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Oak Glen squeaks by Weir High for ninth straight win

POSTING — Oak Glen’s Ethan Travis posts up against Weir High’s Reid Reitter on Tuesday. (Photo by Andrew Grimm)

NEW MANCHESTER — The Oak Glen boys basketball team just keeps rolling, and not even a pair of Weir High players producing double-doubles was enough to slow it down.

The Golden Bears overcame a slow start and made several key shots in the fourth quarter to defeat the rival Red Riders, 66-61, for a ninth consecutive victory.

“I don’t know how we do it sometimes,” Oak Glen (10-3) coach Jerry Everly said. “I thought we battled back. It was a test of our character .

“We knew Weir High would be tough. Records don’t mean anything when it is these two teams. I thought both teams gutted it out. The crowd was great. It was a good win.”

Ethan Travis, somewhat limited by an eye injury suffered against Toronto on Saturday, still managed to contribute a double-double of his own with 10 points and 10 boards, and Everly’s club had four of seven players to see the court score double digits.

Sean Smith contributed a team-high 20 points, Chris Kokoski had 10, and Jarett Gittings came off the bench to score 15.

“We started off with a bunch of turnovers in the first half,” Smith said. “Once we got into the flow of the game, we started playing like we usually do. I love the game of basketball, and I love having the adversity of having to battle back as a team to win.

“It felt very good to beat them because they beat us earlier this season. We have different guys scoring every night and we have an overall good team.”

Weir (3-9) got double-doubles from both Reid Reitter, who had game-highs in points (24) and rebounds (12), and Keyshawn Faulks (12 points, 10 rebounds).

The Red Riders started with a 11-0 run, but the Golden Bears answered right back with a 9-2 run to get right back in it. Weir closed the quarter strong, however, and led by 10 points after eight minutes.

Oak Glen had a strong second quarter, pulling within one at 31-30 at the break.

After a back and forth third quarter ended with the Golden Bears on top 48-47, Oak Glen took over early in the fourth quarter by going on an 11-3 run, eventually going on to win by five.

“It got away from us a little bit,” Weir coach Mike Granato said. “We ran into a situation there in the fourth quarter where we just went cold a little bit. We played hard. I’m not questioning our effort. We are this close to being a pretty good team.”

Weir travels to Indian Creek on Friday, while Oak Glen is also on the road on Friday against Beaver Local.

Game notes:

¯The Golden Bears also won the jayvee contest, 59-40. Oak Glen was led by 14 from Kaleb Dailey, while Weir got eight from Elijah Gillette.

¯ Prior to the game both teams wore “Coaches vs. Cancer” T-shirts during the warmup, and a ceremony was held with both teams gathering together before the opening tip.

“I would like to thank Oak Glen for involving us in this,” Granato said. “It was for a great cause, and it was a great night of high school basketball.”

Oak Glen 66, Weir High 61

Weir High 21-10-16-14 — 61

Oak Glen 11-19-18-18 — 66

WEIR HIGH (3-9): Spencer 0 0-0 0; Pierce 6 3-3 17; Faulks 6 0-1 12; McCoy 2 1-4 5; Reitter 10 4-6 24; Krutilla 0 0-0 0; Buffington 0 0-0 0; Hudacheck 0 0-0 0; Haught 1 0-0 3. TOTALS: 25, 8-14, 61.

OAK GLEN (10-3): Wiley 3 0-1 7; Smith 8 3-6 20; Kokoski 4 0-0 10; Poling 1 2-2 4; Travis 3 4-6 10; Gittings 6 0-1 15; Staub 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 25, 9-16, 66.

3-POINT GOALS: Weir High 3 (Pierce 2, Haught); Oak Glen 7 (Gittings 3, Kokoski 2, Smith, Wiley). REBOUNDS: Weir High 33 (Reitter 12); Oak Glen 22 (Travis 10). ASSISTS: Weir High 14 (Pierce 5); Oak Glen 16 (Smith 4, Poling 4). TURNOVERS: Weir High 18; Oak Glen 13.

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