By Andrew Koob
New Castle News

MIDLAND — For eight minutes on Tuesday night, the Neshannock High boys basketball team couldn't be stopped.

For the other 24 minutes? The Lancers couldn't stop host Lincoln Park as the Leopards rolled to a 79-61 WPIAL Section 1-AA victory.

Jake Rylott led the Lancers (8-3 section, 15-5 overall) with 17 points, while Brandon Scheidemantle posted 14 points which included four 3-pointers.

Lincoln Park's big three of Nelly Cummings, Nick Aloi and Zay Craft combined to score 61 of the Leopards' points, with each contributing at least 20 points each.

The Lancers stumbled out of the gate and Lincoln Park (12-0, 18-3) took full advantage. The Leopards jumped out to a 30-12 lead after the first eight minutes and extended their lead to 27 points three minutes into the second quarter.

“They came out and played very, very efficient," Neshannock coach John Corey said. "But much of that was because of us not doing the little things the right way. Against a team like that, we had a great opportunity and we let minutes and seconds tick off that clock. It’s impossible to beat a team like that when you don’t do the right things.”

Neshannock seniors Rylott, Frank Fraschetti, and Jason Swope did not start for the Lancers, but did appear midway through the first quarter.

“People need to know to do the right thing all of the time,” Corey said of the brief benching.

Neshannock chipped away at the deficit, trailing by 22 points at the half following three Ethan Moose points.

That's when the Lancers started to stage their comeback.

Neshannock scored 15 straight points, following a Craft two-point bucket to open the second half, with four straight 3-pointers finding the bottom of the net during the run.

“I thought we had a four-minute spell where we played as tough as we needed to play throughout the entire game," Corey said. "It’s not a coincidence that, during that stretch of playing the way we’re supposed to play, we also hit a lot of shots. So it goes hand in hand, the harder you play, the easier things are for us on offense. That’s a true example of that during that spell in the third.”

Six straight points at the end of the third quarter cut the Leopards' lead to just seven. Overall, Neshannock outscored Lincoln Park 25-10 in the third quarter.

“The third quarter was horrible for us," Lincoln Park coach Mike Bariski said. "We watched and stood around, guys started thinking about scoring points instead of getting into what we do. There was a nice little verbal lashing during a timeout and we got back into it.

“John’s just not going to let those guys quit.”

The Leopards rekindled that first-half fire in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Lancers 25-14 in the final eight minutes.

“That’s going to happen," Corey said. "We let too many seconds come off that clock and we weren’t playing the right way. We have to play better, there’s no doubt about that."

(Email: AKoob@ncnewsonline.com)