Enoch, Hickory hold on to beat General McLane

Feb. 23—FARRELL — Ben Swanson went to the free-throw line for the Hickory boys basketball team. He split a pair to give the Hornets the lead.

Aidan Enoch took control afterward.

The senior point guard used all the tricks at his disposal to help lead the Hornets to a 61-54 win over General McLane. The victory in Thursday's District 10 Class 4A quarterfinal at Farrell High School set up a meeting with top-seeded Warren on Tuesday.

The Lancers (10-11) held their own against Hickory. The two teams were tied at 52 with four minutes left after Swanson converted a layup.

Following a missed 3-pointer by General McLane, the Hornets (14-8) set Swanson to the free-throw line to break the tie. He split the pair, and the Lancers crossed the half-court stripe to get into their offense.

Enoch was matched up with Jackson Dailey, who tried to get some separation from the Hornets' senior guard, but it was too late. The official awarded Hickory the ball due to a five-second call.

Then Enoch started to dribble. It's the part of the game that comes easiest to him, so running around the court wasn't a tall task in the closing minutes.

The point guard was rewarded on the next possession with a layup that gave the Hornets a 55-52 lead after working 50 seconds off the clock.

"When we're up in the fourth quarter, I think we're really hard to beat," Enoch said. "I'm really confident with the ball in my hands, and I think when we put (opponents) in a position to foul, we're almost unbeatable."

With time ticking down, the Lancers were forced to foul to extend the game. Enoch was sent to the line frequently in the final 40.4 seconds. He went 6-for-8 shooting from the free-throw line to close out the game.

"He's hard to guard in the open court, so we spread it out, let him go and they were fouling him. To his credit, he was knocking the foul shots down," Hickory head coach Chris Mele said.

Enoch finished with a team-high 18 points, four rebounds and two assists. Tyson Djakovich added 15 points and three assists, and Landon Bean tallied 10 points.

Jacob Zietz dropped 18 points for with four rebounds and three assists for the Lancers. Logan Anderson finished with 13 points, and Isaac Zietz scored 11 points and grabbed a game-high six rebounds.

The Hornets started strong, leading 22-15 at the end of the first quarter. But the Lancers battled their way back in the second.

General McLane took a 31-30 lead into the locker room after Jacob Zietz was fouled and converted an and-1 opportunity with just under four seconds left in the half.

Both teams saw some short runs in the second half. The Lancers took a 43-33 lead in the third quarter on a 7-0 run, but the Hornets came back to tie the game at 46 on a layup by Bean.

The lead and shots swung back and forth until Enoch forced the five-second call in the final minutes.

Warren outlasted Slippery Rock, 88-83, in triple overtime at the Hagerty Family Events Center in Erie.

The Hornets enter the D-10 semifinals on a five-game winning streak. It wasn't the prettiest win, but Mele and the Hornets knew there were going to be some tight performances down the stretch.

"We're just gonna need to play better constantly," Mele said. "We always tend to have a bad quarter. It's basketball — high school kids — team's are gonna go on runs. We gotta try to make those runs as tight as possible."

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GEN. McLANE 15 16 17 5 54

HICKORY 22 8 17 14 61

GEN. McLANE — Berger 0-0-0-0, Martin 0-2-2-2, Anderson 3-4-4-13, J. Zietz 6-5-8-18, I. Zietz 5-1-1-11, Dailey 3-2-2-8, Laskey 1-0-0-2, Banks 0-0-0-0. 3-pt. goals: Anderson 3, J. Zietz 1. Totals: 18-14-17-54.

HICKORY — Dye 1-2-2-4, Robich 2-1-2-5, Enoch 5-6-8-18, Daniels 1-0-0-2, Swanson 3-1-2-7, Miller 0-0-0-0, Djakovich 6-0-0-15, Uberti 0-0-0-0, Bean 5-0-0-10, Turosky 0-0-0-0. 3-pt. goals: Djakovich 3, Enoch 2. Totals: 23-10-14-61.