Farmers puts on Grebb show

June 27--Farmers Insurance made a move Thursday to show that its the top dog in the Budd Grebb Memorial Summer Basketball League.

Monessen'sLavelle Rush scored a game-high 21 points, including three 3-pointers, to lead Farmers to its second consecutive win, 78-43 over Campy's Pizza.

Rush flashed his speed around the blacktop and tallied eight steals to set up his points.

Noah Brown and Ringgold'sLuke Beveridge each scored 14 points with Cameron Sarber chipping in 10.

League Commissioner and Farmers coach Dana Zajicek was pleased with his team's performance.

"Our guys have been playing together the past few years ... they play well together," Zajicek said. "We have athletes that have been playing great defense.

"They have a talented team, too, but they haven't had all their guys yet."

Campy's Pizza, playing with only six players, ran out to an early 5-2 lead until Farmers went on a 15-4 run thanks to 3-pointers by Brown and Beveridge and back-to-back baskets by Cameron Sarber.

Campy's (0-2) was missing BVA's Brett Lewis as well as EF's George Prota and Jefferson Morgan'sRece Henneman.

Elijah Brown, Noah's brother, led Campy's with 13 points. Monessen'sNoah Yartin chipped in 11. BVA's Christian Murphy nailed three 3-pointers to account for his nine points.

Campy's chipped away at the lead in the first half and made the score 34-25, but Farmers used a 10-0 run in the final 1:30 to extend the lead to 44-27 at the half.

Rush scored seven straight points in a matter of 15 seconds, nailing a 3 and stealing two inbound passes and converting them into quick points.

Farmers continued the run in the second half, outscoring Campy's 11-1 in the first four minutes to take a 55-28 lead. A few minutes later, Noah Brown nailed a 3 from the wing to invoke the 30-point mercy rule.

Dairy Queen 53,Northwood Realty 50

Cole Griffin's basket with 1:14 left gave DQ a 51-50 lead en route to its first win of the Grebb League.

Matt Carr, who scored 10 points, hit two free throws at the end to give his team the three-point win.

Griffin, a junior at the Linsly School, scored a game-high 27 points, including 18 in the second half.

Dairy Queen climbed back into position for the win thanks to a 12-0 second half run.

Jared Smith, who plays at Washington, scored a team-high 16 points to lead Northwood. Teammates Kass Taylor (California Area) and Bryce Laskey (Laurel Highlands) scored 14 and 10 points, respectively.

Union Cleaners 84,Bee Graphix 50

Union Cleaners had runs of 16-2 and 14-0 in the first half against BeeGraphix on its way to the second mercy rule victory of the night.

California Area'sTray Matthews scored a team-high 20 points, slashing to the hoop and taking advantage of BeeGraphix's lack of size.

BVA's Joe Sabolek finished with 15 points, with 11 coming in the first half. Monessen'sJustice Rice added 10.

Noah Rullo, a Monessen senior, took game scoring honors with 24 points, including four 3-pointers. He scored 15 points in the second half. Teammate Damon Petrola-Bakos hit double figures with 10 points.

League play continues Tuesday with another tripleheader featuring Union Cleaners and Northwood at 7 p.m., Farmers Insurance taking the court at 8 p.m. against Dairy Queen, and BeeGraphix meeting Campy's Pizza with both teams looking to pick up their first win in the 9 p.m. game.

Jeremy Sellew is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at [email protected] or 724-684-2667.

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