Boys Basketball Steamrolls Austintown Fitch in Sectional
Louisville 79, Austintown Fitch 41
The #4 Seed Louisville Leopards Boys Varsity Basketball Team steamrolled the visiting #6 Seed 
Austintown Fitch Falcons 79-41 Saturday Night at Louisville High School. With the victory, Louisville improves to 19-4 on the season and advances to play top seeded Warren Harding in the DI Alliance District Semifinals on Wednesday, March 2 at AHS.
Drew Noble finished with a double-double by scoring a game-high 21 points and pulling down a game-high 10 rebounds to lead the Leopards. Jared Holland also hit 5 three-pointers to finish with 15, Chris Libertore also dropped in 13 points, and Jake Pukys also broke double digits with 10 for Louisville.
The two teams went back-and-forth at the start of the contest in playing to a 9-9 tie. The Leopards offense exploded after that in outscoring the Falcons 24-4 over the next eight minutes to take a commanding 33-13 advantage.
Louisville hit 5 of their 12 three-pointers in the second quarter during the onslaught. Holland alone banged home three triples including a make from well beyond the arch in the waning seconds of the first half. The shot put the Leopards ahead 39-17 at the break.
Louisville continued to pour it on out of the locker room. Noble, who scored 12 points in the first half, 
added 9 more in the third quarter alone. When he was substituted out, his 21 point individual total matched the team total of the opposition. The Leopards outscored the Falcons 22-6 in the third period to go ahead 61-23 and the two teams played even in the final period.
Louisville dominated the stat sheet. They shot 57% (30 of 53) from the field against Fitch’s 39% (16 of 41) night from the floor. The Leopards hit home 12 of 25 (48%) three-pointers, while the Falcons failed to connect from beyond the arch (0 of 9). Louisville also out-rebounded Austintown Fitch 29-16 and held the edge in assists 21-8. Pukys dished out a game-high 8 assists and Brody Hahn added 5 assists for the Leopards.
The loss snapped a 10-game winning streak for the Falcons as they finish 17-7 on the year. Randy Smith was their leading scorer on the night with 9 points. Anthony Pangino also scored 8 points and Dom DiFrancesco added 7. This was the first ever meeting on the hardwood between Austintown Fitch and Louisville.
The 38-point margin of victory is the second highest for the Leopards in Tournament Play. Louisville’s largest margin of victory in the postseason came back on March 1, 1955 when they defeated Greensburg 96-39 (57 point margin) at the Canton Memorial Civic Center.
The win marks the Leopards first Sectional Tournament Title since 2007 and first ever Sectional Crown under the distinction of Division I. Louisville is now 50-79 in tournament play dating back to 1932 and has won their opening game in each of the past two seasons.
UP NEXT: The Leopards will next play the top seeded Warren Harding Raiders in the DI Alliance District Semifinals on Wednesday, March 2 at 7:00 PM at Alliance High School.
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