Moon vs. Montour 1-15-19 Recap
Source: TRIB LIVE HSSN
Connor Ryan scored the first 5 points for the Moon Boys Varsity basketball team as the team was playing Montour in a WPIAL 5A section game. Moon was winning 21-10 at the end of the first quarter as they were showing Montour how dominant they were. Taru Jones and Connor Jones both scored 7 points in the first quarter and Jioni Smith scored 4 points in the first quarter for Moon.
Moon Area basketball star, Donovan "Puff" Johnson, started the second quarter on the bench as he needed some time to rest after only scoring 3 points in the first quarter. Johnson did not play in the first 3 minutes of the second quarter and Moon was really playing fine without him. Montour's defense was letting Moon Area player, Taru Jones, have a lot of space for him to shoot as there were multiple times in the first half that no Spartan player was guarding Jones. The Montour Spartans turned the ball 8 times in the first 10 minutes of the game. Austin Ryan missed a 3-point shot with 5:15 left to go in the second quarter. With about 3:30 left to go in the second quarter the Montour defense started playing in a 2-3 zone type of defense as they were trying to slow down the Moon offense. Moon had a lot of offensive rebounds late in the second quarter to help them get more time with the ball. Johnson had this nice slam dunk with 1:36 left in the second quarter to hype up the Moon Student Section. At the end of the second quarter, Moon was up 37-12 over Montour going into halftime. The Spartans only scored a total of 2 points in the second quarter. Connor Ryan led Moon in points at the end of the second quarter as he scored 9 points going into halftime. Johnson and Jioni Smith both scored 8 points for Moon going into halftime. Montour was not getting to the foul line much in the first half and they turned the basketball over 10 times in the first half.
One of the key differences for Montour struggling in the game is the fact that their star player, Jaden Nelson, was not playing in this game due to getting stitches in one of his eyes.
As the third quarter began, Jioni Smith scored a layup with his left hand to give the Tigers a 39-12 lead. After another Spartan turnover, Connor Ryan scored again to keep increasing the lead for Moon. Taru Jones had two straight offensive rebounds in two straight possessions and scored on both offensive rebounds to give Moon a 45-16 lead with 3:07 left in the third quarter. Going into the game, Taru was averaging only 8 points in the game and with under 2 minutes left to go in the third quarter, Taru already scored 11 points which is pretty good. Johnson had another slam dunk in the third quarter to show Montour that they really are having a frustrating time playing in this game. Austin Ryan hit a 3-point shot late in the third quarter to boost his stats. Montour player, senior Anthony Tambellini, scored a total of 4 points at the end of three quarters. Moon had a 55-23 lead at the end of the third quarter.
What is nice about Moon's team is the fact that almost everyone on their bench can score. Junior, Cameron Goble started the fourth quarter by hitting a 3-point shot for the Tigers. After this shot, a total of 6 Moon players scored at least a 3-point shot. Montour player, James Eubanks, had a nice behind the back layup in the middle of the fourth quarter to give something Spartan fans to scream and cheer for. Moon's head coach, Adam Kaufman, decided with 3 minutes left to go in the game that it would be best if he decided to let the bench players come out and play for the team. So, at the end of the game Moon improved their overall record to 13-0 and their section record to 6-0 as they defeated Montour 68-33. Donovan Johnson ended the night with 17 points to show college recruiters that he is a reliable player in big games.
Montour won a total of 3 section games in a row last week as they defeated West Allegheny, South Fayette and Chartiers Valley. To start this week, they could not find the answer against Moon. Montour's overall record now is 7-7 and their section record is now 4-3. Montour's next game will be on Friday against West Mifflin at home while Moon's next game will be on Friday as well against West Allegheny at home.