New Castle Masters Perfection as Canes Beat Hampton Again for WPIAL AAAA Gold

By: Bruce Markey
Saturday, March 2, 2013 | 11:20 PM

The third meeting of the year between New Castle and Hampton turned out to be like the first two. In fact, it turned out a lot like the previous 25 games for the defending Triple-A champs turned Quad-A beasts. The Red Hurricane rocked the Talbots with a big second quarter and rolled to a 68-53 victory Saturday night before a raucous crowd at Duqnuesne Univeristy's A.J. Palumbo Center.

Things were quiet for the first two minutes of the game.  Scoreless, even.  Then, a Brandon Dominick three opened up the flood gates for New Castle.  Ryan Luther answered for Hampton, scoring his team’s first five points.  The Red Hurricane slowed things down to close out the quarter, and led 19-15 and the end of one.

The Talbots came out strong in the second quarter behind a big Ryan Luther dunk and pulled within one point.  New Castle remained strong though, going on a 14-4 run to close out the half.  The Red Hurricane headed to the locker room ahead 36-22 and never looked back.

Foul trouble found Hampton in the third quarter, putting New Castle in the bonus with three minutes to go in the third quarter.  Collin Luther picked up his fourth foul for the Talbots, and was forced to the bench.  The Red Hurricane stretched their lead to 52-32 through three quarters.

Hampton senior Richard Ford saw some playing time in the fourth quarter, scoring nine quick points.  The Talbots would come within ten points before New Castle pulled away for good.  As the final buzzer sounded, the Red Hurricane claimed the gold with a 68-53 victory. 

As a team, New Castle went 14-26 from the free throw line on the night.  The Red Hurricane were hot from beyond the arc, as well, hitting 11 times on the night, including Anthony Richards with four.    

Ryan Luther led all scorers with 17 points.  Shawn Anderson led New Castle with 16 points.  Antonio Rudolph had 15 points, including three threes, and Anthony Richards chipped in 12 points for the Red Hurricane.

New Castle made history with tonight’s championship victory, becoming the first team in WPIAL history to win back-to-back titles with undefeated records.  The Red Hurricane are also the first team to win back to back championships in different classifications.

Hampton falls to (21-5), while New Castle improves to (26-0).  Both teams will advance to the PIAA tournament.

Tags: Hampton