Maplewood’s Gage Bahle was unable to complete a 3-point play with 3:50 to go in the second quarter to leave the Tigers down one, 18-17. The Knights answered with the 9-2 run to open a 27-19 lead with 1:38 to go in the half.

“The guys played motivated all night,” Eisenhower coach Wayne Lundmark said. “We’ve been getting more inside work on the boards.”

The teams went back-and-forth through the first quarter, with neither holding more than a four point edge. Jake Brunot knocked down a pair of free throws to give Maplewood (7-12 overall, 4-6 Region 3) a 10-6 advantage. Drew Williams buried a 3-pointer on the next possession to cut the lead to one, and Jared Martone put in a layup to give Eisenhower (5-10, 3-6) the lead. Wyatt Lookenhouse added another bucket with five seconds left in the frame to put the Knights up 13-10 heading to the second.

Bahle hit a three just a minute into the second quarter to tie the game at 15-15. Neither team was able to get a shot to fall for the next 2:30, but Drew Williams knocked down his second 3-pointer of the game to put the Knights up 18-15. Bahle went for the 3-point play on the next Tigers possession.

Maplewood’s Huston Mattocks (5) battles Eisenhower’s Zane Alexander (5) for a rebound during the second quarter of their game at Eisenhower High School, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. The Knights rolled to a 69-53 win over the Tigers.

Joel Cox hit a field goal to stop the Eisenhower run, but the Knights got a three from Curt Darling and a field goal from Martone to take a 32-21 lead into the locker room.

“We’ve got five guys who really carry the load,” Lundmark said. “But they’ve played together so long they’re able to adjust quickly. When our 1-3-1 wasn’t working, they moved to a 1-2-2 all on their own.”

The Knights opened the third quarter with a 7-1 run to stretch the advantage to 39-22. Brunot’s 3-pointer at the four-minute mark was the Tigers’ first field goal in 5:23 of game time. Maplewood hit two field goals to cut the lead to 41-27, but Zane Alexander completed a 3-point play and Martone drilled a 3-pointer to push the advantage to 47-27. The Knights carried a 53-31 lead into the fourth quarter.

Maplewood was able to knock down some shots early in the final frame, but Eisenhower was in the bonus just over two minutes in and went 8-14 from the line to hold off any thought of a late rally.

Bahle led the Tigers with 11 points while Brunot chipped in 10.

Martone had a game-high 21 points. Darling had 15 and Williams 14 in the win.

The Knights get right back on the floor tomorrow when they welcome District 9’s Ridgway. Junior varsity is set for a 1 p.m. tip with varsity to follow.

Eisenhower rallied from a 15-point third-quarter deficit to come away with a 53-50 junior varsity win.

Keagan Eckstrom and Lookenhouse went 3-4 from the line in the final seconds to give the Knights the victory.

Lookenhouse had a game-high 21 points, while Eckstrom added 11 and Kael Hunt eight.

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Maplewood (53)

C. Cox 2-0-0-5, Bahle 5-0-1-11, J. Cox 3-1-2-7, Kennedy 1-0-0-2, Mattocks 2-2-3-6, Brunot 2-4-4-10, Donor 1-0-0-3, Wright 0-1-2-1, Nageotte 4-0-0-8, Burk 0-0-0-0, Koelle 0-0-0-0, Wheeling 0-0-0-0, Total 20-8-12-53

Eisenhower (69)

Williams 4-4-5-14, Darling 6-0-0-15, Venman 0-1-2-1, Alexander 3-3-5-9, Smelko 2-3-8-7, Martone 7-6-8-21, Lookenhouse 1-0-0-2, Jenson 0-0-0-0, Hunt 0-0-0-0, Eckstrom 0-0-0-0, Cofer 0-0-0-0, Benson 0-0-0-0, Total 23-17-28-69

By Quarters

Maplewood 10 11 10 22 – 53

Eisenhower 13 19 21 16 – 69

3-point FGs: Maplewood (5)-Brunot 2, C. Cox, Bahle, Donor. Eisenhower (6)-Darling 3, Williams 2, Martone.

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ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 67, SHEFFIELD 40

Coming off its first loss of the season, Elk County Catholic wasted little time showing it had no intention to suffer a second en route to a 67-40 win at Sheffield Friday.

The Crusaders held a 32-12 halftime advantage and outscored the Wolverines 14-3 in the first quarter. Sheffield found some rhythm in the second half, and actually outscored ECC in each of the third and fourth quarters.

“Poor execution vs. Elk’s pressure in the first half,” Sheffield coach Mike Knapp said. “The second half was a better team effort and a better defensive effort. Especially form senior Mitch McNeal with Jake Vinopal, Alex Benjamin and Caden Copley strong off the bench.”

Regis Wortman led the Crusaders with 14 points. Mason McAlister had 11 and Ben Hoffman 10.

Tyler Hepinger scored 14 of his game-high 17 points in the second half. McNeal and Copley each added seven in the loss.

Sheffield travels to Johnsonburg Tuesday.

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Elk County Catholic (67)

I. Wortman 1-0-0-3, Lindemuth 1-0-0-2, Jansen 0-1-2-1, Hoffman 4-0-0-10, Uberti 0-2-2-2, R. Wortman 6-1-1-14, McAllister 4-2-3-11, Kraws 3-2-2-9, Breindel 1-0-2-2, DePrator 3-2-2-8, Wolfe 0-0-0-0, Gregory 0-0-0-0, Incorminias 0-0-0-0, Total 26-10-14-67

Sheffield (40)

Kyler 0-2-2-2, M. McNeal 2-3-6-7, Hepinger 7-1-2-17, L. McNeal 1-1-2-3, Richards 1-0-0-2, Vinopal 3-0-0-7, Copley 1-0-0-2, Johnson 0-0-2-0, Benjamin 0-0-0-0, Silvis 0-0-0-0, Albaugh 0-0-0-0, Total 15-7-14-40

By Quarters

Elk County Catholic 14 28 14 11 – 67

Sheffield 3 9 16 12 – 40

3-point FGs: Elk County Catholic (5)-Hoffman 2, R. Wortman, McAllister, Kraws. Sheffield (3)-Hepinger 2, Vinopal.