Basketball

Heating up quickly: Early outside shooting sets tone for Marauders

Bishop Guilfoyle Academy opened Thursday's matchup between undefeated high school boys basketball teams by scoring 11 of the first 12 points, and the Marauders drilled seven 3-pointers in the first quarter alone to build a cushion that was never seriously threatened in a 69-60 win over Central at Pleasant Valley Gymnasium.

Bishop Guilfoyle improved to 5-0 despite getting off to a late start due to the Marauders winning the PIAA Class 1A football championship earlier this month.

"I'm really happy with these boys," BG coach Ryan Lestochi said. "They play super hard and share the ball. They are a fun team to coach, and we're a fun team to watch play. We don't have a lot of practice under our belt, because of the football team's success, so we're still getting started."

One of the players fresh off the football field was Thursday's leading scorer for the Marauders -- Taurean Consiglio. After scoring four touchdowns in the state championship game, he led BG with 23 points, including three 3-pointers in the first half.

"Getting into shape with how we're playing this year running up and down the floor has been the toughest part (of the transition to basketball)," Consiglio said. "In warm-ups, I wasn't making anything. I tried to just be confident and take good shots, and I think I did that tonight."

Consiglio's success from outside made him a bigger threat as the game progressed.

"It's much easier, because I'd rather drive than shoot," Consiglio said. "If I can get my shot going, I think I'm going to do pretty well being able to drive."

Central coach Paul Frederick, who saw his team fall to 4-1, said the shooting barrage early is what doomed his team.

"All credit to them, in the first half especially, they shot extremely well," Frederick said. "They are hard to guard, because if you come out too far, they are so good at shot-faking and getting into the defense -- we didn't want to give up layups. So, we had to protect the basket and give them a little more space, and they certainly took advantage of it and shot very well in that first half. Those first five or six minutes turned out to be the difference in the game."

Tyson Lestochi scored 13 points, Nick Foor had 12 points on four 3-pointers and Troy Ruggery added 10 points for Bishop Guilfoyle.

"When we're hitting 3s and you have to come out and play us there, it spaces the court," Ryan Lestochi said. "We have a lot of athletic guys that can get to the bucket, and it makes it that much easier."

Eli Muthler, coming off a broken jaw suffered during football season, led all scorers with a 35-point effort for the Scarlet Dragons. Christian Heuston added 10 points.

"I love the way (Muthler) plays," Frederick said. "He's such a great leader. I'm proud of all of our guys tonight. It was a tough atmosphere against a really good team, and our kids just battled and didn't quit. They didn't throw in the towel, and Eli is the ringleader. He's put a lot of time in, and I think him and the rest of the team played their guts out."

After Central trailed by as many as 18 early in the fourth quarter, Muthler got the Dragons back into the game, and his basket with 2:55 left cut BG's lead to eight.

That's when Tyson Lestochi found Ruggery under the basket for a wide open layup that stifled Central's momentum.

"That was huge," Ryan Lestochi said. "They were going on a little run. We knew they would. They can really shoot the 3-pointer, and they are a tough group. They always have been. That play was a good momentum-stopper."

The Marauders went 6-for-6 from the foul line in the final 2:32.

"Every time we got it under 10, they made shots," Frederick said. "They did a good job in the second half of getting to the basket, and it seemed like each time we got to the point where we could make it real interesting, they threw a bucket in that got it back to 13 or 14."

Consiglio led BG despite picking up his fourth foul with 5:30 left in the game and missing a large portion of the fourth quarter.

"Taurean was awesome tonight," Ryan Lestochi said. "I have coached Taurean since he was in sixth grade and have been preaching to him to be aggressive. He's always been somewhat tentative to be aggressive, but tonight he was aggressive and was great."

CENTRAL (60): Byler 1 0-0 2, E. Muthler 12 6-9 35, Black 1 0-0 2, J. Muthler 1 2-2 4, Heuston 4 0-0 10, Klotz 1 0-0 3, Lingenfelter 2 0-0 4. Totals -- 22 8-11 60.

BISHOP GUILFOYLE (69): Lestochi 4 4-4 13, Consiglio 10 0-0 23, Ruggery 3 2-3 10, Foor 4 0-0 12, J. Kissel 1 0-0 3, Gates 1 0-0 2, C. Kissell 0 1-4 1, Okonak 2 0-0 5. Totals -- 25 7-11 69.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Central 13 15 13 19 -- 60

Bishop Guilfoyle 23 17 16 13 -- 69

3-point goals: Central 8 (E. Muthler 5, Heuston 2, Klotz); Bishop Guilfoyle 12 (Foor 4, Consiglio 3, Ruggery 2, J. Kissell, Okonak, Lestochi).

Records: Central (4-1); Bishop Guilfoyle (5-0).

Officials: Chris Rickens, Randy Burkett, Dave Heim.

JV: Bishop Guilfoyle, 58-26. High scorers--Troy Nactman, BG, 17; Carter Schenk, C, 7.