Warriors roll in season opener

NORTH ENGLISH — Peyton Roth can score.

The HLV-TC senior averaged over 20 points a game last season, and those abilities were on full display in the first quarter of Monday’s game with English Valleys.

Roth scored 14 of his 25 in the first, fueling the Warriors’ double-digit lead after one quarter.

The new additions in the starting lineup might be the biggest difference this season, as the HLV-TC boys’ basketball team cruised to a season-opening victory over English Valleys Monday night.

The balance the new athletes can bring offensively, to go with solid defensive play, make the Warriors an improved team this season.

“It’s great to have these guys,” Roth said. “They open up a lot of things for me and the rest of the team. I’m happy we got them.”

The two new Tri-County starters, Levi Molyneux and Sean McCulloch, scored 12 and 10 respectively.

New move in to the HLV district, Tucker Donaldson, added nine.

After one, the Warriors led 19-5.

English Valleys showed some fight in the second period, going on a run of their own to cut into the deficit.

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Kane Axmear scored back-to-back buckets for the Bears to start the quarter.

A Gage Bender three and Axmear putback cut the lead to eight.

The Warriors ended the half on a 12-0 run to extend the lead at half to 21, 39-18.

Everett Bender scored nine of his team-high 12 points in the third for the Bears, but the Warriors extended their lead to 23 after three.

The Warriors’ best offense in the game came off their defense, which had 22 steals on the night.

“Our defense played really well which led to our easy fast break buckets,” Roth said.

Devon Weisskopf scored all six of his points in the fourth. The low-scoring quarter saw the Warriors extend their lead to 31 to win 69-38.

“Offensively we ran our system how it’s supposed to be run,” HLV-TC coach Shawn Welsh said. “There’s some things we need to clean up, but anytime you win by 30 points you got to be pretty pleased.“

AT NORTH ENGLISH

HLV-TC (69): Levi Molyneux 4-4 3-4 12, Peyton Roth 8-19 9-17 25, Sean McCulloch 4-8 1-2 10, Devon Weisskopf 3-7 0-0 6, Tucker Donaldson 4-14 1-2 9, Keegan Gorsh 2-2 0-0 4, Aiden Van Waus 0-2 0-0 0, Cash Hawkins 1-3 0-0 2, Lance Milton 0-2 1-2 1, Luke Butler 0-1 0-0 0, Michael VerPloeg 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 26-62 15-27 69

English Valleys (38): Everett Bender 5-9 0-0 12, Ben Axmear 1-5 1-2 3, Tyler Lortz 1-8 0-0 3, Christian Tripses 1-7 0-2 2, Kane Axmear 4-6 2-3 10, Declan Patterson 1-2 0-0 2, Gage Bender 1-5 0-2 3, Colton Mikesell 1-4 0-0 3, Roejert Patterson 0-3 0-0 0, Totals 15-49 3-9 38

HLV-TC...........19 20 18 12—69

English Valleys 5 13 16 4—38

3-point goals — HLV-TC 2-12 (Molyneux 1-1, Roth 0-2, McCulloch 1-3, Donaldson 0-4, Van Waus 0-1, Milton 0-1), English Valleys 5-28 (Everett Bender 2-5, Ben Axmear 0-2, Lortz 1-7, Tripses 0-5, Roejert Patterson 0-3, Gage Bender 1-3, Mikesell 1-3); Rebounds — HLV-TC 46 (Molyneux 8), English Valleys 35 (Kane Axmear 12); Assists — HLV-TC 8 (Roth 4), English Valleys 11 (Everett Bender, Tripses 3); Steals — HLV-TC 22 (Roth 9), English Valleys 10 (Everett Bender 4); Team fouls — HLV-TC 13, English Valleys 17