By RON PONIEWASZ JR.
rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com

BEAVER FALLS — The Shenango High boys basketball team competed with Beaver Falls for a quarter.

Then the Tigers switched up their defense and turned out the lights.

Beaver Falls’ smothering defense led to a big second quarter en route to an easy 73-49 win over the Wildcats in the first round of the Beaver Falls Tipoff Tournament last night.

“One thing we did early on was keep it at our pace,” Shenango coach Bob McQuiston said. “That’s why we were able to score. We knew we didn’t want to get into a track meet.

“We knew the press and in your face man-to-man would come, it was just a matter of time.”

Shenango (2-1) will square off against New Castle at 6 p.m. today in the consolation contest. The Tigers (1-2) will oppose Blackhawk for the title.

The Wildcats, who never led, fought hard early on. They trailed 8-2 and 12-7, but Andrew Watson’s 3-pointer with 16 seconds left in the first frame tied the game at 12. However, the Tigers’ Nick Miller buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 15-12 buffer.

“Shenango is a very good guard-oriented team; they handle the ball well and they shoot the ball well,” Beaver Falls coach Doug Biega said. “We weren’t pressing and we weren’t trapping at that stage.”

That’s when Biega called for a change. The Tigers turned up their intensity and outscored Shenango 27-9 in the second quarter.

“Once we went to our full-court trap and press, it seemed to turn the game around,” Biega said. “It got our energy up.”

Trailing 42-21 to start the third quarter, Shenango once again started strong, scoring the first two baskets of the half. But the Tigers stopped that brief run and upped the count to 50-30 with 3:22 left in the period. By then, the Wildcats student section was entertaining the crowd by singing Christmas tunes.

“I told them they have nothing to lose,” McQuiston said. “Nobody expects you to win; we wanted keep it at our pace and keep it respectable.”

Said Biega, “I wanted us to come out in the second half with the same intensity we had in the first half. At the very beginning of the second we came out a little flat.”

Turnovers plagued Shenango throughout as the team finished with 25 to just 10 for Beaver Falls.

Rich Gaston paced the Wildcats with 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting. Mike Murcko was next with 10. Bryan Chieze handed out six assists for Shenango.

“Gaston did a nice job on offense and defense,” McQuiston said. “I thought he did a real nice job on Todd Thomas; he’s coming along well.”

Dave Phillips led the Tigers with 15 points.