NORTH LEWISBURG – Triad took an early lead and kept expanding the margin en route to a 56-35 victory over Mechanicsburg in OHC boys basketball on Tuesday.
Ryan Boyd scored 15 points to lead the host Cardinals, but had to exit the game in the second half with an ankle injury. He re-entered for a brief period, but then went to the bench for good.
“Just a little tweak,” Triad Coach Matt McCurdy said. “He should be OK. He’s dealt with a few sprained ankles before. He’s a tough kid.”
Hadley LeVan scored 11 points and Colby Watson added 10 for Triad.
“Hopefully we can see that a bit more, where we’re being unselfish,” McCurdy said. “That’s just basketball – finding the open man instead of forcing the shot. When you do that, you get easier shots.”
The Cardinals (6-2, 2-2) jumped out to a 28-15 lead at halftime and expanded that margin in the second half with unselfish, pass-first basketball.
“Nothing comes easy against them, so anytime you can come away with a win, you’ve got to feel good about it,” McCurdy said.
Bobby Welch led the Indians with 7 points, while David Harvey, Mack Cushman and Bryce Waring scored 6 each.
“That’s the great thing about this group – they’re always competing,” Mechanicsburg Coach Matt Siegel said. “They want to be good. They want to be successful. And we will be.”
The Indians played high-energy defense for most of the game, but were unable to keep Triad off the glass and were picked apart inside by the extra pass.
“I thought we guarded very well in the half-court,” Siegel said. “What we’ve got to do a better job of is finishing so they don’t get extra shots. And we’ve got to limit the five or six bad turnovers a night.”
In jayvee action, Triad defeated Mechanicsburg 49-40. Nate Culp had 18 points and Austin Bails had 11 for Triad, while Cody Collier scored 11 for M’burg.
On Dec. 29, Triad hosts West Liberty-Salem and Mechanicsburg plays at Catholic Central.
