On January 12th, the West Branch Boys’ Basketball team lost an exciting game to the Harmony Owls with a final score of 81-74. The game was the Warriors’ first loss in the Mo Valley league, with a 3-1 record and an overall record of 9-3. In a very high-scoring game, the Warriors had six players with double-digit scoring.
Harmony jumped to a quick 11-4 lead to start the first quarter. The Warriors went on a seven-to-one run, bringing the game to 13-12. Although the Warriors closed the gap, the Owls’ offense was hard to stop, and they ended the first quarter with a 31-20 lead. While the Owls had a low-scoring second quarter, only scoring five points, the Warriors scored 14 points. Going into halftime, the Warriors cut the deficit to 37-35.
In the third quarter, the Warriors tied the game 42-42 with some big points from senior center Kyle Kolesar. The third quarter was another high-scoring quarter, with Harmony scoring 21 points and the Warriors scoring 14. At the end of the third, the Warriors forced a turnover, and it was a one-possession game as Harmony led 58-56.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, junior guard Zach McGonigal hit a three-pointer that added to his 11-point total for the night. The fourth quarter was thrilling as both teams battled back and forth for the lead. With just over three minutes remaining in the quarter, Harmony freshman Steven Pearce made an and-one, which gave the Owls the upper hand by one point. Sophomore forward Owen Koleno answered to put the Warriors on top with a 71-70 score.
Harmony went on a scoring run that the Warriors could not stop. The short time left forced the Warriors to foul to make it a game. Unfortunately, the game was already too far gone. After the tough loss, Owen Koleno expressed, “it was a great game; great atmosphere, and it felt like it was more than a regular season game. It would have been better if we won, but we battled back, and hopefully, we will get them at their place next time.” Standout sophomore guard Lucas Colton had 17 points on the night and hit three three-pointers.
The Warriors play their next game at home against Cambria Heights. The Junior Varsity game starts at 6:30, and Varsity follows. The theme for the student section is beach night, so wear your sunglasses and get ready to watch a good matchup.
