Wolverines Complete Comeback, Defeat Union Area 55-51

The Ellwood City Wolverines erased two 21-point deficits in the first half Thursday night in their dramatic 55-51 comeback victory against Union Area in the opening game of their Neshannock Christmas tournament.

After trailing 22-3 as early as the first quarter and 29-8 midway thru the second quarter, the Wolverines gained their composure and slowly chipped away at the lead that melted to single digits in the third quarter. After a jolting 10-0 run to start the fourth quarter, the Wolverines took their first lead at 40-37 by way of a Broc Boariu 3-pointer.

The lead stretched to as many as nine points for Ellwood City before Union Area battled back to tie the game at 51 a piece with less than a minute in regulation before Sean Busby connected on a critical layup and Rick Pitrelli iced the game with two free throws for the Wolverines.

Anthony Roth scored a game high 16 points for Ellwood City with double-digit scoring help from Luca Botti (14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists) and Boariu who finished with two three-pointers and 10 points.

Also contributing for Lincoln were Rick Pitrelli (7 points, 8 rebounds, 1 steal), Sean Busby (6 points, 7 rebounds, team-high 4 assists), and Ryan Busby (2 points).

Boariu was a big defensive contributor as well, racking up eight rebounds, one steal and one block. Ellwood City finished the game with 38 rebounds (7 offensive / 31 defensive), two blocks and five steals.

Union Area forced 10 first quarter turnovers and used six 3-pointers to jump out to their early 1st quarter lead. Tre Charles led the Scotties with 16 points while Matt Costello connected on four 3-pointers in defeat. After the hot shooting start, Union Area cooled off and finished the game 10-42 from deep.

Ellwood City next plays Wilmington Area Friday night at 7:00pm in the championship game of the Neshannock Holiday Tournament.

Lady Wolverines Fall To Red Hurricanes in New Castle Holiday Tournament Championship

The Ellwood City Lady Wolverines rallied late but could not overcome a double-digit 4th quarter defect in falling to New Castle 33-30 Thursday afternoon.

The Lady Wolverines used 17 steals to pressure their way back into the contest and were led offensively by Natalia Greco who finished with a team-high 12 points (4 rebounds, 5 steals). Maria Ioanilli finished with six rebounds (4 offensive) and 3 steals for Ellwood City.

The Lady Wolverines (3-6 overall) next travels for a non-conference game at Farrell (PA) on Tuesday, January 2 @ 7:30pm.