Leopards Break Branch 63-56 to Snap Skid
Video Highlights
Louisville 63, West Branch 56
Louisville snapped their 10-game losing streak Friday night by earning a hard-fought 63-56 victory over the host West Branch Warriors. Five different Leopards reached double figures in the contest which included Joe Crank, Blake Hoover, Bryce Mathie, and Drew Noble all scoring 11 and Pavin Parks adding 10.
The Leopards battled through a wild first half to take a 28-27 lead into the break. The opening 16 minutes featured a combined 11 three-pointers by both squads. Crank and Mathie each hit 
triples to give the Leopards a 6-0 lead at the outset. The Warriors rallied to tied the game at 6-6 and it went back and forth from there. Crank hit 3 three-pointers and scored all of his 11 points in the opening half for the Leps.
Louisville and West Branch continued to see-saw back and forth at the beginning of the third quarter. The Warriors took their first first lead since 17-16 when Drake Lohnes buried a three-pointer to put West Branch up 36-35 with 3:55 left in the third.
The Leopards responded by running off the final 11 points of the quarter in a 13-0 run overall. The Louisville defense held West Branch scoreless for over four minutes. Jake Adams drilled a three-pointer to begin the run. Then Hoover laid in a basket and Noble added two more field goals to put the Leps up 44-36.
Louisville seized all the momentum in the contest when Mathie threw up a buzzer-beating lay-in at the end of the third quarter. The full court fast break came after Stephen Kerzan grabbed a rebound and was fouled. The connection for the score included the in-bounding Alex Schooley to Noble, Noble to the sprinting Alex Hollifield across the timeline, and finally a beautifully delivered pass from Hollifield to Mathie for two points.
With the momentum, Louisville extended their lead to the largest of the contest after a Hoover jumper made it 48-36. Hoover would go on to scored 7 of his 11 points in the fourth quarter that saw the Leps maintain their lead and win their first game of 2013.
With the victory, the Leopards have now taken 8 of the last 10 from West Branch and improve to 4-15 overall and 2-11 in NBC play.
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STATISTICS
LEOPARDS 63, WARRIORS 56
LEOPARDS: Crank 4 0-0 11, Hoover 4 3-4 11, Mathie 3 3-4 11, Noble 4 1-2 11, Parks 3 1-1 10, Schooley 3 0-2 6, Adams 1 0-0 3. TOTAL 23 8-13 63.
3-Pointers (9): crank (3), Parks (3), Mathie (2), Adams
Team FT: 8-13 62%
WARRIORS: Griffith 4 0-0 11, Taylor 3 3-4 10, Thomas 2 3-5 9, DeShields 2 4-6 8, Lohnes 2 2-2 7, Greenawalt 1 3-4 5, Meiter 2 0-0 5, Schiningle 0 1-2 1. TOTAL 17 16-23 56.
3-Pointers (6): Thomas (2), Griffith, Lohnes, Meiter, Taylor
Team FT: 16-23 70%
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
West Branch 13-14-9-20–56
Louisville 16-12-18-17–63
Fouls: 19-16 Louisville
Records: Louisville 4-15, 2-11;
UP NEXT: The Leopards will next travel to Barberton to take on the Magics on Tuesday, February 12. JV will begin at 6:00 PM and Varsity will follow at 7:30 PM.
JV & VARSITY PICTURES
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JV: West Branch 62, Louisville 52
West Branch made 9 three-pointers en rout to defeating visiting Louisville 62-52 Friday night in the JV game.
The Leopards hit 6 three-pointers of their own in the contest, including 3 from Jake Pukys. Pukys finished with a team-high 15 points and Jake Adams poured in 8 for Louisville.
The Warriors got off to a hot-start and took a 20-11 lead after the first quarter. West Branch played relatively even with Louisville the rest of the way to claim victory.
Matt Meiter led the Warriors with 15 points, while Jake Evanoff scored 10 and Luke Wallbrown added 9. West Branch’s JV squad is now 12-6 overall this season.
Stephen Kerzan, Riley Graybeal, and Austin Shaheen also added 6 points each for the Leps who fall to 9-9 overall and 7-6 against NBC foes.
STATISTICS
WARRIORS 62, LEOPARDS 52
LEOPARDS: Pukys 5 2-4 15, Adams 3 1-2 8, Kerzan 2 1-2 6, Graybeal 3 0-0 6, Shaheen 3 0-0 6, Eddins 1 2-2 5, Mathie 1 2-2 4, Haren 0 2-2 2. TOTAL 18 10-14 52.
3-Pointers (6): Pukys (3), Adams, Eddins, Kerzan
Team FT: 10-14 71%
WARRIORS: Meiter 6 0-0 15, Evanoff 3 2-2 10, Wallbrown 3 1-4 9, Austin 3 0-1 7, Thomas 3 0-0 7, Zigler 2 2-4 6, Butcher 2 0-1 4, Grammer 1 0-0 2, Tuel 1 0-0 2. TOTAL 24 5-12 62.
3-Pointers (9): Meiter (3), Evanoff (2), Wallbrown (2), Austin, Thomas
Team FT: 5-12 42%
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Louisville 11-14-14-13–52
West Branch 20-13-17-12–62
Fouls: 16-16
Records: West Branch 12-6; Louisville 9-9, 7-6
