by Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio – In a defensive showdown Tuesday night, CVCA held off Youngstown Chaney, 51-46.
In a back-and-forth first quarter, Youngstown Chaney ended it ahead 16-14. The Cowboys worked the inside thanks to the efforts of Matt Jones, Jason Hewlett, and Josiah Gonzalez. Darryn Peterson had six first quarter points, and Jonathan Fridline and Alan Jayapandian each knocked down a triple.
Josiah Gonzalez would score 7 of his 14 first half points in the second quarter, and knocked down the lone triple from either team. These efforts helped Chaney maintain a 25-22 lead going into the half.
Chaney would expand their lead to as much as 32-27 in the third, thanks to a slam dunk from Josiah Gonzalez, and a Jason Hewlett layup. Both baskets came off forced turnovers.
However, CVCA would rally for an 11-4 run to take a 38-34 lead late in the third. They would end the stanza up 38-36.
The two teams swapped the lead back-and-forth in the final quarter.
After CVCA took a 46-43 lead, Josiah Gonzalez sank a triple to tie it up with 4:43 left.
Connor Gray and Darryn Peterson each split a pair of free throws to give CVCA the lead, 48-46. After an offensive rebound, Gray kicked it out to an open Jonathan Fridline on the left wing. He sank a huge triple to pad the lead to 51-46 with 2:51 left. Thanks to outstanding defense from the Royals, these turned out to be the last points of the contest.
CVCA improves to 7-3. They were led by sophomore forward Darryn Peterson, who had 28 points. They travel to Canal Fulton Northwest on Friday night to continue PAC-7 Conference play.
Chaney drops to 4-4. They host Ursuline on Friday night to continue Steel Valley Conference play. The Cowboys had three players in double players, led by senior Josiah Gonzalez with 19. Fellow senior and Michigan football commit Jason Hewlett had 14, and sophomore guard Matt Jones had 11.
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