Boys basketball: Newman tops Hall in game of runs

SPRING VALLEY – In a game of runs Friday, the Newman boys basketball team came away with a 53-41 Three Rivers Conference East Division win over Hall.

“When we ran the offense and played with discipline, things went well and we looked good, but we had a few moments where we played a little out of control, and that allowed them to catch up,” Newman coach Ray Sharp said. “Defensively, we knew Mac [Resetich] was going to get his, which he did in the first half, so we tried to get the ball out of his hands, and that worked better in the second half.

“I am proud of our effort tonight, and you’ll take a win here anytime you can get one.”

[ Photos from Newman vs. Hall boys basketball ]

The game began with Hall jumping out to a 6-2 lead with Resetich accounting for four of the six before Newman answered with an 11-0 run to take a 13-6 advantage.

Nolan Britt scored five of his 16 points during the run, while Lucas Simpson added four.

Resetich ended the quarter with a layup, and the score was 13-8 Newman after one period.

Resetich started the second with a bang as he stole a cross-court pass, went the distance and threw down a one-handed dunk to rev up the crowd.

But the Comets were unfazed. Britt answered with a pair of 3s, and Simpson (16 points) hit a pair from the free-throw line to extend the lead to 21-10.

That made it Hall’s turn to string together some hoops, as the Red Devils answered with a nine-point run, with five from Resetich and a bucket each from Payton Dye and Braden Curran to tighten the score to 21-19 with about two minutes left in the half.

Newman’s Ayden Batten connected from deep, and Simpson added a layup before Resetich finished the half with two more of his game-high 22 points, which made the score 26-21 Comets at the intermission.

The Comets came out hot in the third, getting 3-pointers from Simpson and Gabe Padilla to stretch the lead to 33-21.

The teams traded hoops before Hunter Meagher came off the Hall bench and buried a 3 to make the score 35-27 and start a 10-1 Red Devil run, in which Ashton Pecher had five points and Curran added two.

Newman got another Padilla 3 to close the quarter and took a 39-34 lead into the final quarter.

The Comets put the game away early in the fourth with a 13-3 explosion fueled by Simpson, Batten and Britt.

The Red Devils got a John Turnage hoop late, but the hosts fell by 12.

“We gave the ball up too much. We had 19 turnovers in the game, and against a good team you can’t do that,” Hall coach Mike Filippini said. “It seemed like they were all key, as well. When we turned it over, it seemed like every time they came down and hit a 3.

“We played them hard and cut it to two a couple of times, but then missed a few easy shots and it got away from us. Good thing is we have to be on a bus at 9:15 in the morning [Saturday] for a 12:30 game in Erie, so we can put this behind us quickly.”

Hall won the JV game 45-42 in overtime.