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New Castle boys dominate 2nd half, hand Fox Chapel 1st section loss of season

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Friday, January 10, 2025 | 10:18 PM

The scoreboard had a tied score at halftime, yet the clock ran continuously late in the fourth quarter.

That showed just how well New Castle played after halftime Friday night. Kai Cox scored 13 of his game-high 19 points after the break, and the Red Hurricanes used a dominant third quarter to hand Fox Chapel its first section loss, 72-41, in a game that ended under the mercy rule.

The Foxes began the day alone atop the Section 1-6A standings but ended the night in a three-way tie.

Ralphie Blundo and Damian Harrison scored 17 points apiece for New Castle (10-1, 5-1). Caden Kaiser led Fox Chapel (10-3, 5-1) with 14 points, and Asher White added 11.

Tied 27-27 at halftime, New Castle pulled away with successive 3-pointers by Cox, Harrison and Kyrell Harris in a three-minute span in the third quarter. The big shots helped the Red Hurricanes outscore Fox Chapel, 21-7, in the decisive quarter, breaking from a tight first half that featured six lead changes and five ties.

Overall, New Castle won the second half 45-14.

“I wasn’t displeased with the first half either. They’re good,” New Castle coach Ralph Blundo said of Fox Chapel.

“Sometimes you’re playing well, and the other team is playing well, too. So you have a tie ballgame at the half. Nothing changed. We just played better basketball in the second half.”

New Castle led 48-34 after three.

The Red Hurricanes scored the first five points of the fourth quarter, quickly pushing their lead to 19 points. The final quarter started with a breakaway dunk by Harrison.

“We quit playing physical, and we settled for jump shots,” Fox Chapel coach Zach Skrinjar said. “They kind of got in their rhythm. We just didn’t do a good job.”

Fox Chapel led 14-11 after one quarter. The teams were tied at 27 at halftime after a 3-pointer by Fox Chapel’s White with 10 seconds left.

The Foxes rebounded well in the first half and used second-chance points to keep pace with New Castle. Those became harder to find after halftime.

“Look at the board right there,” said Blundo, pointing at the dry erase board in New Castle’s locker room, where rebounding was circled.

“We know they’re coming (for rebounds), and they obviously did a good job in the first half,” Blundo said. “I thought we got a lot of challenged rebounds in the second half that got us out in transition and got some easy buckets.”

Fox Chapel was making its first trip to New Castle in almost two decades. The teams hadn’t met since Feb. 3, 2006, which was the last time they shared a section.

Ralphie Blundo sparked New Castle’s offense with nine points in the first half on three long 3-pointers. Kaiser had eight first-half points for Fox Chapel.

The back-and-forth effort defined the first half.

Harrison scored the game’s first two baskets, the second being a breakaway dunk to lead 4-0. Fox Chapel answered with a layup by Kaiser and a 3-pointer by Grant Fenton to take a 5-4 lead.

The teams were tied at 7, 14, 18, 24 and 27.

“The score is what the score is,” Skrinjar said. “I thought we played a really good half, but they took it to us pretty good and we didn’t do enough in that second half to put up any resistance.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

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