Local Sports

Wolverines Surge In Second Half, Defeat Westmont 62-44 In PIAA Opening Round

Ellwood City used a second half surge to pull away and defeat District 6 Champion Westmont 62-44 in the opening round of the PIAA 3A Playoffs on Saturday. The Wolverines held the Hilltoppers to only 12 points in the second half and recovered from three point deficit in the process. Joseph Roth led all scorers with 31 points. The senior hauled in 17 rebounds and added seven assists. Roth scored 11 points in the the first quarter as Ellwood City struck for 21 points, but the Wolverines trailed 32-29 at halftime. Westmont was held to only five field goals in…


Riverside Finishes 7th In WPIAL Swimming Championships, Roth Earns Two Silver Medals

Panther swimmers Peter Ruggeri, Nick Young, Nathan Goff, Gavin Frederick, Michael Styn, Ryan Turner, and Joseph Roth represented Riverside High School this past weekend at the WPIAL Class 2A Swimming Championships. Riverside placed 7th overall with a combined total of 126 points after two days of competition in the championships held at the University of Pittsburgh’s Trees Pool on February 29th and March 1st. “Our boys fell short of some of the goals we had set our sights on this season,” said coach Alaina Marshall afterwards. Senior Joseph Roth placed second in the 50-yard Freestyle (21.15) and the 100-yard Backstroke…


Wolverines Knock Off Yough, Qualify For PIAA Playoffs

Joseph Roth and the Ellwood City Wolverines boys basketball have qualified for the PIAA State Playoffs after collecting a 40-37 victory over Yough on Wednesday in a 7th place WPIAL Class-3A consolation game. Roth scored 21 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, and sank two critical free throws with less than five seconds remaining in the contest. The senior now has 2,049 career points. The game featured two 2,000 career point scorers as Yough senior Terek Crosby scored 21 points to push his career total to 2,036 in defeat. Crosby accounted for all 14 of the Cougars points in…


Wolverines Upset Bid Falls Short, Defeated by Deer Lakes In Overtime Thriller

Senior Joseph Roth eclipsed a career scoring milestone Thursday night, but the #9 seeded Wolverines were knocked off by defending champion Deer Lakes 39-38 in overtime on a buzzer beater. The Wolverines led by as many as seven points early in the fourth quarter, and by as many as five points in overtime but missed layups and continued turnovers spelled doom for Ellwood City. In the low scoring affair, Ellwood City overcame first quarter jitters and turnovers and used a late second quarter surge to earn a 18-17 halftime lead. Roth scored 10 of his game-high 20 points in the…


Allen, Lilly Collect 2nd Place Finishes At WPIAL Sectionals

Wolverines junior wrestlers Derek Allen and Gabe Lilly each collected second place finishes in their respective weight classes at the District 7 Class 2A Sectionals this past Saturday at Greensburg Salem High School. After receiving an opening round bye, Allen, who is now 25-8 on the season, used victories by pinfall and decision to earn a place in the 121-pound championship match. Allen was pinned and defeated by Luca Rosa of Burrell in the championship. Likewise, Lilly, who is now 27-5 on the season, received an opening round bye and used two victories, both by decision, to earn a place…


Wolverines Beat Washington 53-36, Advance To Quarterfinals

A strong second quarter propelled the Wolverines to a 53-36 victory over Washington Monday night in its WPIAL 3A opening round playoff contest. After a fast paced first frame that saw Ellwood City lead 17-11, the Wolverines held the Prexies scoreless for more than half the second quarter to separate and extend its lead to 29-15 at intermission. Two third quarter 3-pointers by Nate Williams and 10 second half points by Joseph Roth helped the Wolverines secure the victory. The Wolverines, who never trailed in the game, connected on five 3-pointers in the contest. Roth scored 10 of his game-high…


Unified Bocce Playoffs Begin Tuesday

Ellwood City will host the Unified Bocce playoffs on Tuesday with both Ellwood City and Riverside teams represented. Eight teams on four courts will compete in a two round single elimination tournament. Each division gets two courts. Game start at 3:30 p.m. with Beaver North Division top seed Blackhawk playing #4 Ellwood City and the Lawrence Division top seed Laurel will playing #4 New Castle. The 3-seed Riverside Panthers, who qualified for the playoffs earlier this month, will play #2 Beaver Falls to begin its playoff journey. The 2-seed from Lawrence, Mohawk, will play Shenango to round out the opening…


PLAYOFFS! EC Basketball Teams Have Opening Round Match-Ups Announced

For the first time in 25 years, both the Ellwood City boys and girls basketball teams have qualified for their respective WPIAL Playoffs in the same season. The Ellwood City boys (15-7 Overall, 9-3 Section 3A-1), winners of five consecutive games and 10 of their last 11 games, earned a 9-seed in the WPIAL Class 3A Playoffs and will face Washington on Monday, February 19th. The defacto road game for the Wolverines will be played at Washington High School at 7:00 p.m. The Little Prexies finished 14-7 on the regular season and shared a Section 3A-2 title with Yough with…


PHOTOS: Roth Sets Career Scoring Mark, Wolverines Beat Riverside 73-45

Joseph Roth is now the all-time leading scorer in Ellwood City boys basketball history. The senior knocked down a free throw midway through the second quarter that gave him 1,939 career points, breaking the career scoring record previously held by Dan Aloi. Roth finished with 18 points in the 73-45 rivalry victory over Riverside Friday night. The senior night game boasted a platform for the four Ellwood City seniors to shine, and all took advantage with big games for the Wolverines. Ryan Widmaier scored 17 points (three 3-pointers), Colton Crizer finished with 11 points (three 3-pointers, seven assists), and Nate…


Riverside Bocce Team Qualifies For Playoffs

The Riverside Unified Bocce Team has qualified for the North Division Playoffs. The team finished 3-1 on the regular season and will travel to Ellwood City on Tuesday, February 20 at 3:30PM for a playoff match-up against Beaver Falls. The Panthers, who are part of the Three Rivers Region of Unified Bocce and in the Beaver North Division, are led by three returning players, James Hogue, Kortnee Bond, and Kiersten Kanzleiter, and is under the direction of head coach Michael Walmsley. The bocce team is young, with the remaining players brand new to not only the team, but the sport…