White led 60-45 at halftime thanks to a 27-8 run that started midway through the quarter. Ethan Gravatt (Rocky Grove) led the way with 10 points, while Snyder and Josh Loos (Moniteau) each added eight in the half. Todd Hryn ( Clearfield ) carried Blue with 14 points.

But Blue used runs of 12-2 and 15-3 in the first nine minutes of the second half to take a 77-72 lead on a Nick Persing 3-pointer with 11:06 left.

Blue still led 81-77 with 9:30 to play, but White Snyder caught fire hitting three 3-pointers in a span of 2:45 to give White the lead for good at 90-88 with his trey at the 6:22 mark. The final Snyder long-bomb started a 7-0 White run that erased a  one point Blue lead and gave White a 94-88 lead with 5:06 to play on a slam dunk by Blair Heimel (Coudersport). 

Rocky Grove’s Cruz Mietus got Blue back to within three, 96-93, with a 3-pointer at the 3:52 mark, but Blue never got closer than that the rest of the way.

Mietus did nail one more 3-pointer with 32 seconds to play – cutting the lead to 100-96 – that set the Kozel Game record for 3-pointers in a contest with six. The previous mark of five was set by Curwensville’s Adam Donahue in 2001 and tied by Snyder on his three with 6:22 to go and then tied by Mietus with his three at the 3:52 mark.

Mietus wasn’t the only record setter in the game. Fellow Blue teammate Christian Spilman (DuBois Central Catholic) blew the assist record out of the water recording 12 in the contest. The previous mark of nine was set last year by Johnsonburg’s Calvin Grumley.

Mietus was the leading scorer in the game with 22 points including 6 of 11 from 3-point range. The 22 points tie for the sixth most in game history. Hryn added 18 points and six rebounds for Blue, while Nick Persing (Cranberry) had 14 points and A.J. Ethriedge ( Union ) had 12 points and nine rebounds.

Gravatt added 14 points and three assists for White, Heimel had 12 points and six rebounds, Ryan LaBrozzi ( Bradford ) had 10 points and nine rebounds and Loos and Drew Vandermeer (Clarion) also each scored 10 points with Vandermeer adding three blocked shots.

White shot 42 percent for the game (42 of 100), while Blue hit 38.8 percent of its shots (38 of 98). Blue had an incredible 30 assists on 38 made shots, while White had 14 on its 42.

NOTES – It was the second straight year and the third time in the last four seasons that the game has been decided by four points or less. Last season, Blue behind MVP Gary Cooper (Union) beat White 125-121, while in 2005, Blue beat White 98-96 … Blue hit 18 3-pointers in the game going 18 of 53 (34 percent) from beyond the arc, while White was 10 of 34 (29.4 percent).

Clarion’s Fillman nets double-double for Blue squad in win

In the girls’ contest, Jackie Lutz ( West Forest ) scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while winning MVP honors to lead the Blue Squad to an 80-65 win over the White Team in the ninth annual Alice R. Kozel Foundation Girls’ Basketball Game Saturday at Penn State-DuBois.

Lutz scored 16 of her points in the second half while hitting 6 of 10 shots in the half helping Blue outscored White 44-33 in the frame to take a four-point halftime lead – 36-32 – and turn it into the 15-point victory.

White, which got 16 points and eight rebounds from DuBois’ Rachel Hicks, led by nine, 29-19, with 6:51 left in the first half before Blue ended the half with a 17-3 run to take the halftime lead. Alicia Ponegalek (East Forest), who had 13 points, five rebounds and two assists, gave Blue  a lead it would never relinquish with a layup with 1:07 left in the first half, and Emily Fillman (Clarion) hit a layup with 42 seconds left making it 36-32.

Fillman, a senior, posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

A 3-pointer by White’s Torri Smith (Union) early in the second half cut the deficit to 36-35, but Blue went on a 16-6 run to take a 52-41 lead on a jumper by Sarah McNellie (Venango Catholic) with 16:04 to play.

Blue then built the advantage to 19, 73-54, with 4:52 to play and to 20 twice, the last time at 80-60, before White finished the game on a 5-0 spurt.