Leopards Suffer 1st Loss at Alliance 61-55 – Boys Basketball
Alliance 61, Louisville 55
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The Louisville Leopards fell to the host Alliance Aviators 61-55 Tuesday Night at Harry Fails Gymnasium. With the loss, Louisville drops to 2-1 on the young season.
Nigro Leads Leopards With Game High 21
Sophomore guard Hayden Nigro left the game in the fourth quarter with an injury, but that didn’t stop him from being the game’s leading scorer with 21 points to lead the Leopards. Junior guard Will Aljancic also hit 3 three-pointers in the first half and finished with 19, and senior guard Tyler Boldon reached double digits with 11.
Louisville Takes 35-33 Lead into Halftime
The two teams battled back-and-forth throughout the first half exchanging leads 13 times. Alliance’s Diego Allen hit 3 three-pointers in the opening quarter and finished with 11 of the Aviators 16 points in the period as the two teams battled to a 16-16 deadlock at the end of one.
Aljancic scored 8 and Nigro added 7 to lead Louisville’s efforts in the second quarter as they edged Alliance 19-17 for the period. The Leopards took a slim 35-33 lead into the half as a result.
Aviators Take Command in Third
The Aviators opened the third quarter on an 8-0 run to take control of the contest. Alliance held Louisville to just a single field goal from the floor in the period, while Brenden Zurbrugg caught fire with a pair of three-pointers to help the Aviators open up a 52-40 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Leopards Nearly Erase Deficit with 11-0 Run
Trailing 54-42 in the fourth, the scrappy Leopards rallied back with an 11-0 run. Nigro scored 5 of Louisville’s points during the run before being taken out of the game with an injury. Freshman guard Beau Siegfried replaced Nigro and hit a pair of free throws from the line in his stead. On the next AHS possession, Siegfried intercepted a pass and took the ball to the hoop on a fastbreak. His layup missed, but Aljancic was there for the rebound and putback to cut the deficit to 54-53.
That putback would be the Leopards final basket from the floor as the Aviators would hold them scoreless from the field in the final three minutes of action. Louisville’s only other points came when Aljancic hit a pair of free throws with 2:51 left to cut the margin to 56-55. Alliance responded with five unanswered points to seal the game.
Allen Leads Aviators with Team High 18
The Aviators (3-0) were led by Allen who made 4 three-pointers and finished with a team high 18 points. Zurbrugg scored all of his 12 points from beyond the arch with 4 three-pointers as well. Steve Gales also reached double digits with 10 to round out Alliance’s top scorers.
The Leopards have now dropped 4 of their last 5 meetings against the Aviators, which includes falling in the last two matchups played at Harry Fails Gymnasium. Louisville is now 18-46 against Alliance all-time in boys basketball dating back to 1928.
<<< Previous 2020 | Alliance All-Time Series
UP NEXT: The Leopards will next take on the Canfield Cardinals on Sunday, December 12. Game time is set for 2:00 PM from Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland.
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Varsity Statistics
AVIATORS 61, LEOPARDS 55
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Alliance 16-17-19-9–61
Louisville 16-19-5-15–55
LEOPARDS: Nigro 6 9-11 21, Aljancic 7 2-2 19, Boldon 4 2-2 11, Lingenhoel 1 0-0 2, Siegfried 0 2-2 2. TOTAL 18 15-17 55.
3-Pointers (4): Aljancic 3, Boldon
Team FT: 15-17 88%
AVIATORS: Allen 7 0-0 18, Zurbrugg 4 0-0 12, Gales 4 2-2 10, Davis 3 3-3 9, Ford 3 1-2 8, Hawkins 2 0-0 4. TOTAL 23 6-7 61.
3-Pointers (9): Allen 4, Zurbrugg 4, Ford
Team FT: 6-7 85%
Fouls: 15-8 Alliance
Records: Alliance 3-0, Louisville 2-1
JV: Louisville 53, Alliance 38
JV Statistics
LEOPARDS 53, AVIATORS 38
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Louisville 14-18-15-6–53
Alliance 9-12-4-13–38
LEOPARDS: Gross 7 2-2 16, Marshall 4 0-0 8, Siegfried 3 0-0 7, Andrejcik 1 1-2 4, Duskey 2 0-0 4, Gonzalez 2 0-0 4, Loy 2 0-0 4, Vesely 1 0-0 3, Wymer 1 0-0 2, Aljancic 0 1-2 1. TOTAL 23 4-6 53.
3-Pointers (3): Andrejcik, Siegfried, Vesely
Team FT: 4-6 67%
AVIATORS: Crockett 5 0-0 14, Cress 4 3-4 11, Stovall 2 1-2 5, Frazier 2 0-0 4, Hill 1 2-2 4, White 0 0-2 0. TOTAL 14 6-10 38.
3-Pointers (4): Crockett 4
Team FT: 6-10 60%
Fouls: 13-8 Louisville
Records: Louisville 3-0
