SENECA EAST 72, CAREY 51
By Kyle Holsinger
CAREY — Seneca East’s Luke Bordner scored 25 points as he led the Tigers to a 72-51 Northern 10 Conference victory at Carey.
“It’s a tough place to play,” Seneca East coach Jay Langhurst said. “I thought our guys did a nice job of handling their pressure. We kind of knew coming in here: they’re going to play really good man-to-man defense and be physical. So, I thought our guys did a nice job of handling that."
The Orange & Black took their first lead of the game when Taylor Young grabbed a defensive rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup at the other end to make the score 7-5 early in the first quarter. Seneca East (4-1 overall, 2-0 N10) never relinquished the lead for the remainder of the game.
The Tigers finished the quarter on a 9-2 run with five different players scoring. Bryler Beamer stole a Blue Devil pass and made one-of-two free throws when he was fouled at the other end.
A minute later, Bordner finished at the rim with a left-handed layup to push Seneca East’s lead to 10-5.
A put-back after an offensive board by Eli Steen was Carey’s only remaining score in the first, and helped minimize the damage done during the Tigers’ run.
On the following possession, Seneca East’s Luke Mason was fouled as he made a three-pointer. Mason made the free throw to complete the four-point play.
The Tigers’ Justin Reiter was able to dribble penetrate and score in the lane to round out the scoring in the first quarter, 16-7.
Mason’s layup and Reiter’s three from the right wing bounced up-and-in to stretch Seneca East’s lead to 14.
That’s when Carey’s Bryce Puckett put-back an offensive rebound. A couple minutes later, Puckett put-back another board to make it a 10-point game.
Bordner responded with a three from the left corner to thwart the Devils’ comeback chances. Bordner then stole the ball and scored on a fast break layup.
After Carey’s Chase Mullholand sank a couple free throws, the teams traded put-back buckets before Bordner converted two foul shots with 5.6 seconds left in the half to make the score 30-15 in favor of the Tigers at the break.
A Kyler Boes jumper from the elbow and a Tripp Phoenix layup inched the Devils closer. However, Reiter converted an and-one free throw then Beamer’s put-back erased any ground gained by Carey (0-3, 0-1). This continued throughout the game.
The Blue Devils’ Boes hit another jumper from the elbow only to see Seneca East score on their next three possessions. Bordner nailed a three-pointer to start it off, Beamer scored inside, and Reiter scored in the paint also.
Puckett made one-of-two then Mullholand made two foul shots himself for the Blue & White. The teams traded a couple free throws a piece before the Tigers’ Beamer put back his own rebound to give his team a 46-26 lead.
After Bordner converted two foul shots, Carey’s Carter Bame hit a trey from the corner. Beamer then made a bunny in the paint before Boes swished a three of his own for the Devils.
Boes knocked down another three to end the scoring in the third quarter. Seneca East held a 52-36 lead at that point.
Carey opened the fourth quarter with Steen completing an and-one situation only to have the Tigers’ Ayden Zack go down the floor and hit a three in the corner.
A minute later, Steen converted another and-one free throw before that was answered with a bucket in the paint by Mason for Seneca East.
The Devil’s Boes hit another jumper from the elbow. Then, Seneca East’s Bordner made a bucket while being fouled. He missed the free throw, but after the Tigers got the rebound. A Carey foul sent Young to the line where he made another free throw to give Seneca East three points on the offensive attempt.
Puckett kicked it out to Landon Roberts, who converted a three-pointer from the left corner. Again, the Tigers responded right back as Young made an easy inside bucket off of a spin move. That’s when Bordner blocked a Devil’s shot then sped down the court, faking out his final defender with a fake pass on his way to a lay up.
Carey didn’t give up though, moving the ball around to get Braydon Kitzler an open three on the right wing.
The Tigers’ Mason scored the next four points on two different trips to the charity stripe. Caden Miller finished the scoring on an assist from Zack.
Aside from Bordner’s 25 points, Mason and Reiter had 14 points a piece for Seneca East.
“Just a special player,” Langhurst said about Bordner’s performance. “That’s all him just making great athletic plays.”
Carey was led by Boes’ 14 points while Steen chipped-in 11 to go with 10 rebounds.
Langhurst said that his team was ‘kind of fortunate’ that Carey hasn’t got all their pieces figured out. “Obviously, they’re coming off a nice football season,” he said. “They’ll be a completely different team when we play at home as the season goes on.”
The two teams will face again on January 24 in Attica.
Carey won the JV game, 45-30.
