UNIONTOWN – Eugene Mason knows he has such a veteran team that he rarely says much to his players when they struggle.

So when the R.C. Hatch High School Bobcats led J.F. Shields by just three points at halftime Saturday night, Mason – himself a veteran coach – knew he didn’t have to tell them why.

“They know what they were doing wrong,” Mason said. “They were making errors, both mental and physical.”

While Mason’s halftime comments were brief, his angry demeanor toward his studies made the point. The Bobcats outscored J.F. Shields 22-7 in the third period and went on to a 77-45 win over the Panthers.

The Bobcats (9-1, No. 1 in Class 2A) switched to a man-to-man defense after intermission and put quite a bit more pressure on the Panthers.

“You’ve got to put pressure on them,” Mason said. “They’re a good team. You have to force them into making mistakes.”

That’s just what the Bobcats did. Kelvin Dudley got things started for the Bobcats when he stripped the ball from J.F. Shields guard Michael Williams at mid-court and took it the other way. Dudley’s bounce pass along the baseline found Calvin Pope, who finished with a quick lay-up to push R.C. Hatch’s lead to 36-31.

Along with their more pressing defense on the perimeter, the Bobcats also showed their muscle inside. The Bobcats were much more physical on the boards in the second half and cut off the Panthers’ shooting and passing lanes.

Darryl Wilson leaped high to knock away an aggressive jumper from the left wing by J.F. Shields forward Cortez Johnson. Wilson then grabbed the ball and took it the distance, hitting a jumper from the top of the key. Wilson followed with a frontcourt steal and pass to Dudley for an easy baseline lay-up.

Dudley’s bucket capped a 16-2 Bobcats’ run that stretched the margin to 48-31 with 2:10 to go in the third.

The onslaught continued in the fourth period, with freshman Frankie Sullivan draining a three-pointer from the right wing to make it 59-36. Sullivan finished with a team-high 21 points. He was followed by Wilson with 17 points, Phillip Johnson with 14 and Pope with 13.

The Bobcats’ second-half performance changed Mason’s mood. The R.C. Hatch coach left the sidelines after the game with a wide grin.

“We’ve gotten into the habit of self-disciplining ourselves,” he said. “That makes my job a lot easier.”