By Ron Poniewasz Jr.
New Castle News

The roll continues for the New Castle High boys basketball team.

Five players reached double figures for the Red Hurricane in a 102-59 WPIAL Section 3-AAAA win over North Hills on Saturday at the Ne-Ca-Hi Field House.

Malik Hooker led the charge for New Castle (10-0 section, 17-0 overall) with game-high totals of 23 points and 11 rebounds. He was 10 of 16 from the field, to go along with five steals, three assists and three blocks.

Hooker scored just 17 points total in his previous two games.

“He’s been in a bit of foul trouble the last few games,” ’Canes coach Ralph Blundo said of Hooker. “It’s been an indication of that more than it has of him not playing well.

“He had an unbelievable stat sheet against North Hills.”

New Castle, ranked No. 1 in the WPIAL in Class AAAA by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, extended its regular season winning streak to 41 straight, including 22 in a row at home.

Shawn Anderson chipped in with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting. He added four steals and three assists as well.

Brandon Domenick notched 14 markers and seven assists for the winners, while Anthony Richards tallied 11 points, seven assists and four steals. Antonio Rudolph netted 10 points and four boards.

New Castle was 40 of 75 from the floor, including 14 of 31 from behind the arc.

“It speaks to the depth of players we have on the team,” Blundo said of the balanced scoring. “We were pretty good offensively; clearly we shot the ball pretty well.

“We really scored any away you could and we were clicking offensively. Shawn and Malik were getting to the hoop. When you’re hitting from the outside like that, it makes it tough to guard teams when you have to extend your defense like that.”

The ’Canes breezed to a 59-31 halftime advantage. The Indians scored 21 of their first-half points in the second quarter.

“We had a few breakdowns and they got some easy baskets,” Blundo said. “The way we play, that’s going to happen.

“They didn’t get a lot of good looks. But when they did, they finished. Giving up 59 points in four quarters when there’s 140 possessions, that’s pretty good. I felt like we guarded well for the majority of the game.”

The 102 points scored is a season high for New Castle. The ’Canes hit the century mark once last year, in a 107-66 victory over George Junior Republic.

Shawndale Jones paced North Hills (2-8, 7-11) with 21 points.

The playoff field from Section 3 is set. New Castle, North Allegheny, Hampton and Seneca Valley are in the WPIAL playoffs.

“You can’t win it all unless you get in. We’re officially in and we’ll keep trying to get better,” Blundo said. “At this point, we want to win a section championship, but we’re focused on beating Seneca Valley right now.”

The Raiders are the ’Canes’ next challenge, which will take place at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at home.