​The Orioles started off hot but struggled to keep pace with the Neshannock Lancers down the stretch as Rocky Grove fell 64-39 in the first round of the PIAA 2A basketball playoffs.

It was a quick start for the Orioles who went up 2-0 off a steal by Schiffer Anderson and a layup by Landen Carter. Connor Ritchey hit for three 40 seconds later and it looked as if Rocky Grove was in control. 

Neshannock finally answered with a six-point run to take the lead for the first time. It was back and forth the rest of the quarter, which ended with a fastbreak by the Lancers to go ahead 15-13.

​Rocky Grove would be playing catch up for the reminder of the contest.  

The Orioles offense managed only five points in the second quarter versus 10  Lancers points. Three of those Rocky Grove points came from another Ritchey three-pointer with only :17 left in the half. 

Rocky Grove headed into the locker from down 18-25. 

A spark of hope ignited at the start of the second half of play as Carter and Noah Baughman hit back-to-back threes to pull the Orioles within one.

​But that was as close as they could get to the lead. 

Neshannock outscored Rocky Grove 19-14 in the third and 20-7 in the fourth to take home the win. 

Carter led the Orioles with 19 points on the afternoon. Baughman, who scored 501 points this season according the Erie Times-News, was held to only nine. 

​The Orioles will be looking for a bounce back win as they enter the PIAA state tournament as the district 10 second seed when they take on Neshannock on Saturday in Oil City.

Rocky Grove moved into the state tournament after falling to Lakeview 72-53 Friday in the district championship game at Slippery Rock University. 

The Orioles grabbed the tipoff and were looking strong scoring first on a three pointer by Connor Ritchey.

​The teams traded buckets, turnovers, and missed shots as the first quarter ended with Rocky Grove ahead 15-12.

The Sailors' defense kept the Orioles offense caged in the second, allowing Rocky Grove only five points to their 10.

Noah Baughman hit a layup right before the buzzer to help his team take a little momentum into the locker room despite falling behind 20-22. 

In the second half, the Orioles soared after the Sailors, finally tying the game at 28 with a trey by Schiffer Anderson.

​They took a slim lead on another Ritchey three pointer.

​Then Lakeview went ahead by one before Landen Carter hit for two and Rocky Grove held the lead until the last second of the quarter.

The third quarter was a bit of deja vu for Rocky Grove.

​They tied it at 41 with a three pointer by Baughman with 6:55 left to play and again at 44-all with a trey by Ritchey at the 6:17 mark. 

Unfortunately, from there Lakeview sailed away with the game, outscoring the Orioles 28-9 down the stretch. 

Baughman led Rocky Grove with 19 points. Ritchey had 11,  Carter 10, Anderson eight and Aiden Focht had three. Hayden Bevie added two to round out the Orioles offensive effort. 

With the second-place finish, Rocky Grove moves to 21-4 on the season.

From the tipoff, the Region 2 champion Rocky Grove knew they were in a game. Eisenhower came to play and jumped out to an early lead thanks in part to the unusually cold shooting Orioles. 

But, as has been the case all year long when faced with adversity, the players dug deep and found a way to come back and win 53-51 at the Haggerty Center in Erie Tuesday.

Ike jumped out to an 11-3 lead, mostly on shots in the paint early. Noah Baughman's three after over two scoreless minutes was sandwiched in between several misses, including a couple short, but contested layups. Connor Ritchie was able to hit a bucket, the they found themselves down 14-5.

Landen Carter was fouled driving to the bucket and he added a pair of foul shots and Baughmen scored again. The quarter ended 14-9 with seven missed Rocky Grove field goals in the frame.

The second quarter was similar. The Grove pulled within a couple with a Carter three before Eisenhower went on short run to take an eight-point lead. Again the Orioles weren't shooting their best, but managed to keep it close going into halftime only down four at 22-18.
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​Schiffer Anderson came out in the second half on a mission bringing the Orioles to within two. But Ike responded going on a 10-0 run to put the Grove on their heels again.

The Orioles again dug deep and a few steals led a needle thread pass from Anderson to Ritchey to stop the bleeding and begin their own 19-2 run to not only take their first lead of the game but end the quarter up by four.

Th built the lead to nine points, but Ike wasn't going away. battling back to tie the game at 51 with just 26 seconds left.

Anderson again put the team on his shoulders and found the lane  for the go ahead basket and Ike took a timeout with just five seconds left to design a play.
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The Grove held on to advance to fave Lakeview Friday for the District 10 Class AA championship at the site and time to be determined.

The Franklin Knights and Cranberry Berries met Tuesday tonight for the annual Venango County wrestling match up.

It was also a senior night at the Castle, as the Knights dual meet season came to a close with a 4-12 record. First year coach Tye Varndell and the Knights will spend the next nine days prepping for the upcoming District 10 Section 2 tournament Feb. 14 and 15 at Sharon High School.  

In the meantime, the school will host a first-of-its kind fundraising for the Franklin Youth Wrestling Program, whose members attended Tuesday's night contest to celebrate the seniors. 

The wrestling squads from Lock Haven University and Cleveland State University will hold a dual meet at Franklin High School at 7 p.m. on Feb. 13. Admission to the event is free, but attendees are encouraged to make a donations to the local youth program. The squads are coached by two former FHS standout wrestlers Josh and Scott Moore. 

Scott is in his 12th season leading the Lock Haven Bald Eagles, where he's had earned numerous Coach of the Year honors. Josh is in his seventh season at the helm of the Cleveland State Vikings. The brothers were both inducted into the FHS Hall of Fame in 2018. 

Tuesday night's competition featured only 7 contested weight classes. The Berries won the match up 57-15, taking four of the contested bouts and six forfeits. Winning for Cranberry were Elijah Brosius with a pin over Orivs Davis in 2:42; Alex McLaughlin with a pin over Kaleb Babis in 1:35; Skylar Myers with a pin of Duane Sheatz and Conner with a 9-3 decision against Drew Kockler. 

Winning for the Knights were senior Trenton Rice with a pin of Aaden Hibbard in 4:46; Ethan Hart with a pine of Derek Delong in 3:22; and Kaden Kiselka with a 1-0 decision against Noah Lucarelli. 

Cranberry returns to action on Thursday when they host Redbank. 

Worth noting: Cranberry seniors Dane Wenner and Elijah Brosius remain deadlocked in their race to the school's new record for career wins with both wrestlers sitting at 133. 

In recent years the phrase, "this is a must win game," has not been part of the Franklin Knights' vernacular.

The perennial powerhouse in Northwest Pennsylvania who were just a few sunk buckets away a state championship last year, have been struggling for the W's. 

So going into last night's game with Cooneut Area having lost five out of the last seven, the Knight's needed a win against a  a region rival also in the middle of the pack.

And it was against a team that beatthem in their first meeting 74-67.

So at 3-6 Knights needed to beat the 5-4 Eagles to keep themselves within spitting distance of the region leaders, Warren, Fort LeBoeuf  and Oil City and in competition with the other middle of the road teams like Conneaut and Corry.

And they did what they needed to do with their 79-62 win at home.

This keeps them with a chance at a decent record at the end of the season if they get hot and take down league leader Warren and tied for second-place Oil City as well as Corry and Seneca. 

​Will Findlan, who had back for support  Ian Higley and  Jameson Wofford, again put the team on his back scoring 26 points. Wofford and Higley and 19 and 18 respectively.

Big efforts at a big time.

​The Rocky Grove Orioles played the part of the comeback kids Tuesday night on their way to a 59-50 win over Region 2 rivals the Saegertown Panthers.
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The game started off well for the Orioles who jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first 90 seconds of play.

Then the Panthers took control, scoring 11 unanswered points as Rocky Grove struggled with passing errors and other turnovers.

Noah Baughman buried one from behind the three-point line to finally move the total forward for Rocky Grove with two minutes left in the quarter. He connected for seven more before the buzzer on his way to 12 in the first eight minutes of play.

Saegertown racked up on more unanswered buckets to start the second quarter, accumulating a 23-14 lead with six minutes to go in the half.

Jamison Hughes came off the bench to grab some important rebounds including one that he put back for two to get things rolling for the Orioles offensively at the 5:19 mark.

From there, the team traded baskets, as Baughman and Schiffer Anderson combined for 10 points to keep the Orioles within striking distance.  

Saegertown went into the locker room with a 33-26 advantage. They returned to continue the zone defense they employed through the first 16 minutes.
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What worked well at the start was less effective as Rocky Grove adjusted their offensive strategy.

Following an early basket by the Panthers, the Orioles went on a 10-point run that included two foul shots following a technical foul by Saegertown and a pivotal rebound and then three-point basket by Haydon Bevier
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The game was tied at 36 at the 3:19 mark; 40 at 1:47 and then at 42 as Anderson hit for two with less than 5 seconds in the third.

The Orioles took that momentum into the fourth quarter, scoring the first 7 points of the stanza. It was enough to seal the deal down the stretch as Saegertown struggled to keep up with the pace of the game.

With only 3:41 left to go, Anderson had a good look to Hughes who scored two and Rocky Grove was fully in the driver’s seat.
Saegertown attempted to get back in the game by changing their defensive strategy to man to man as Rocky Grove took their time passing the ball to create open shots.  

But two foul shots by Anderson and lap up by Landen Carter in the final 30 seconds of the game put Rocky Grove ahead 59-50 as the buzzer sounded.
Baughman had a game-high 25 points.

Anderson added 14. Carter and Hughes had 6 point apiece, Conner Ritchey had 5 and Bevier had three.

The Panters were led by Luke Young with 16 points. Jackson Scott and Levi Gardner each had nine points.

With the win, Rocky Grove remains unbeaten at home.

They are 14-2 overall and 7-0 in Region 2.

​They have four Region games left on their schedule. Only one team, Cochranton has a winning record. They will return to action Friday to face and return to action Friday when they take on Commodore Perry who are 3-11 overall..