PHOTOS: Ellwood City Notches Victory Over Rival Riverside

The Ellwood City Wolverines withstood a late comeback from rival Riverside Friday night, but held on and came out victorious with a 51-48 victory.

In front of a capacity crowd at the Panther gymnasium, the Wolverines took a second quarter lead and never relinquished the lead through an fast-paced final quarter.

Ellwood City saw its largest lead in the third quarter when an 11-0 scoring run – aided by eight Riverside turnovers – pushed their lead to 38-27.

After the Panthers closed the score late, Wolverines guard Ricky Pitrelli made one of two free throws with 15.3 seconds left to close the scoring.

Sean Busby led the Wolverines offense with 16 points (6-9 shooting), including six during the fourth period. He also contributed five rebounds and five blocks.

Anthony Roth went into double digits, scoring 15 points for Lincoln (5-12 shooting). Andrew O’Brien finished with a game-high 5 assists and was a key contributor on defense in the victory.

Also chipping in for Lincoln were Pitrelli (9 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals), Broc Boariu (6 points, 4 rebounds, 5 steals), and Rocco Sesti (one 3PM).

Ellwood City was aided by 18 points off of 18 Riverside turnovers.

Ty Thellman led the Panthers with 17 points (6-16 shooting, three 3PM) while Austin Dambach finished with nine points and 10 rebounds in defeat. Riverside (5-4 Overall, 0-2 Section 1-3A) collected 16 offensive rebounds but were held to 35% shooting in the contest.

Ellwood City (9-3 Overall, 1-1 Section 1-3A) next hosts Mohawk Tuesday Night in section play while Riverside travels to New Brighton on Tuesday for its next section matchup.

Photos provided by Next Level Photography