Times Observer photo by Steve Younger Eisenhower’s Casey Seymour drives for a basket during Thursday’s Region 3 boys basketball game against Mercyhurst Prep in Russell.

The Eisenhower boys and girls basketball programs were 1-1 last night as the boys dropped a Region 3 game at home 69-39 against Mercyhurst Prep while the girls took the long bus ride to North East to face the Grapepickers and picked up an important Region 3 win 56-53.

In the boys game, Mercyhurst Prep opened up with a 7-0 run and never looked back. The Knights never found their shooting rhythm and fell behind 35-24 at the half.

The Lakers came out of the locker room and opened up the third quarter on a 8-0 run, and their defense held the Knights to just 8 points as they outscored Eisenhower 20-8 in the period to lead 55-32 at the end of the third quarter.

With the mercy rule kicking in, both coaches rested their starters.

Senior Casey Seymour led the Knights with 16 points, while the Lakers’ Alex Manendo scored a game-high 18 points.

Eisenhower’s girls improved their overall record to 12-2 on the season and 5-2 in region play.

The Knights found themselves down 15-7 at the end of the first quarter, but outscored North East 23-13 in the second quarter to take a 30-28 halftime lead.

“We came out flat to start the game and battled back to take the lead at halftime,” Eisenhower head coach D.J. Steinberg said. “I have to give North East a ton of credit, they were ready for everything we did.”

The third quarter belonged to the Knights. Behind Clara Steinberg’s 11 points, Lainey Font’s 3-pointer and sound team defense, Eisenhower outscored North East 20-8 to take a 53-34 lead.

The Grapepickers battled back and worked the lead down to 6 points but could not get any closer as the Knights held on to get the road win 59-53.

“The girls came alive in the third quarter on good defense forcing turnovers that we turned into points,” Coach Steinberg said. “I thought Tracey (Jakubczak) did a good job on their 6-foot center holding her to just 10 points. It was a great team effort that allowed us to pick up an important region win. I’m really proud of this team.”

Clara Steinberg led all scorers with 20 points, Lainey Font had 12 points and Laney Belcher chipped in 11. The Grapepickers were led by Maisey Post and Samantha Probat, who each had 18 points.

Eisenhower’s boys have no time to rest as they travel to Erie tonight to take on Erie First Christian. Tip-off is set for 7:30. The girls don’t play again until Wednesday at home against West Middlesex.

BOYS

MERCYHURST PREP (69)

Wilbur 3 0 6, Millimaci-DiBello 3 1 7, Peterson 0 0 0, Manendo 7 0 18, Ollinger 4 0 8, Garner 2 2 6, Risto 4 0 9, Newton 0 0 0, Coleman 0 0 0, Fromknecht 0 0 0, Kaliszewski 1 0 2, Ashton 4 3 13. Totals 28 6 69.

EISENHOWER (39)

Hanson 4 0 8, Seymour 7 2 16, Lindemuth 1 0 2, Chase 0 0 0, Guiher 3 0 8, Gigliotti 1 0 2, Mandeville 0 0 0, Reynolds 0 0 0, Russell 0 0 0, Palmieri 1 0 3. Totals 17 2 39.

3-point goals–Manendo 4, Risto, Ashton 2, Guiher 2, Palmieri.

Mercyhurst Prep 18 17 20 14 — 69

Eisenhower 11 13 8 7 — 39

GIRLS

EISENHOWER (59)

Jakubczak 5 0 10, Font 5 0 12, Childs 3 0 6, Belcher 4 3 11, Alcorn 0 0 0, Zaffino 0 0 0, Gates 0 0 0, Steinberg 7 5 20, Waite 0 0 0. Totals 24 8 59.

NORTH EAST (53)

Mayo 0 0 0, Post 6 4 18, Skelly 0 0 0, Scully 0 0 0, Probst 8 1 18, Miller 1 0 2, VKaizer 0 0 0, Wicker 3 4 10, Dobson 0 0 0, Nishnick 0 0 0, AKaizer 1 0 2, Holdsworth 0 0 0, Hartner 1 1 3. Totals 20 10 53.

3-point goals–Font 2, Steinberg, Post 2, Probst.

Eisenhower 7 23 20 9 — 59

North East 15 13 6 19 — 53