Boys Basketball Falls, Alliance Poised to Clinch NBC
Alliance 67, Louisville 57
The Louisville Leopards Boys Varsity Basketball Team succumbed to a furious second half rally by the 
host Alliance Aviators 67-57 Tuesday Night at Harry Fails Gymnasium. With the loss, Louisville drops to 12-4 overall and 7-3 in NBC play.
Drew Noble scored a game-high 25 points and pulled down a game-high 8 rebounds to lead the Leopards. Chris Libertore scored 9 points and dished out 4 assists, Jake Adams & Brody Hahn each added 6, and Jake Pukys also had 4 assists for Louisville.
The Leopards took an early 14-11 lead after the first quarter and used a 19-12 second quarter to extend their advantage to double digits at 33-23 by halftime. The third quarter saw the Aviators chip away at the Leopards lead before AHS ended the period on a 7-0 run to go in front 43-42 at the end of the third.
The two teams battled back and forth in the final quarter. Louisville finally regained the lead with just under three minutes to play when Noble’s putback made it 55-54. However, Jai’ron Bracket answered on the other end with a putback of his own to put Alliance back in front 56-55.
After a timeout, Libertore made it look way to easy. From the right wing he dribbled, found a gap in the 
key, and reversed hooked the ball into the hoop on the opposite side. This put Louisville ahead 57-56 with two minutes to play.
The Leopards would not score again as the Aviators closed the contest on an 11-0 run to take the game. After a timeout, DJ Hancock drove hard to the rack and laid it up and in to put Alliance up 58-57. He then stole the ensuing inbound pass and hit a jumper just seconds later. Louisville would fail to connect on several shots during the final minute and Alliance hit their free throws on the other end to seal the deal.
The Aviators (16-1, 10-0) now have a strangle hold of the NBC up three games on Louisville and Canton South (who lost at Salem 60-56 Tuesday). Bracket scored a team-high 16 points and grabbed a team-high 6 boards to lead Alliance. Hancock also had 13 assists & a game-high 4 steals, Savion Royster broke double figures with 10 points, and Aeryon Williams divied out 4 assist for Alliance.
The Aviators have now defeated the Leopards in 8 of their last 10 meetings overall.
UP NEXT: The Leopards will next host the Marlington Dukes on Friday, January 29. JV will start at 6:00 PM and Varsity will follow around 7:30 PM.
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