Johnson's return sparks Panthers
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

The Sweet Home boys basketball team got more faster and athletic in a hurry last week and it led to two Panther home victories.

Senior guard Marcus Johnson, who had been out for weeks with a deep thigh contusion in his right quadriceps, scored 11 points in Sweet Home's 55-42 non-league win last Wednesday over Orchard Park and added 10 in a 60-31 blowout last Friday over West Seneca East.

"He was medically cleared last Tuesday," said Sweet Home coach Paul Schintzius. "He gives us a nice athletic boost to the team. He gave us a lot of hustle plays. Against Orchard Park, he had a breakaway layup in the second quarter that helped us go up by 10 (22-12) at halftime."

Schintzius was also really happy with his team's defensive effort in both games.

"One of the things we emphasize and focus on is our defensive intensity," said Schintzius. "We were giving up too many points even in our wins. With the amount of points we were giving up, there was no way that we would be able to play with teams come sectionals."

"I thought against Orchard Park we controlled the game with defense," he continued. "Nothing came easy. It was how we played defense the last couple of years."

Sweet Home led OP, 42-28, after the third quarter.

Ali Ramadan's 16 and Brian Pappagallo's 14 paced the Panthers' scoring.

The game was a rematch of the Section VI Class AA semifinal won last March by the Panthers, 56-34.

The Panthers beat West Seneca East after every quarter (14-7 after first quarter, 29-15 at halftime and 44-23 after third quarter) but Schintzius felt his team lacked the same energy as they did against the Quakers.

"I thought on a Friday night at home, we would be jacked up and ready to fly out of the gates and we weren't," said Schintzius.

Ramadan scored 18 to lead the Panthers. Pappagallo and Jamel Werts each tossed in nine.

Sweet Home played at Hamburg on Tuesday but the result was unavailable before The Bee went to press. Going into the game, the Panthers were 7-4 overall and 5-0 in ECIC II. Hamburg was 9-2, 4-1.

Sweet Home's other game is against St. Joe's at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday at Hutch-Tech as part of the MLK Classic.