Blue Devils defense dominates Chargers

Old Forge dug in defensively as its offense struggled in the first half - and the effort paid dividends - as the Blue Devils swept the season series from Carbondale with a 42-26 win on the road in the Peter Turonis Memorial Gymnasium in Carbondale.

The Blue Devils took a 9-7 lead after the first quarter as Mike Avvisato buried two three-pointers, the second with 1:56 left in the opening stanza that gave Old Forge the lead for the rest of the game.

Dom Avvisato scored all six points for the Blue Devils in the second quarter as Old Forge missed its last seven shots of the first half

But Avvisato’s six was good enough to give the Blue Devils a 15-14 lead at intermission. That’s because the Chargers offense was suffocated by the Old Forge defense which did not allow a Carbondale field goal from the 4:10 mark of the second quarter until the 3:35 mark of the fourth – a span of 15:45.

During that time, the Blue Devils outscored the Chargers, 21-2, as juniors Malkolm Blackshear and Tony Goodall caught fire.

A combined 0-for-8 in the first half, the backcourt duo shot 9-of-14 in the second half and contributed 17 points during the run which gave Old Forge (11-8 overall, 6-5 D2, 3-1 LL) a 36-16 lead with 5:34 to play.

Carbondale stopped the run with five straight points to close to 36-21 with three minutes left, but Blackshear drilled a three-pointer from the right corner and Goodall followed with a layup off of a steal by Connor Fultz to send the Old Forge faithful into a frenzy as the Blue Devils led 41-21.

Blackshear finished with a game-high 12 points for Old Forge, and Goodall finished with 11 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Dom Avvisato added nine points and seven rebounds, and Mike Avvisato scored eight points. Fultz chipped in with seven rebounds and four assists.

OF 39, Mid Valley 27

Tony Goodall’s three-pointer 42 seconds into the game gave Old Forge a lead it would not relinquish as the Blue Devils swept the season-series from Mid Valley with a 38-27 win in Throop on Tuesday night.

Old Forge never trailed, leading start to finish as Goodall scored six points in the first quarter as the Blue Devils took an 11-4 lead after the opening eight minutes.

The Spartans cut the deficit to 13-9 in the second quarter but Malkolm Blackshear scored six straight points to give Old Forge (10-8 overall, 5-5 D2, 2-1 LL) a double-digit lead at 19-9 with 2:30 left before intermission.

Mid Valley closed to within 22-16 with three minutes left in the third quarter, but the Blue Devils pushed ahead on back-to-back baskets by Connor Fultz, and a layup from Goodall to take a 28-19 lead into the fourth quarter.

Old Forge increased its lead to 37-21 with 1:04 left in the game on a Fultz layup off a feed from Goodall, before Mid Valley made a late charge with two three-pointers in the last 50 seconds of the game.

Goodall finished with a game-high 15 points, and added six rebounds for the Blue Devils. Blackshear chipped in with eight points, four rebounds and two assists, and Mike Avvisato added six points for Old Forge. Dom Avvisato grabbed 11 rebounds and made three steals for the Blue Devils.

OF 42, Dunmore 58

Old Forge couldn’t overcome a slow start against Lackawanna League Division II first-half champion Dunmore last Saturday night as the Bucks beat the Blue Devils, 58-42, at the Elio Ghigiarelli Gymnasium in Old Forge.

The Blue Devils fell behind 18-5 to start the second quarter before the offense got clicking during an 11-2 run over four minutes in the period.

Mike Avvisato got things going with a three-pointer at the 6:42 mark to cut the deficit to 18-8, and Malkolm Blackshear dialed in from long distance on back-to-back possessions to get Old Forge within 20-16 with 2:55 left before halftime.

The Blue Devils stayed within three as Dom Avvisato made a free throws and a basket within 30 seconds of each other, but Dunmore’s Pat Ross nailed a triple in the last 30 seconds of the second quarter to give the Bucks a 25-19 lead at the break.

Dunmore opened its lead to 27-19 to start the third quarter but Old Forge came right back with an 8-3 run as five points in the first 3:18 to get the Blue Devils back within three at 30-27.

That would be as close as Old Forge got the rest of the way though, as Mike Ehnot nailed two three pointers to spur a 7-0 run for Dunmore as the Bucks took a 37-27 lead with just about two minutes left in the third quarter.

The Blue Devils cut that deficit to six on a Dom Avvisato bucket with 1:12 left in the quarter for a 37-31 disadvantage, but again Dunmore rattled off five straight points, and 13 of the next 19 for a 50-37 lead with 3:45 left.