Andy Close
MEADVILLE, Pa. – No. 5 seed Eisenhower got behind the 8-ball early and wasn’t able to recover in a 68-38 loss to No. 4 Cambridge Springs in the District 10 Class 2A quarterfinal on Friday at Meadville High School.
“I think our guys were nervous, for sure,” Mangini said. “We went to a box-and-one and they were able to get too many offensive rebounds out of that. That was the difference in the first half.
Eisenhower led once in the game, 5-4, on a Kael Hunt 3-pointer early in the first quarter, which was followed by a 12-1 Cambridge Springs run capped by a three from Ethan Counasse.
Eisenhower got within six, 21-15 on a Curt Darling triple with 3:27 to before halftime, but the Blue Devils went on another run, this one a 10-3 spurt to close the half to make it 31-18.
Kris Bunk cut the lead to 10, 31-21, with a 3-point play to open the second half, but Cambridge Springs rattled off the next 11 points to extend the lead to 21 on first-year coach Ryan Mangini’s squad.
Parker Schmidt scored 12 of his game-high 21 points in the second half for the Blue Devils.
Cambridge Springs’ defense played a big role in the win, as they held Eisenhower’s top two scorers, Wyatt Lookenhouse and Darling to five points each.
“Defensively this time we changed a lot of things up,” said Cambridge Springs coach Becky Leandro. “Curt Darling and Wyatt Lookenhouse are great players and we went with a triangle-and-two on them and stopped them and did a nice job on them. That was a big difference.”
Nathan Held and Ethan Counasse were also in double figures for Cambridge Springs with 16 and 13 points, while Josh Reisnauer added nine.
Hunt led Eisenhower with 11 points, while Bunk added nine and Kyler Black six.
“It told the guys I was proud of them,” Mangini said. “I told them there will be nights like this. I think this season was a stepping stone for the guys coming back and I told the seniors I was proud of the way they played all season, the way they stepped up and the leaders that they were.”
Cambridge Springs assured itself of a state playoff berth with the win (Class 2A takes four teams to the PIAA tournament) and will face No. 1 seed Kennedy Catholic in the semifinals on Tuesday (March 1).
For Eisenhower (13-10), it was a disappointing end to an otherwise strong season.
“I’m disappointed today, but we have players that like basketball, we have a good team atmosphere, they enjoy coming to practice and I think they’ll work hard and they want to put in the time and I think we’ll be a tough team next year.”
Eisenhower, Youngsville and Warren basketball coverage is sponsored by Ellwood National Forge.
