NTL BOYS BASKETBALL: WYALUSING FALLS JUST SHORT AGAINST BLUE RIDGE (2023-12-02)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
WYALUSING — Wyalusing had a much better performance in their second game of the season, taking a tough Blue Ridge down to the wire, but ultimately fell 56-53 in boys’ basketball during the Susquehanna-Bradford County Challenge.

“Blue Ridge is significantly better than Susquehanna,” said Wyalusing coach Brent Keyes. “We played really hard both nights. I thought we were really prepared for the Susquehanna game, I thought we did a good job guard them, but we just had those long stretches where we were absolutely atrocious offensively. Tonight, we got some guys who want to get in there and make plays. I thought we did a really nice job of doing that. I’m really proud of the effort just, unfortunately, the last two minutes there, we didn’t handle it the way that we needed to.”

The Rams rallied to take a 53-51 lead with 3:05 left in the game but their final six possessions ended with three turnovers and three misses as Blue Ridge out scored them 5-0 to take the lead and the win.

“At the end of the day, we’re 0-2,” Keyes remarked.

Nick Vanderpool Jr. led a group effort in scoring for the Rams with 13 points, while Zabiah Walton had 11 and Hunter House netted 10 off the bench.

“We asked him to be more aggressive,” Keyes said about Walton, who was looking for his shot the entire game.

“He’s athletic, and he’s got a lot of ability - I thought he played really well,” Keyes remarked.

Will McBride scored seven, Trehnon Hugo and Parker Petlock had five points apiece, and Kenny Mapes chipped in with two.

“I thought, as a team, we had more contributions,” said Keyes. “I just thought everyone really contributed in their roll, and I’m really proud of the effort.”

Connor Cranage and Dylan Bradley had 16 points each to lead the Raiders.

Blue Ridge jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first quarter, but the Rams would rally to knot it up at 16-all at the first horn.

Petlock was sidelined with fouls to start the second quarter, allowing Blue Ridge to pull back out in front. However, Wyalusing never lost contact, keeping it a 33-27 game at the half.

The third half was similar, whenever it looked like Blue Ridge would pull away Wyalusing made plays to stay in touch, as the Raiders led 44-40 going into the final frame.

The Rams opened the fourth quarter by scoring on their first three possessions. 

House had back to back buckets to cut it to 46-44, then Walton had a jumper, plus the free throw, to give the Rams their first lead of the game, 47-46.

A free throw from Carnage would not the score up at 47-all, but at the other end Parker hit Vanderpool for a 3-ball to lift Wyalusing to a 50-47 advantage halfway through the quarter.

A Blue Ridge lay-up with 3:20 left made it a 1-point contest again, but Parker continued his strong passing, this time hitting House for a corner 3-ball for the 4-point lead with 3:05 left.

The Rams would get a stop at the other end, but Blue Ridge turned up the defense. Gehrig Dibble got a steal and lay-up to make it 53-51 with 2:25 left to play.

Wyalusing’s next offensive possession ended in an offensive foul.

At the other end the Rams got another stop to keep their lead intact.

Then, with 1:36 left, Blue Ridge’s Morgan Thomas got a steal and layed it up, plus the foul shot to put them up 54-53 with 1:36 left to play.

Worse for Wyalusing, that was Petlock’s fifth foul and he had to watch the rest of the contest from the bench.

The Rams would miss on their next shot, but forced Blue Ridge to turnover it over to get another chance.

The next possession ended in another miss, and they were forced to foul the Raiders. Cranage made both freebies with 19.1 seconds left to make it a 3-point game.

Wyalusing would get one good shot to tie it up at the buzzer, but the ball bounced out, securing the win for Blue Ridge.

The Rams will now focus on NTL play as they travel to Canton on Wednesday.

“I think we’ll learn from it,” Keyes said. “I think this group has done a really great job in practice the last two weeks. I think we get better every day. I really enjoy the group. Coach Cobb and I keep saying we loving coaching them, they’re a really great group of kids. I think we’ll keep getting better. Nights like tonight tell me we can be pretty competitive, we’ve just got to keep getting better.”

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PHOTO CAPTION: Wyalusing’s Nick Vanderpool Jr. goes up for a shot…PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING

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