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Thunder falls to Cardinals

By Kenny Varner
BELLEVILLE – The learning process continues at Belleville Mennonite High School.
Sporting a young and inexperienced team going into the season, the Thunder went up against a very veteran Forbes Road and its strong bench play Monday evening.
In this contest of young versus old, it would be the Cardinals that would come out the winners on this night, 72-18.
Despite the loss, Belleville Head coach John Pannizzo knows the effort his kids are giving despite the loss.
“Their heart and their willingness to give 110 – percent are evident. It’s immeasurable how hard they play. They are extremely young and learning. We played a very experienced team that didn’t let up,” Pannizzo said. “That’s just part of another process.”
Leading the way for Forbes Road on the night was Grayson Hall. Hall hit for a game-high 22 points on the night.
Teammates Brycen Holman and Kaden Kuhin also finished in the double-digit category with a 14-and 10-point effort, respectively.
One bright spot for the Thunder was the inside work of Ben Aungst.
Aungst finished with four points and an 11-rebound evening despite the loss.
“I thought Ben Aungst played the game of his life. He just keeps getting better every game,” said Pannizzo. “His aggressiveness and finding the right spots on the floor was great. He was huge on the rebounding end.”
The Cardinals took control early on in the contest, going on a quick 6-0 run.
Frankie Pannizzo picked up the Thunder’s first bucket of the game at the five-minute mark.
But from there, the much taller Cardinals kept the Thunder scoring limited as it need the period going on a 12-4 run to take the 18-6 advantage going into the second quarter.
Coming out in a full court press for much of the second, Forbes Road took advantage of the BMS miscues and exploded for 28 points.
It’s defense clamped down even harder in the second, allowing just a triple by Durrell Yoder, ending the first half posting a 46-9 lead.
Things continued to flow for Forbes Road in the third period as it was able to put the game into a Mercy Rule” status.
Like the first half, the Cardinals limited the Belleville scoring to single digits at five.
Going into the final stanza, the visitors held a 66-14 lead.
In a fast moving quarter, it was a close scoring period as the Cardinals finished the game out scoring the Thunder 6-4, en route to the 72-18 victory.

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