MAHANOY CITY — Mahanoy Area boys’ basketball coach Scott Hudson stressed defense going into Thursday’s Schuylkill League Division III showdown with high-scoring Nativity.
The Golden Bears’ man-to-man defense controlled the Hilltoppers for most the night. Now Mahanoy Area controls the division.
Matt Yedsena (22), Brian Miller (15) and Mike Wronski (12) all reached double figures in scoring, while the Golden Bears held Nativity to eight first-half points in a 58-37 rout at The Mickey Holland Gymnasium.
Both teams entered the night undefeated in the division, but Mahanoy Area (8-2, 4-0 D-III) took control early. The Golden Bears opened the game on a 13-0 run, led 16-5 after the first quarter and 31-8 at the half.
The Hilltoppers (7-4, 3-1) came in averaging 55.4 points per game. Mahanoy Area ended up holding Nativity to its second-lowest offensive output of the season. The Hilltoppers worst was a 77-30 loss to Pottsville on Dec. 30.
“We talked about coming in that defense was going to be the key,” Hudson said. “I told the team yesterday that if we give up 56 points, we are going to lose. Right off the bat I wanted to get in their heads that we have to keep them somewhere in the low 40s for us to have a chance. We couldn’t have done a better job against a real good offensive team.”
The defensive challenge for anybody that faces Nativity is containing senior guard Jeff Yordy, who came in averaging 23.9 points per game. Yordy finished the night with 19 points,
but 13 of those came in the third quarter as the Hilltoppers tried to rally from the 23-point halftime deficit.
The responsibility for matching up with Yordy for most of the night Thursday went to Wronski, who held Yordy to four first-half points. Mike Joseph and Yedsena also guarded Yordy when Wronski got into some foul trouble.
“I think you have to keep a hand in his face and not let him shoot,” Wronski said. “Mainly trying to stop his drives because he is pretty quick.”
The rest of the Hilltoppers offense struggled in the first half, too. Nativity shot 3-for-24 (13 percent) from the floor over the first 16 minutes and finished the night 16-for-58 (27 percent).
Nativity coach Kevin Kennedy was at a loss as to why the Hilltoppers started so slowly Thursday.
“Thirteen-0 start,” he said. “We couldn’t make shots. We felt confident coming in, but a start like that killed us.”
Miller grabbed 12 rebounds on the night to record a double-double, and added five assists. He also helped key the Golden Bears’ start offensively, scoring six points in the first quarter and 11 in the first half as Mahanoy Area was able to get the ball to him on the baseline against Nativity’s 2-3 zone.
Miller, like Hudson, felt the key to the start was the defense.
“Definitely stopping Yordy, and team defense,” Miller said. “Help when he drives and help on everybody because they have a lot of key players on their team. We did what we had to do.”
Miller also crashed the offensive boards and scored Mahanoy Area’s first three points, going 3-for-4 from the foul line after offensive rebounds.
Wronski then hit a 3-pointer from the wing after a cross-court pass from Yedsena, while a Yedsena steal and layup at 4:48 made it 8-0.
Wronski later hit another 3 from the wing, while a Miller offensive rebound turned into a Yedsena bucket with 2:06 left in the quarter, making it 13-0.
Ayden Adams finally got Nativity on the board during the Hilltoppers’ next possession. Nativity got to within 13-5, but Miller finished off the quarter with a three-point play to make it 16-5.
Yedsena scored 18 points the rest of the game, while Wronski knocked down a 3 in the third and fourth quarter, giving him four on the night, a season-high.
“I wasn’t shooting too good lately, but I turned it on,” Wronski said. “I hit the switch.”
Yordy added nine rebounds and Eric Nelson seven for Nativity, while Adams had four assists. The Hilltoppers switched between man-to-man and 1-3-1 zone in the second half and played better. But the deficit was too much to overcome.
“I was nervous all night,” Miller said. “I couldn’t sleep. I was just thinking about this game. We had to get the win.”
Game Summary
NATIVITY (37) — Greco 0 0-0 0, Yordy 8 3-6 19, Piccioni 2 0-0 5, Hoppel 1 0-0 3, Adams 3 0-0 6, Hunyara 0 0-0 0, Petzel 0 0-0 0, Nelson 0 0-0 0, Belding 1 0-0 2, White 0 0-0 0, Shatalsky 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 3-6 37.
MAHANOY AREA (58) — Joseph 3 0-0 7, Yedsena 10 1-2 22, Wronski 4 0-0 12, Luddy 0 0-0 0, Miller 3 8-11 15, Styka 0 0-0 0, McGee 0 0-0 0, R. Derr 0 0-0 0, Versace 0 0-0 0, Flaim 0 0-0 0, Fedor 1 0-0 2, Fragilas 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 9-13 58.
Nat (7-3, 3-1) 5 3 20 9 — 37 Mah (8-2, 4-0) 16 15 15 12 — 58
3-point FGs: Piccioni, Hoppel, Joseph, Yedsena, Wronski 4, Miller
JV score: Nativity 56-44