By RON PONIEWASZ JR.
rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com

BEAVER FALLS — The New Castle High boys basketball team got an up-close look at Blackhawk’s Antoine Childs on Monday night.

It was an image that the Red Hurricane hopes to avoid seeing in the future.

Childs netted 15 of his game-high 23 points in the first half as the Cougars cruised to a 67-44 win in the first round of the Beaver Falls Tipoff Tournament.

“If you don’t have an answer for Childs he’s going to hurt you and he definitely did,” New Castle coach Mark Stanley said. “It’s never easy playing a guy like Childs, but you should welcome that.

“You want to play a kid like that and see where you stand. He’s physical and he does what he wants out there. He’s a man among boys.”

It was the first of three meetings between the schools this year. They will meet again in the first round of Blachawk’s holiday tournament and then once more in a nonsection encounter.

“We’ll see how much we improve the next time we play them,” Stanley said.

New Castle (1-2) will battle Shenango at 6 p.m. today in the consolation battle. Blackhawk (2-1) and Beaver Falls will play for the championship.

The ’Canes were coming off a tough 48-45 loss to Altoona on Saturday in a game they led by 15 in the fourth quarter.

“I’m sure there’s some effects from that loss,” Stanley said. “But (Blackhawk) had a tough loss against Hopewell, too. We came out flat and they took it to us.”

Childs, a Division I prospect, helped the Cougars erase an 8-6 deficit bi igniting a 25-7 run. Childs tallied 13 points during the run.

“Antoine is a leader,” Blackhawk coach Andy Hedrick said. “The thing he’s done this year is he’s getting some rebounds and playing good defense; he’s picked up all aspects of his game.”

The ’Canes cut the deficit to 31-20 on a tip-in by Tyrone Steals, but Blackhawk pushed the margin to 37-22 at the half.

Chris Richards drained a 3-pointer to open the second half, but 37-25 was the closest New Castle would get the rest of the way.

“It was one of those nights,” Stanley said. “They outworked us and outhustled us.

“We didn’t get any loose balls; we have to get better and we will get better.”

Steals led the ’Canes with 10 points and nine rebounds. Nick Colella also pulled down nine boards.

“We thought Colella and Steals were the two we need to stop,” Hedrick said. “We tried to keep the ball out of their hands. The whole night was about our defense.

Brooks Roorback added 18 markers for the Cougars.