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LaBrae tops rival Newton Falls in cold-shooting night

Staff photo / Preston Byers LaBrae’s Derek Wilson shoots over Newton Falls’ Landon McGregor during the Vikings’ win Tuesday in Newton Falls.

NEWTON FALLS — While a cold spell has taken over the Mahoning Valley, a different kind of chill crept into the Newton Falls gymnasium Tuesday evening.

The Tigers began Tuesday’s conference rivalry game against LaBrae ice cold from the field and, in spite of a run and some hopeful moments in the second half, fell to the Vikings 45-35 on their home floor.

Newton Falls, winners of its previous four games, missed every shot it took to start Tuesday’s contest until a Phil Davis jumper with 17 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Tigers, even after seeing the ball go through the basket once, could only manage to muster two more field goals against LaBrae’s 2-3 zone defense for the rest of the half.

Fortunately for Newton Falls, its 6 points at the break were only 8 fewer than LaBrae’s total.

“We got to make some shots,” Tigers coach Roy Sembach said. “I mean, six points in a half — to give up 14 and be down by eight is kind of incredible.”

As to why his team shot so poorly Tuesday, Sembach said he had “no idea.”

“I don’t know. Sometimes, strange things tend to happen when we play LaBrae,” Sembach said. “It’s always a good, hard-fought game between two good teams. They’re a very well-coached team. Something strange usually tends to happen that you don’t normally see in a normal game. And that was it tonight.”

The Vikings similarly struggled to score in the first half — LaBrae scored 5 points in the opening quarter — but the second half was a different story for both teams.

LaBrae’s Derek Wilson got the scoring started 22 seconds into the third quarter, and less than a minute later, Landon McGregor responded with a basket.

McGregor’s field goal proved to be the spark needed for an 8-0 run, which pulled Newton Falls within two. Unfortunately for the Tigers, the Vikings answered with a run of their own and widened the lead to 10 at the end of the third quarter.

Needing some baskets to get back into the game, Newton Falls went three minutes without scoring in the fourth as LaBrae went up by 15. Despite a few consecutive buckets, time ran out for the Tigers on Tuesday.

“If you can come on the road to Newton Falls and win against a well-coached, very good team, those are big wins, and we’ll take some of our struggles we had tonight and try to improve on that,” LaBrae coach Chad Kiser said.

LaBrae’s Austin Rowe led all scorers with 18 points, while Cameron Huff scored a team-high 9 points for Newton Falls.

The loss snapped a four-game win streak for Newton Falls (9-5, 4-2 in MVAC Grey), which had also won six of its last seven. The Tigers visit Liberty on Friday.

LaBrae (10-4, 6-0) has now won five in a row and eight of its last nine games. The Vikings host Champion on Friday in the first leg of a three-game homestand.

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