New Castle rolls past South Fayette
ALIQUIPPA – A slow start and problems at the end of the game proved fatal to the hopes of South Fayette High School’s basketball team Tuesday night.
New Castle built a 10-point lead after one quarter and outscored the Lions by 13 in the fourth to come away with a 61-41 victory in the second round of the PIAA Class 5A playoffs at Aliquippa.
Marcus Hooker led the Red Hurricane (23-4) with a double-double: 16 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists.
Hooker sparked a 13-0 run in the first quarter to give New Castle a 15-5 lead. South Fayette (17-9) had a 12-3 run in the second quarter and trailed by only five at halftime, 26-21.
New Castled stretched the lead to 39-32 after three quarters, then blew the game open by outscoring the Lions, 22-9, in the fourth quarter.
Noah Plack, a 6-2 senior, led South Fayette with 13 points and six rebounds. Tim Locher, a 6-2 senior, scored 11 points.
George Eggleston had a game-high 17 points for New Castle, which shot 60 percent to South Fayette’s 36. The Lions hit just 4 of 17 three-point attempts.