five, and then they hit that 3. We had a good timeout, we were able to get the ball inbounds, we got to the free-throw line, and we hit two extremely important free throws. We played well in the second half.”

Toronto led 59-52 with less than 50 seconds showing on the scoreboard clock. The Lions, however, refused to go away quietly as they battled back and pulled to within 61-59 on a 3-point, but a pair of foul shots at the other end sealed the deal for the Red Knights.

“We were 15-of-16 from the line,” Tucker said. “Brody Winters went 5-for-5. He hit a couple at the most important time. Colt Joynson was 5-for-6, and some of the free throws he made were extremely important at the end of the game. Landon Grimes was 2-for-2, Brady Fair was 2-for-2 and Austin Buchanan was 1-for-2 at the line.

“In the fourth quarter, we shot the ball extremely well from the free-throw line. We were 7-of-8 from the free-throw line in the fourth. The say games are won or lost at the free-throw line.

“We were not making shots from the outside, so we wanted to get away from the outside. We wanted to get rebounds and get inside. We wanted to play downhill. We wanted to play to our strength, and we were able to do that.”

Joynson netted a game-high 27 points to lead the way offensively for Toronto, while Brody Winters delivered 15 and Fair finished with seven.

Collin Kalaher collected a team-high 17 points for the Lions, Brody Conaway contributed 15 and Isaiah Matthews tallied 12.

A three-pointer from the corner gave Toronto a 10-2 lead with five minutes left in the first. The boys in white later extended their advantage to 18-9 before the boys in black collected the final four points of the quarter making the score 18-13 at the end of the quarter.

“The guys who prepared us worked really hard at our last two practices,” Tucker said. “I believe you play the way you practice. We were able to get off to a fast start because of the way we practiced. The guys who prepared us did a great job.”

Trailing by five entering the second, Heartland Christian continued its run as the Lions ultimately took a 27-22 lead in the quarter before the Red Knights responded in a big way.

The two teams are currently trending in opposite directions as Toronto has won four straight games while Heartland Christian has lost three straight with the first two defeats coming against Lake Center Christian and Buckeye Trail.

“I told our guys we are not looking forward,” Tucker said. “We are taking things one game at a time and one opponent at a time.

“Our kids break down film on their own. They do their own scouting reports. We started doing that last year. I think it has helped them develop a better basketball IQ. They get to know their opponent. The coaches don’t have to tell them anything. The guys see it for themselves, and they write it down. They coach each other. They tell things to each other. The coaches don’t have tell them everything. It makes them good.”

Toronto is scheduled to play Shenandoah Friday night on the road. The Red Knights enjoyed the win against the Lions Tuesday night, but now they are focused on the Zeps.

“Absolutely,” Tucker said. “Tonight, these boys made the school proud, and they made the town proud.”

Heartland Christian will play at Youngstown East on Friday .

HC: 13-21- 8-17–59

T: 18-15-13-17–63

HEARTLAND CHRISTIAN SCORING: Isiaah Matthews 5 0-0 12, Corban Seutia 1 1-2 3, Reagan Kalaher 2 1-1 6, Collin Kalaher 6 4-6 17, Evan Stambaugh 0 0-0 0, Easton Jones 0 0-2 0, Jack Morgan 2 0-0 4, Jacob Reed 1 0-0 2, Brody Conaway 5 5-6 15. TEAM TOTALS: 22, 11-17: 59.

TORONTO SCORING: Grimes 1 2-2 5, Joynson 11 5-6 27, Winters 5 5-5 15, Buchanan 2 1-2 5, Fair 2 2-2 7, Henry 2 0-0 4, Rebich 0 0-0 0. TEAM TOTALS: 23, 15-17: 63.

Three-point goals: Heartland Christian 4 (Matthews 2, R. Kalaher, C. Kalaher); Toronto 2 (Grimes, Fair).