Chucks BBall plays strong in second half to beat United
PUNXSUTAWNEY — The Punxsutawney Chucks Varsity Basketball team hosted the visiting United Lions on Monday evening to start the final week of the regular season, and with a strong second half, the Chucks went on to win 61-34.
In the first quarter, the Chucks hit a few extra key shots to go into the second quarter up 12-8. Seniors Zach Presloid and Jimmie Neese both scored four points apiece that quarter, while fellow senior Cooper Hallman put in two points to see Punxsy go into the next quarter up six points.
The second quarter saw the Chucks cling to a 27-25 advantage going into halftime, with United continuing to tie it up and the Chucks breaking the tie at least two times in the quarter.
A three from the Lions tied it up at 17-17 close to halfway through the quarter, and with the Chucks up 19-18 with under four minutes to play, United kept it close.
But, a three-pointer from Punxsy's Noah Kengersky gave the home team a 22-20 advantage. With around 45 seconds left, the score was 25-25, and with a lay-up from Kengersky, the Chucks went into halftime up 27-25.
The third quarter started Kengersky hitting another three for the Chucks to help Punxsy stay up early in the second half.
The rest of the third quarter saw the Chucks limit the Lions to five points, while Presloid (five points), Kengersky (four points) and Neese (four points) led the offense that quarter to see the home team go into the fourth quarter up 42-30.
The final eight minutes had the Chucks start the quarter up 51-30 with 5:48 left to play, as Presloid added in five points.
The rest of the fourth quarter had Punxsy hit some more points, with freshman Evan Presloid adding in four points and Brody Stouffer add in a late two to see the Chucks win the last home game of the season at 61-34.
After the game, Chucks Head Coach Randy Reitz remarked that despite a slow first half that had some openings for United to get through, Punxsy played well in the second half and they were able to shut them down, especially in the last home game of the year before the postseason.
He also remarked that it was nice to get such a balanced scoring attack from pretty everyone on Varsity, including some of the JV players as well.
For the Chucks, Zach Presloid scored 15 points, while Neese added in 10. Both Noah Weaver and Kengersky scored nine points apiece, while Beau Thomas hit six points.
Also, Evan Presloid scored four points, while Hallman and Mason Nesbitt both scored two points apiece.