Crusaders edged by Brookville Raiders for first loss
Tuesday night’s matchup between the Elk County Catholic Crusaders and Brookville Raiders was a back and forth affair that saw both teams unable to maintain much of an advantage throughout the close game. With the Raiders holding a slim lead late, the Crusaders tried for a shot just before the final buzzer to force overtime. However, the shot did not go in, and Brookville got the rebound and held on to leave with a 4845 win.
Brookville’s Kellan Haines and ECC’s Wil Wortman each led their respective teams with 17 points on the night. Joining Wortman in double digits for ECC were Colby Nussbaum with 14 points and Jordan Wasko with 12 points.
Both teams scored their opening points of the night within the first 31 seconds of the game. Nussbaum made the opening bucket of the game 16 seconds into the first quarter to give the Crusaders an early lead, but Pierson Ruhlman responded with two points for the Raiders 15 seconds later to knot the score at 2-all. Haines then went one-for-two from the foul line to give Brookville their first lead, 3-2.
The teams traded the lead back and forth, with Wortman scoring to put the Crusaders
back in front before Haines made another bucket to give the lead back to Brookville. Wasko made a three with 3:59 left in the quarter to put ECC ahead by two, 7-5, but Caleb Kornbau quickly put two more points on the board for Brookville to make it 7-all.
Buckets by Nussbaum and Wortman put ECC ahead by four, 11-7, but Haines outscored ECC 5-2 in the final 2:15 of the frame to leave the Crusaders leading by one, 13-12, at the end of the quarter.
The back and forth scoring continued in the second quarter, with Jesse Lucas and Wortman trading twos, and then a two by Haines being met with a three by Wasko. With 3:41 left in the half, Carter Mackins scored for Brookville to tie the game at 18-all. Nussbaum and Mackins traded twos, and then another two by Nussbaum was answered with a three by Haines to put the Raiders up 23-22. Wasko made another three for the Crusaders with 46 seconds to go to send the game into the break with ECC ahead by two, 2523.
A Wortman bucket 57 seconds into the third quarter once again put the Crusaders ahead by four, 27-23, but it would not take long for the Raiders to pull ahead. A three by Jack Pete made it a one-point game, and then Wortman and Lucas traded twos. Following another bucket by Nussbaum, Ruhlman hit a three to knot the score at 31all. The three was the start of an eight-point run for the Raiders, with Pete converting a three-point play and Haines adding a bucket to put Brookville up by five, 36-31, with 1:21 left in the quarter.
After Nussbaum came up empty at the foul line, Wasko made his final three of the game with 10 seconds remaining to end the quarter with Brookville up by two, 36-34.
Buckets by Haines and Mackins extended the Raiders’ lead to six points, 40-34, early in the fourth quarter.
ECC responded with four points of their own as Lance O’Neill made his only bucket of the night and Wortman added another field goal to his total. Following a two by Luke Burton for the Raiders, Wortman and Nussbaum combined for five points to give the Crusaders their final lead of the game, 43-42, with 2:13 to go.
Brookville tied things up at 43-all on a foul shot by Pete with two minutes to go, and then the Raiders retook the lead for good on a foul shot by Ruhlman with 1:42 remaining. Burton followed that up with a bucket, and Pete again went one-for-two from the foul line.
ECC scored their final points of the night on a Nussbaum bucket with 13 seconds to go, making the score 47-45 in favor of the Raiders. Burton went one-fortwo from the line with 9.1 seconds left, and then the Crusaders’ attempt at a game-tying three just before the buzzer missed its mark, giving Brookville the 48-45 win.
The Crusaders return to action on Friday on the road against St. Marys Area. The junior varsity game begins at 6 p.m. with the varsity contest to follow.
Brookville 48
Jesse Lucas 2-0-0-04, Luke Burton 2-0-12-5, Kellan Haines 6-12-3-17, Carter Mackins 3-0-0-0-6, Jack Pete 1-1-3-5-8, Caleb Kornbau 1-0-0-1-2, Pierson Ruhlman 1-1-1-2-6. Totals 16-3-7-13-48.
Elk Catholic 45
Jordan Wasko 0-40-0-12, Frankie Smith 0-0-0-0-0, Bobby Urmann 0-0-0-0-0, Chase Simbeck 0-0-0-0-0, Lance O’Neill 1-0-0-0-2, Timmy Brannock 0-0-00-0, Wil Wortman 8-0-11-17, Colby Nussbaum 7-0-0-2-14. Totals 16-41-4-45.
Score by quarters
Brookville 12 11 13 12 48 ECCHS 13 12 9 11 45