Brian Hagberg
OIL CITY, Pa. – Sharpsville scored the game’s first three points, but Eisenhower responded with a 15-0 run and never looked back on its way to a 68-44 win in the District 10 Class 2A quarterfinals.
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Sharpsville’s Aidan Cadman hit a 3-pointer in the first minute of the game. The Blue Devils didn’t score again until the second quarter. Meanwhile, the Knights methodically pulled away with a 15-0 run.
“(We saw) gaps on shooters when we were driving,” Eisenhower’s Austin Hanson said during the Cole Orthodontic Associates player interview. “We hit the post and they were helping and collapsing and that allowed us to kick it out to the shooters and they were knocking down shots.”
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Sharpsville wasn’t going to go away quietly. The Blue Devils outscored the Knights, 17-16, in the second quarter and had the lead down to single digits. Kyler Black’s 3-pointer with less than 10 seconds left in the half pushed the Knights’ lead back to double digits, 31-20, going into halftime.
Eisenhower’s offense found its rhythm in the third quarter, going off for 21 points all from inside the arch.
“We always say we just need our own energy,” Eisenhower’s Gavin Lindemuth said.
Cadman finished with 10 points, while Carter DeJulia added nine for the Blue Devils.
Hanson had a game-high 22 points in the win. Black added 13 points and Maysen Wonderling had nine.
Eisenhower will face Iroquois, a 54-49 winner over Lakeview, in the Class 2A semifinals on Tuesday at a time and location to be announced.
