Apollo-Ridge boys beat Leechburg for 5th consecutive win
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Friday, December 28, 2018 | 11:18 PM
After starting the season with five consecutive losses, Apollo-Ridge has become one of the Alle-Kiski Valley’s hottest teams.
The Vikings won their fifth in a row Friday to even their record at 5-5 and win the Apollo Trust Tournament before a huge crowd with a 46-41 victory over Leechburg.
Apollo-Ridge was led by Bobby Mangan’s 16 points, and tournament MVP Klay Fitzroy had 12.
The Vikings led the entire game but had to hold off a furious Leechburg rally in the waning seconds.
Fitzroy’s 3-pointer with 20.8 seconds left in the third quarter gave Apollo-Ridge a short-lived, 38-24 cushion.
The Blue Devils (6-3) worked their way back, having a chance to tie the score twice with fewer than 10 seconds to go, but misfired on two shots.
Fitzroy collected the rebound, was fouled and made both free throws with 0.06 left to ice the game.
“I told the kids it was a process from the beginning,” Vikings coach Greg Fox said. “It’s a new system for these kids. They’re learning every day and getting better every day.”
One of the early problems for Apollo-Ridge was getting its projected starting lineup on the floor. Injuries to several starters plagued Apollo-Ridge early.
Fox looks at the win against Riverview on Dec. 18 as giving the team a spark, though the starters have only played three games together.
Keighton Reese, injured the first day of practice, and Brad Milko each hit 3-pointers in the first four minutes of play.
A trio of 3-pointers by Connor McDermott kept Leechburg close as the Blue Devils trailed 24-19 at the half.
But the Vikings kept Leechburg scoreless over the first 4:30 of the third quarter, building a double-digit lead.
Blue Devils coach Corey Smith summed up the game in one word: “Effort.”
Added Smith: “They just outrebounded us tonight, they outplayed us and wanted it more than we did. We knew we wanted to play this old rival on the road tonight, but we were just outhustled.”
Leechburg and the original Apollo Area High School began their sports rivalry in 1919.
Top players Dylan Cook and John Miskinis were held scoreless by Apollo-Ridge until the fourth quarter.
“The guys just picked up a little bit on defense,” Fox said. “We didn’t do anything special or out of the ordinary. We just played man-for-man, the guys were switching on screens and the kids did a fantastic job on defense.”
Cook finally got open on a pick and hit a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter. Miskinis reached the scoring column, and Cook hit another 3-pointer to cut the Vikings lead to 42-39 with 1:36 to go.
Jake Fello answered with a drive to put Apollo-Ridge back up by five.
Leechburg missed its next two chances before Dalton Hamm scored to again cut the A-R lead to three with 13.2 seconds left.
McDermott then forced a turnover on the inbounds play, but the Blue Devils missed twice.
“We fought back, but we just got outhustled,” Smith said. “I kept preaching to them to hustle, hustle, stick with the plan and they did with this hostile environment.”
McDermott scored 16 to lead Leechburg.
George Guido is a freelance writer.
Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Leechburg
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