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East Liverpool sweeps Creek

EAST LIVERPOOL — For the second time in two nights, the East Liverpool boys basketball team beat Indian Creek handily, winning 69-43 on Tuesday night at Potter Fieldhouse after winning 65-34 on Monday night at Indian Creek.

“I thought it was pretty cool,” East Liverpool coach Nate Conley said about the back-to back-games. “A lot of college conferences are doing it. It is scary to play Indian Creek back to back because of how good of a coach (Indian Creek coach Joe Dunlevy) is and how good of a program they are. We were able to jump on them early. I would like to be sharper in the second half but we were pretty good in the first half.”

The Potters move to 6-2 on the season and the Redskins fall to 1-5.

“We tried real hard to limit the turnovers to give us a chance to score because you can’t score if you are turning the ball over,” Indian Creek coach Joe Dunlevy said. “I looked at the film last night and of our first 10 shots they probably blocked six of them.”

The Potters length, athleticism and scoring balance has made it difficult for opponents to stop them offensively this season.

“We are just trying to get into a stretch and get some rhythm back,” Conley said. “We are starting to get that chemistry going. We are balanced. We have four guys who are averaging double figures and that is tough to do. As long as the ball keeps moving we will be fine.”

“Nate has done a really great job with that program,” Dunlevy said. “It’s a challenge for our kids and it is great to be able to play because we had one game in a month.

“They shot really well,” Dunlevy added. “We pride ourselves on defense and playing really hard but they just made shots and if they shoot like that, they will be a tough out come tournament time.”

For the Potters, Zavea Green had a game-high 19 points while Cole Dailey added 16 points. Devin Toothman and Cam Beverly both finished with 14 points. For the Redskins, Logan Schaffer had 10 points.

“We have a lot of young guys and by the time I leave this year they will be fully grown like Zavea,” East Liverpool senior Jerone Deal said. “Once he gets up there, he is going to be an amazing player. Same with Devin and everyone else.

“Right now we are just trying to build a little bit better chemistry with each other and trying to find our groove. We are still making little mistakes but we are getting there.”

Both coaches were complimentary of each other and their respective programs.

“I got a lot of respect for Nate and his program,” Dunlevy said. “His kids handle themselves with class.”

“They are going to continue to get better,” Conley said. “He is a tremendous coach. I have a lot of respect for coach Dunlevy.”

East Liverpool will host Steubenville on Friday. The Potters lost a heartbreaker 64-63 on Dec. 30 to the Big Red.

“We will go to the drawing board and put together a plan and try to execute it,” Conley said.

Indian Creek will travel to Steubenville Thursday.

Game notes

– This was only the Redskins third game since Dec. 12.

– This game was originally scheduled for Jan. 22, but the game was moved up to ensure it was played.

– In jayvee action, East Liverpool won 50-14. For the Potters, Preston Kerr had 10 points and for the Redskins, Drake Freshwater had eight points.

I. CREEK: 6-9-14-14–43

E LIVERPOOL: 24-12-19-14–69

INDIAN CREEK SCORING: Trevor Francis 2-0-4, Mike Kuczykowski 0-0-0, Logan Kuczykowski 4-1-9, Mitch Williams 1-0-3, Lucca Morelli 0-6-6, Jayden Vandeborne 0-0-0, Landon Pownell 0-1-1, Santana Smith 0-0-0, Logan Schaffer 4-2-10, Drake Freshwater 1-0-3, Hunter Rothacker 1-5-7, Noah Tweedy 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 12, 15-22: 43.

EAST LIVERPOOL SCORING: Chance Stull 1-0-2, Preston Kerr 0-0-0, Cole Dailey 5-5-16, Devin Toothman 6-0-14, Zavea Green 8-3-19, Antonie Moman 0-0-0, Jamar Allen 1-0-2, Paxton Grimes 1-0-2, Preston Dawson 0-0-0, Cam Beverly 6-0-14, Jerone Deal 0-0-0, Jake Smith 0-0-0, Mason Ludwig 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 28, 8-15: 69.

Three-point goals: I. Creek 2 (Williams, Freshwater). E. Liverpool 5 (Beverly 2, Toothman 2, Dailey).

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