By Ron Poniewasz Jr.
New Castle News

The Wilmington High boys basketball team is back in contention for a region championship.

Anthony Derrick led a balanced Greyhounds attack as they rolled to a 55-38 District 10, Region 2-AA road victory over Reynolds.

Derrick paced three Wilmington (5-2 region, 8-10 overall) players in double figures with 13 markers and a game-best eight rebounds. Rocco Fagan added 12 markers and Vince Pitzulo chipped in with 11 points and six boards.

Jordan Smith snared six boards for the winners, while Fagan and Jesse Hilliard notched four steals apiece. Hilliard added eight points as well.

The win sets up a clash with region-leading Lakeview (6-1, 14-5) at 7:30 p.m. Friday on the Greyhounds’ home floor. Lakeview won the first meeting, 38-31.

“We have a chance to redeem ourselves,” Wilmington coach Mike Jeckavitch said. “The kids look forward to the challenge.

“Lakeview is a good team. We didn’t play particularly well in that game. We’ll have to put four full quarters together to beat them.”

The showdown was set up when Sharpsville upset Lakeview last night, 58-56, in overtime. The Blue Devils (4-3, 11-8) are coached by former Neshannock bench boss Jim Smiley.

“The kids knew they’d have to battle and they were up to the challenge,” Jeckavitch said. “It was a great, team effort by everyone.”

Caleb Peters netted a team-high 11 points for the Raiders (2-5, 9-9).

Wilmington built a 25-11 halftime bulge and never looked back.

“We came out a little slow in the first quarter,” Jeckavitch said. “We kind of put a will on them and ran our sets; everybody stepped up for us.

“It was a team effort.”

The Greyhounds have two region matchups left after Friday, both on the road. They play Mercer on Tuesday and Sharpsville on Feb. 17.

(E-mail: rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com).