COAL TOWNSHIP - Lourdes Regional's boys basketball team is finding different ways to win these days, but one thing has been constant - the Red Raiders have been playing good defense.
Lourdes improved to 6-4 with a 51-40 Schuylkill League division crossover win over Nativity on Tuesday. The Red Raiders are now 3-2 in Division 11, and Nativity dropped to 2-3 in Division III.
After getting a sterling performance from the starters in a win over Minersville on Friday, this time it was the bench that supplied punch.
Sophomore Mike Gilger scored 13 points, hitting 9-of-11 foul shots, and Justin Howal added eight points off the bench, and Lourdes nailed 26 of 36 foul shots despite making only 12 field goals. Lourdes hit 11 of 13 at the line in the final quarter while protecting the lead.
"I thought we did a great job against their press," said Lourdes coach Pete Long. "I think that's why we were able to get in the bonus situation fairly early in both halves. Our bench play was great. Mike Gilger and Josh Howal both came in and did great jobs."
Gilger scored 10 of his 13 points in the first half, including 6 for 7 from the line, and Howal also had to come in early for Anthony Pennypacker, who got in early foul trouble.
Nativity hung close all game but had trouble making 3-point shots. The Hilltoppers were 4-for-20 from the arc but made only one before the fourth quarter.
"We played good defense," Long said. "I thought our interior defense was especially good. We had our hands up and contested things, and we were able to get a lot of loose balls and tipped balls."
Zach Chesney, after a scoreless first half, scored 11 points in the second and hit 6 of 7 foul shots, and Zach Oquendo also scored 11 points.
William Birosik scored 13 points and had 10 rebounds for the Hilltoppers, who did a good job with ball movement but had trouble finishing at the hoop. Jeff Yoder added 11 points.
"That was a good win for us," said Long. "We have another big game on Friday with Marian and hopefully we can keep it rolling."
NATIVITY (40) - Kaledas 2 0-2 6, White 1 1-2 3, Birosik 5 3-6 13, Hollahan 0 0-0 0, Mellon 1 0-2 3, Navitsky 1 2-2 4, Yoder 5 0-0 11, Chipilonia 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 6-14 40.
LOURDES (51) - Gilger 2 9-11 13, Chesney 2 6-7 11, Savitski 0 1-4 1, Oquendo 4 3-6 11, Pennypacker 2 0-0 4, Menapace 0 3-4 3, T. Holleran 0 0-0 0, Wolfe 0 0-0 0, Howal 2 4-4 8. Totals 12 26-36 51.
Nativity 8 11 5 16 - 40
Lourdes 10 12 9 20 - 51
3-point FGs: Nativity (4) - Kaledas 2, Mellon, Yoder; Lourdes (1) - Chesney.
JV: Nativity 35, Lourdes 25. Nativity - Morgan 8, Hunyara 8; Lourdes - Tyler Holleran 8.