BY SCOTT WALSH, STAFF WRITER
SCRANTON — Scranton Prep knew it had an advantage inside over West Scranton and Robert Rossi made sure the Cavaliers capitalized.
The 6-foot-4 sophomore
forward was near perfect
in scoring a game-high
25 points to lead No. 2 Scranton Prep to a 54-44 win over the No. 5 Invaders in a Lackawanna League Division I boys basketball game Tuesday night at the Lackawanna College Student Union.
Rossi helped the Cavaliers (10-2 overall, 4-0 league) build an early lead. Then when West Scranton tried to rally in the fourth, he scored nine points in the quarter to quell the comeback bid.
“We knew he was a tough matchup for them,” Cavaliers coach Andrew Kettel said. “We talked about it, the guys found him and he had the confidence to go out and try to help us win the game.
“We kind of jumped on his back and he got us there. Proud of him, his effort and how his teammates found him.”
Hitting his first five shots, Rossi finished 9 for 11 from the field, with one 3-pointer, and 6 of 8 from the free throw line. He also had seven rebounds, three assists, one steal and two blocks.
“The guys just did a good job of finding me in the post,” Rossi said. “We moved well with the ball and found the open guy. We just kept feeding the ball into the post because we had a size advantage on them.”
Six-foot-7 senior Rhys Merritt added 11 points for Scranton Prep.
“The two inside players, Merritt and Rossi, especially Rossi, played a hell of a game,” West Scranton coach Jack Lyons said. “He really hurt us. I thought Nick Forsette did a great job on Merritt, but Rossi really came up big.”
Defensively, Scranton Prep also held Cayden Merrifield to just six points. The West Scranton junior entered the game as the leading scorer in Division I with 19.1 points.
Junior Brandon Barnes led the Invaders (9-4, 1-3) with 21 points.
“It was a group effort,” Kettel said. “Cayden is a terrific player. We had four guys on and off him. We tried to keep fresh legs on him and guard him full court. When you go up against players like that, you have to respect and honor them. Our guys did a great job of responding to that challenge.”
With Rossi going 4 for 4 in the first quarter, Scranton Prep took a 14-13 lead. Then in the second, Gavin Bednarz had four points, Merritt and Andrew Stark each hit a 3-pointer and Rossi sank three free throws as the Cavaliers extended their lead to 29-19 at halftime.
West Scranton shot just
2 for 13 in the second quarter. Kettel felt his team’s seven defensive rebounds in the second were a key reason.
“That allowed us to separate a little bit. That was huge,” Kettel said. “In the third quarter, they got a bunch of offensive rebounds that kind of gave them a spurt to come back.”
Two free throws by David Blake with 2:43 left in the third quarter gave Scranton Prep its largest lead, 39-26.
But Barnes hit a 3-pointer and a basket to cut the deficit to eight. Then Merrifield scored to open the fourth quarter and bring the Invaders to within six.
That’s when Rossi took charge. He scored the Cavaliers’ next seven points from inside — three baskets and a free throw — to push the margin to 46-35 with 5:19 left.
“We just kept on doing the same thing,” Rossi said. “They kept getting me the ball because I was scoring.
“This was a great win.”
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Scranton Prep (10-2, 4-0) — R. Rossi 9-11 6-8 25, R. Merritt 4-11 2-3 11, G. Bednarz 4-9 1-2 9, D. Blake 1-1 2-2 4, A. Stark 1-6 0-0 3, M. Skoff 1-7 0-0 2, B. Roche 0-0 0-0 0, W. Aldrich 0-0 0-0 0, N. Cafarella 0-0 0-0 0, M. Oven 0-0 0-0 0, R. McAndrew 0-0 0-0 0, B. Stallman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-45 11-15 54.
West Scranton (9-4, 1-3) — B. Barnes 8-19 2-2 21, C. Merrifield 3-12 0-0 6, N. Forsette 2-6 1-2 6, L. Fernandez 3-5 0-0 6, L. Wright 2-7 0-2 5, S. Terrell 0-0 0-0 0, B. Miller 0-0 0-0 0, D. Keeler 0-0 0-0 0, R. Bresser 0-1 0-0 0, J. Morris 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-51 3-6 44.
Scranton Prep 14 15 10 15—54
West Scranton 13 6 12 13—44
3-point shooting: SP 3-15 (Merritt 1-3, Rossi 1-1, Stark 1-3, Bednarz 0-3, Skoff 0-5); WS 5-25 (Barnes 3-9, Wright 1-2, Forsette 1-4, Fernandez 0-1, Bresser 0-1, Morris 0-1, Merrifield 0-7). Rebounds: SP 33 (Skoff, Rossi 7); WS 28 (Forsette, Barnes 6). Assists: SP 10 (Rossi 3); WS 9 (Merrifield, Wright 3). Steals: SP 5 (Skoff, Blake 2); WS 2 (Forsette, Barnes 1). Blocks: SP 5 (Merritt, Rossi 2); WS 1 (Forsette 1). Turnovers: SP 7; WS 9. Team fouls: SP 7; WS 9. JV: SP, 41-40 (SP: Paoli 15; WS: Wellington 11).