Riverside Rallies, Knocks Off Wolverines In Overtime

After trailing by as many as 20 points late in the third quarter, the visiting Riverside Panthers rallied to force overtime and pull away for a thrilling 50-47 victory over Ellwood City Tuesday night.

Sophomore Drake Fox’s 3-pointers with under 15 seconds in regulation knotted the game.

Ellwood City had led 35-15 with two and half minutes remining in the third quarter after holding a comfortable 22-12 advantage after a relatively low scoring first half.

The Wolverines connected on five 3-pointers in the first half.

Sound defense and timely shooting helped Riverside gain momentum against its deficit. The Panthers held the Wolverines to five points in the fourth quarter after Ellwood City had poured in 22 points in the third frame.

source: ecwolverines.com

Riverside outscored Ellwood City 38-25 in the second half plus overtime to pick up the pivotal section victory.

Nate Kolesar scored 11 of his game-high 17 points (5 3-pointers) in the second frame to lead the Panther comeback charge.

Rob Janis (11 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) and Sam Hughes (10 points, 5 rebounds) joined Kolesar in double figures. Fox finished with six points.

Chris Smiley and Colten Crizer each scored 11 points in defeat for Ellwood City who played their third consecutive game without junior and leading scorer Joseph Roth.

With the victory, the Panthers (5-10 Overall, 3-3 Section 1-3A) slide into the 4th spot for playoffs while Ellwood City (11-5 Overall, 3-3 Section 1-3A) now sits 5th in the section.

The Wolverines will look to break its 3-game losing streak Friday when they host New Brighton.

Riverside will stay on the road for its next two games, at Beaver Falls Friday and at Cornell next Tuesday, before finally returning home to host New Brighton on January 27th.

The Riv-Ell rematch is schedule for Friday, February 10th at Riverside with playoff implications on the line for both teams.  The Ellwood City girls basketball team downed their rival counterparts earlier this month.