Tag Archive for: High school basketball

CHANEY HOLDS ON IN OVERTIME TO SECURE DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP

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BOARDMAN, Ohio –

Matching up for the third time in the past four years, the fifth since 2001 with a district title on the line, the Chaney Cowboys (18-8) and Poland Bulldogs (17-9) faced off at Boardman High School for the Division II Canton Region Youngstown District crown.

D’Juan Waller scored twenty points for the game, Isiah Williams scored seven in the final period and Youngstown Chaney defeated Poland 67-58 in overtime Saturday afternoon. Chaney’s win came despite a twenty-nine-point effort from Ross Dedo of Poland. The senior went 11-19 from the field, shooting 65% from inside the arc.

Poland trailed by double digits at the half, and by as many as sixteen in the game. The Bulldogs scrapped and clawed their way back, highlighted by a 14-4 fourth quarter effort to send things into overtime. Unfortunately for the Dogs, the toll of not just the comeback itself, but the postseason as a whole proved to be too much in the extra period.Of Poland’s four postseason matchups, three needed more than the traditional four quarters to decide a winner.

CHANEY:

DJ Waller – 20 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals

DaVinci McDowell – 13 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal

Isiah Williams – 13 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal

Josiah Gonzalez – 11 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block

POLAND:

Ross Dedo – 29 points, 4 rebounds

Jack Fulton – 14 points, 2 rebounds,

Christian Colosimo – 11 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal

Chaney – Completing their quest for a district three-peat, the Chaney Cowboys will appear in the regional semifinals for just the second straight year, due to the 2020 season being cancelled due to COVID. Their opponent, a familiar face to not just Chaney but many of Valley teams, the #2 state ranked Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary Fighting Irish (21-4).

The Irish ended the Struthers Wildcats season last year in the regional semis with a 76-37 routing and have won their last two matchups against the Cowboys by a combined forty-four points.

The Cowboys and Irish will face off Thursday,March 10th at 6:00 pm from the Canton Memorial Civic Center.

Poland – Falling to Chaney for the second straight season in the district final, the Poland Bulldogs end head coach, Eric Fender’s, inaugural season with a record of 17-9. Poland has now lost their last three matchups against the Chaney Cowboys.

*Contributed By YSN’s Jamie Thomson

 

LEOPARDS SEIZE DISTRICT CROWN

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Contributed By Noah Ricks

ASHTABULA, OH – The student sections were packed on both sides at Ashtabula Lakeside as Howland and Louisville squared off for the second time this season. It was a highly anticipated district final as Louisville was trying to avenge a 71-65 loss to the Tigers on January 11th. Leopards coach Tom Siegfried knew what he had to do. He drew up an unstoppable game plan on both sides that paid off as Louisville dominated throughout most of the night and beat Howland 63-56 for their first district title since 1993. Siegfried took time to soak in the district victory

 

“Obviously it feels pretty good and just excited for these kids. They put a lot of work into it. It came from the program, and it’s really paying off tonight, so hopefully we can make tonight last for a long time.”

 

The game plan that Siegfried wrote was very strong in the first half as some good ball movement around the perimeter set up open looks for three point shots. It was exactly the right time for the Leopards players to have hot hands as they kept making shot after shot from beyond the arc. That kind of shooting helped set up a 38-point first half for Louisville. Learning from the lessons of the first meeting, Siegfried reflected on his adjustments.

 

“Well, we just guessed that they were going to box-and-one Will [Aljancic] again, so other guys had to step up, we had to share the ball. I thought Tyler [Boldon] and Hayden [Nigro], and honestly the whole team did a real nice job. Charlie [Roberts] hit a three, BG [Brayden Gross] did some good things underneath, and then Beau [Siegfried] came in and AJ [Lingenhoel] came in and did a nice job, so it was just a team effort.’’

 

The Leopards had a great guard game from players such as seniors Will Aljancic and Tyler Boldon and sophomore Hayden Nigro. They were the bread of the butter of the offense throughout the night. Boldon and Nigro paved the way for the three-point fest while Aljancic had a good dribble-drive game. They would all finish in double figures for the night. Siegfried was proud of how hard those three played.

 

“You know, I think it was just the idea of sharing the ball. I think they really realized, like, whoever the open guy was tonight, we’re going to trust each other and hit those open shots. Early on, it was Tyler, then it became Hayden a little bit. Will got his points as usual, but overall I think they just found the open guy tonight, and it really clicks. When he does that, you’re really hard to beat.”

 

The Tigers would claw their way through the deficit throughout the entire second half, and they gave Louisville a huge fight. Howland would start off the third quarter on a quick 6-0 run to cut the lead back down to 12. The rally was led by no other than senior Anthony Massucci. He gave everything he had to make it a game, including one stretch late in the fourth where his draining three pushed the game down to as little as seven. Massucci finished his final high school basketball game with 32 as Siegfried respected the kind of competitor his opponent’s top scorer was.

 

“Well, honestly, just holding him down a little bit in the first half was huge. He’s a great player, one of the best players in the state, there’s no question about it, and, you know, I just thought us getting off to a good start and hold him down, you see what he can do in the third and fourth. He’s a scorer in about five different ways and I just really give him a lot of credit and I hope he has a great future in basketball.”

 

The Leopards improve to 19-6 with the victory. They will claim their first district championship in 29 years as they will square off in the Regional Semifinals on Thursday against the winner of the CVCA-Glenville district final game tomorrow night. That game is slated for an 8:00 P.M. tip down at the Canton Civic Center. Siegfried and his team will pay attention to both teams as whoever wins helps determine the game plan.

 

“Well, we have got to figure out who it is. They’re both completely different teams, so, we’ll go over and watch tomorrow [at the Canton Fieldhouse] and see who we’re playing, and then we’re going to get after it again. I told the guys before the game, this isn’t the third of three, this is the first of three, and we want to go to Columbus or Dayton or wherever [the State tournament] is at this year.”

 

Howland ends a strong campaign at 15-10 with their first district final appearance since 2004. This has been the farthest that coach Dan Bubon has gone in the tournament in his six seasons of coaching the Tigers. YSN’s Noah Ricks would like to thank Coach Bubon, the five seniors heading out in Anthony Massucci, Cam Miles, Grant Brown, Gabe Bedea, and Bobby Sullivan, girls’ coach Aaron Pounds, the seniors on the girls’ team in Alyssa Pompelia, Jamie DeSalvo, Taylor Lawrence, and Catherine Gaiski, and the entire Howland community for their hospitality throughout the entire season. It truly has been fun watching the community get together and support their teams on the hardwood. He wishes both teams the best of luck next year as they will both look to go on deeper runs into the tournament.

 

Ricks also got a chance to talk to winning coach Tom Siegfried following tonight’s district victory. You can watch the full interview below.

 

POLAND BOYS BASKETBALL COACH’S CORNER (EP 2) WITH ERIC FENDER

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POLAND OH- It took two overtime wins, but the Poland Bulldogs have clawed their way to a district championship game. Their latest thriller came in the semifinals against Chardon. The Bulldogs took a overtime win over the Hilltoppers thanks to a 37 point performance from Ross Dedo. Now, a big challenge looms for Poland. An all too familiar foe in Chaney stands against them with a title on the line. Three of the last four district championships have been decided between Chaney and Poland, and it’s all been going the way of Chaney. Poland can fix all of that Saturday in Boardman at 4:00.

Eric Fender took the time to join YSN’s Running Point this week to give us a preview of the district championship game. He talks with Anthony Hartwig and Ty Bartell about getting through adversity, how they can get past the Cowboys, and much more. Catch up with Poland in Episode 2 of Coach’s Corner with Eric Fender.

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CARDINAL MOONEY BOYS BASKETBALL COACH’S CORNER (EP 3) WITH CAREY PALERMO

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YOUNGSTOWN OH- Mooney is flying high into the district championship! The Cardinals were running well on both sides of the floor in their semifinal matchup against Liberty. Not only did their defense cause all kinds of chaos, but their offense shot the lights out on the Leopards. It culminated in a momentum swinging dominating victory. Now their sights get turned to Springfield with a district championship on the line. It all comes down to this.

Mooney head coach Carey Palermo was able to come back on Running Point this week to talk about the way this tournament has gone. He talks with Ty Bartell and Anthony Hartwig about the win in the district semifinal, the challenge that Springfield presents, and much more. Check out Episode 3 of Coach’s Corner With Carey Palermo.

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WARREN JFK BOYS BASKETBALL COACH’S CORNER (EP 2) WITH MARK KOMLANC

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WARREN OH-  Warren JFK has made into the district championship again. The Eagles are vying for their second straight district title. They got a big win in the semifinals over Wellsville. Nothing was stopping the Eagles as they dominated their way to the win. Now they must deal with the Mustangs from Mathews. Their opponent is 24-1 and the Eagles are embracing their role of underdogs. Not too many people outside the program believed the team would be in this spot after the start they had, so the Eagles have had the chip on their shoulder all year.

Head coach Mark Komlanc took the time to come on to Running Point this week to help us preview the matchup. He talks with Anthony Hartwig and Ty Bartell about the win over Wellsville, the challenge ahead against Mathews, and much more. Check out Episode 2 of Coach’s Corner with Mark Komlanc

 

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COWBOYS BULLY THEIR WAY TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP

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BOARDMAN, Ohio –

Rolling through their opening round matchups against Field and East, the Chaney Cowboys (17-8) came into the night looking for their fourth straight district final bid. Their opponent, Chagrin Falls Tigers (12-11), were fighting for their first final appearance since 2015 when they won the Ashtabula District crown.

The Tigers jumped all over the Cowboys, scoring the first five points of the night, and forcing Chaney turnovers on their first three possessions to start the ballgame. Nicholas Vinci would provide two makes from beyond the arc and another two from inside to pace Chagrin’s fourteen-point first quarter effort.

After struggling through the first quarter of action, the Chaney Cowboys finally showed up to play in the second quarter with a strong seventeen-points to take the lead just a few minutes into the second and end the half ahead by double digits.

Chagrin came out of the halftime locker room poised to make a run and did so to start the half thanks to Henry Nowell’s back-to-back buckets to open the third. Unfortunately for the Tigers, Chaney would respond with a 9-0 run, and wouldn’t let up there.

The second half was filled with Showtime Cowboy action, seeing Josiah Gonzalez finish two alley-oops, Clive Wilson throw down two rim shaking dunks, and DaVinci McDowell punch one in with the right, all contributing to a Chaney victory, 60-47.

CHANEY:

Clive Wilson – 16 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks

DJ Waller – 15 points, 2 rebounds

Jason Hewlett – 6 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals

CHAGRIN FALLS:

James Kosmides – 13 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks

Nicholas Vinci – 13 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists

Chaney – Securing their fourth straight district final appearance, the Cowboys will vie for the district crown with a familiar opponent, the Poland Bulldogs (17-8). The Chaney – Poland matchup has now accounted for three of the last four district title games. The Bulldogs and Cowboys have already faced off once this season, resulting in a 57-46 victory in favor of Chaney.

Chagrin Falls – Taking a step forward from an opening round exit in last season’s tournament, the Chagrin Falls Tigers have a lot to look forward to next season, as they will return the likes of James Kosmides, Nicholas Vinci, and Max Crandall.

*Contributed By YSN’s Jamie Thomson

POLAND SURVIVES OVERTIME THRILLER TO MOVE ON

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BOARDMAN, OH – During tournament play it is hard to stay calm under the pressure, but when you have to go into sudden death OT, it becomes a different animal to handle. For Poland and Chardon, who matched up in the Division II District Semifinal, they had to face the nerves of OT in the playoffs. For the Bulldogs, it came down to hitting the little shots that matter.

For Senior Ross Dedo, those little shots, like free throws, were going to be the deciding factor. Dedo went 10-14 at the charity stripe, helping him get a career-high in points. As the game went on, you were able to see where this game was headed with both teams trading blows. Towards the end of regulation, Poland had a 64-58 lead and was hoping that their defense could hold off the late attack from the Hilltoppers. Luckily for Chardon, a late three that was followed up by a forced turnover led to a buzzer-beater to send it to OT. Although the overtime period started out slow, blows were traded again. Chardon tied the game at 67 with just a little over a minute left, which led to the game deciding play for the Bulldogs. Senior Christian Colosimo hit a huge three with 40 seconds remaining to put them up once again. That would eventually lead to foul shots that gave some breathing room for Poland to hold onto a thrilling win, 73-67.

 

For Poland, Dedo led the Bulldogs with 37 points. Colosimo added 19 on the night for the Bulldogs.

 

For Chardon, Nathannel Sulka led the way with 19 points. Josh Bruce finished with 18 on the night.

 

With the win over Chardon, Poland will advance onto the Division II District Championship on Saturday as they will take on the winner of Chaney/Chagrin Falls. Don’t miss it on YSN!

*Contributed By YSN’s Brendan Miller.

Postgame interview With Eric Fender:

Postgame Interview With Ross Dedo:

TIGERS STILL ON THE PROWL

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Contributed By Noah Ricks

ASHTABULA, OH – Howland coach Dan Bubon has been preparing his boys for this kind of moment. His team came into their district semifinal matchup with Ursuline coming off of a come-from-behind victory at Struthers in the Sectional Finals. They would have to do those kinds of heroics again against the Fighting Irish. Being down 47-40 at the end of the third, the Tigers would play a tremendous 19-3 fourth quarter, including an 8-0 stretch in the final minutes, to shock #8 seeded Ursuline 59-50 at Ashtabula Lakeside. Bubon tried to recall the situation in the final minutes, as emotions were high following the thrilling victory.  

 

“I wish I could remember it right now. I know we were up one and we were holding the ball to get fouled. We got to the foul line, went up three, fouled them and they missed, I remember that sequence, and then we didn’t turn the ball over and kept getting to the foul line. Connor [Durig] got a breakout and a layup there at the end. This game just felt like who was going to make the last run and we made it at exactly the right time. If there were five minutes left in the game, they probably would have made another run right back at us.”

 

Bubon paid attention to the Howland miscues in the first three quarters that got them into the seven-point hole after 24 minutes. They were set back in the third with turnovers off of hard passes, some missed foul shots and missed bunnies underneath the basket. They also had their best scorer in senior Anthony Massucci held out cold, as he finished with single-digits at 9. Despite this, Bubon reminded his players not to get too excited as this was familiar territory for them.  

 

“We’ve been there before. We were down 10 at half at Struthers in our last game. Our schedule is so tough. You’re going to get down sometimes. That’s what our schedule has done for us is that we don’t panic. Going into the fourth, they were a little bit down coming and I said we’re only down seven. Let’s get a basket. Let’s get a basket and play defense and that’s how it started. We got a basket, we got a stop, and all of a sudden, we’re right back in the game.’’

 

A player for Howland would have to step up to the plate in support of Massucci and that would be Ben Bronson. Coming in at 5.7 points a game, he had the best game of his junior season, finishing with 17 points. His performance was highlighted by great finishes and shooting, especially from downtown. Bubon really appreciated how Bronson came into his own in a vital tournament game.

 

“Ben was great. Ben’s been staying after practice the last couple of weeks and shooting, shooting, shooting, shooting, and he’s just getting more confidence in his shot. We told all of the other kids you’re going to have to make shots. They were going to try to take Anthony away just the same way we were trying to take [Terrance] Pankey away, and what team was going to have other guys hit enough shots.”

 

Most importantly, the end of the game was summed up by fouls and free throws. The 8-0 stretch was possible due to the Tigers taking advantage of the double bonus caused by Ursuline, with one foul being called as a flagrant. With six Tiger players averaging over 70% on foul shots over five attempts, they would make Ursuline pay as players like Connor Durig, Alex Henry, and Bobby Sullivan hit clutch free throws to seal the victory. They would then grab a rebound as the visitors’ side erupted.

 

The Tigers improve to 15-9 with the victory. With Louisville beating Canton South 49-48 down at GlenOak, Howland is set for a date with the Leopards on Friday night in the Division 2 District Finals at Lakeside. That game will be a rematch from a mid-season matchup that the Tigers won 71-65 back on January 11th. This will be Howland’s first trip to the District Title game since 2004 as Bubon and his team seek their first district championship in program history.

 

“Unfortunately, we only have one day. That kind of stinks. I don’t like the way they do this. I wish we had at least two days to prepare, but, from what I’ve heard, we do have Louisville. I think they won by one against Canton South, so at least it’s somebody we know. If it was Canton South, that is literally someone we have never played and never seen, so a little easier when you know someone, but a lot harder because they’re a really good team. We played tremendous and beat them the first time. That’s probably the best we’ve played all year, and we’re going to need that again on Friday.”

 

Ursuline ends the season at 17-9 with the loss. Vinny Flauto led the Irish with 17 points. This will be the second time in three years that Ursuline will fall short in the district semifinals. There will be some experience coming back for the Fighting Irish, however. Losing only three seniors to graduation after this year, coach Keith Gunther will now focus on the offseason in hopes of winning Ursuline’s first district championship since 2017.

 

YSN’s Noah Ricks got a chance to talk to winning coach Dan Bubon following tonight’s contest. You can watch the full interview below.

 

Postgame Interview With Dan Bubon

MOONEY DEFENSE TAKES THE SPOTLIGHT

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SALEM, OH – Mooney and Liberty matched up in the Division III District Semifinal on Tuesday night. As everyone knows, possession is key and turnovers hurt even worse in tournament play. For the Leopards, who do not usually turn the ball over much, were on the other side of the turnovers Tuesday. The Cardinals were able to grab control of the game early after forcing four straight turnovers in the first quarter and capitalizing on the mistakes by Liberty. In the second quarter, the Leopards were able to get some confidence with a late scoring run that cut the deficit down to 11. Luckily for Mooney, they have some hot shooters. Rocco Turner ended the first half with a three right at the buzzer, which led to an early start for Mooney once again in the second half with a quick three. The Leopards were not able to get the speed that Mooney played at under control and ultimately, that carried Mooney to victory, 64-62.

For Mooney, Mick Hergenrother led the way with 15 points. Jack Pepperney put up 12 and Drew Pecchia added 10 for the Cardinals.

For Liberty, Rushad Chambers led the way with 13. James Davis contributed 9 points for the Leopards.

Liberty finished up their season with a 16-7 record. Congratulations to the Leopards on a great season!

Mooney will move on to the District Final on Friday, as they will take on the number 1 seeded Springfield at Salem HS. Don’t miss it on YSN!

*Contributed By YSN’s Brendan Miller.

CARDINAL MOONEY BOYS BASKETBALL COACH’S CORNER (EP 2) WITH CAREY PALERMO

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YOUNGSTOWN OH- Cardinal Mooney is ready for another district run. The Cardinals have been tested all season by a brutal schedule. They were tested yet again in the sectional finals by a hungry Crestview team. Pushed to the brink, the Cardinals came out on top 49-43. Now they turn their attention to Liberty in the district semifinals. The Leopards are a unique challenge but Mooney head coach Carey Palermo is confident they are ready for it.

Palermo took the time to join YSN’s Running Point to discuss the Cardinals win over Crestview. He also talked with Anthony Hartwig, and Ty Bartell about the challenge ahead, and the growth the team has shown.

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