Tag Archive for: OHSAA Tournaments

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.

 

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.

WARRIORS CANT OVERCOME SLOW START

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BARBERTON OH- West Branch made their sixth trip to regionals in the last 10 seasons on Tuesday night. The Warriors were coming off a big district championship win over conference rival Marlington. Norton stood in their way of making a trip to the regional final.

The Panthers came out of the gates and hit a three before you could blink. That set the tone for the whole first frame, as Norton had the energy, and the Warriors were fighting against momentum. Morton’s 13-2 lead after one frame was really all they needed. The game stayed pretty even after that point. West Branch won the second quarter, but only by a point taking a 18-8 deficit into the locker room.

In the second half, even though the Warriors came out firing cutting the lead to 18-13 in their first two possessions, the Panthers kept their patient offense in cruise control. Norton would hang on to win 36-31.

Sophie Gregory and Anna Lippiatt both held the team lead in points for West Branch with 8 a piece.

FALCONS TRIUMPH IN OVERTIME

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Contributed By Noah Ricks 

HOWLAND CENTER, OH – It was a crucial win-or-go-home scenario for both Jefferson and LaBrae. Both teams were fighting for something, the Falcons their first district title in school history, and the Vikings their second district title in three years. They would also both show what tournament basketball is all about. In a game that took overtime to finish, the Falcons would edge out LaBrae with just enough free throws to come out with the thrilling victory 72-69. Coach Rob Pisano thought his team made some mistakes down the stretch, but was pleased with how they ended the game.

 

“In the beginning of that game, they [LaBrae] played harder. They wanted it more than we did. Our guys settled down and settled in, and we didn’t play a great basketball game at all. People have seen us play. [But] I thought our guys played with unbelievable intensity and heart, and that was won by toughness down the stretch. They didn’t give up and hopefully we can play a little more of our basketball game Friday night. We’re going to bring some more of our offensive skills.”

 

Jefferson had some struggles with the Vikings in the first half as they struggled to shoot the ball, especially from downtown, which was their strong point throughout the season. Some quick transition points by LaBrae helped push them to an eleven-point lead in the second quarter. The Falcons, however, pushed it down to a 33-27 Viking game at intermission. Pisano thought that LaBrae was able to build up that lead thanks to those kinds of uncontested shots and misses. At halftime, he wanted his guys to get back to their game. 

 

“I just told them that we really, honestly, couldn’t play any worse, not just shooting. They were in there complaining at halftime about the shots, and I said this game’s not about the shots. You gave them five uncontested layups, which is ten points, and two uncontested, wide-open threes, which was, again, 16 of the 33 free, and that’s what I told them. I said this is a defensive game and a rebounding game. It came down to that. We weren’t doing that in the first half, forget that we couldn’t score, you know, we struggled shooting the ball, and that’s exactly what I told them at halftime.’’

 

Thanks to Pisano’s halftime speech, the Falcons came storming out of the gate and would have a strong 22-13 third quarter, thanks to better rebounding and better shooting. It was a tight fourth quarter as both teams were exchanging quick buckets and free throws. That was in part thanks to both teams picking up the tempo. Jefferson had many opportunities to put the game away in regulation and overtime, but couldn’t capitalize on most of those chances. They, however, did it for good on their third chance in the overtime period, also thanks to the Falcons making 10 of 14 foul shots on the night for 71.4%. Pisano stressed some costly turnovers down the stretch in those final minutes.

“Well, we made a bunch of bone-headed plays, you can say it. We made bone-headed plays down the stretch in regulation, a couple of drives to the hoop when we didn’t need to, off-balance. Just bring the ball out and run something and hopefully they’ll learn from it. You know, our program, Jefferson’s program hasn’t been deep into the playoffs in about six or seven years, so, wow. These kids grew up watching it when that group in 2015 was [in it], so they learned something tonight, and you know something, the big thing is, we just survived, not playing the greatest game, but we survived in it.”

 

The Falcons improve to 18-6 with the victory. Brock Bean led all scorers with 20 points. Jefferson will play in the district final at Howland on Friday night against the winner of the Campbell-Middlefield Cardinal game tomorrow night. A team that has averaged around 73 points a game throughout the season, Pisano will bring his high-powered Falcons into battle with their potential opponent in hopes of winning Jefferson’s first district championship in school history on the boys’ side.

 

“We’re going to prepare the same as we would if we were playing any other game. We’re going to do the things. We’re going to try to improve defensive rebounding, we’re going to play solid defense, we’re going to try to get out and run and hopefully more shots fall Friday night. Hopefully we bring our offensive game that we have the potential to score 85 on any given night, and that wasn’t there tonight, so, really either team, it’s not like we’re going to prepare any different.We change defenses, we mix things up, and just, hopefully we’re making shots.”

 

LaBrae ends the regular season at 16-6 with the heartbreaking loss. Devin Carter led the Vikings with 18, with Tre-Von Drake behind at 17, and Blake Kahnell at 16. This will be the second year in a row that the Vikings have lost in the district semifinals. Losing six seniors to graduation in May, coach Chad Kiser will start preparing for next year in hopes of winning their second district title in four years.

 

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

 

GARFIELD REPEATS AS DISTRICT CHAMPIONS

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CORTLAND OH- For the third year in a row, and the fourth time and five seasons Garfield and Champion met up for the district championship. This season, Garfield and Champion are even more familiar with each other. As new league rivals the G-Men and Flashes have played twice already this year. They split their regular season meetings, with both games going down to the wire. Garfield took control of this one pretty quick however, and cruised to a 68-51 victory.

Jenna Smith led her team in her final district championship of her career. She scored 19 points. Madeline Shirley was also in double figures for Garfield scoring 13. Sarah Seaman was right behind her with 12. Sydney Seaman rounded out Garfield’s double digit scorers with 11.

Ava Howell gave Champion everything she had despite the loss. The Flashes senior scored a game-high 22 points. Bella Meyer contributed a solid 16.

Garfield advances to the division 3 regional semifinals. They’ll be paired with Warrensville Heights who is also in their second straight regional. In fact, 3 of the 4 teams that will be in Cuyahoga Falls this week were there last year. Liberty being the lone new team. Garfield’s game will tip off approximately 30 minutes following the conclusion of Liberty vs Waynedale which tips at 6:00 on Wednesday in Cuyahoga Falls.

LEOPARDS SINK THEIR TEETH INTO DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP

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STRUTHERS OH- One of the goals of Liberty girls basketball this season was to win a district championship. After winning their first 13 games, it became more and more clear that that goal could become a reality. Their only loss of the season for the Leopards came against Brookfield. The Warriors just so happened to be the team that ended up standing in their way for a district championship on Saturday. Liberty won the season series with Brookfield by beating them in the championship game 52-39.

The Leopards were led by Aaliyah Foster who rocked the stage with 20 points. Demi Watson also shines bright scoring 17 points for Liberty.

(Gary Leininger)

Brookfiekd was paced by Audrey Reardon who finished with 12 points. Anna Reichart was also in double figures with 10. Liberty’s defense locked down on Sophia Hook who finished with 2 points.

Liberty advances to the regional semifinals against Apple Creek Waynedale. Waynedale won last year’s regional tournament in Cuyahoga Falls. Liberty will take their best shot at them Wednesday at 6:00 in Cuyahoga Falls.

Interview With Deidre Watson:

TIGERS RAISE DISTRICT TROPHY

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MINERAL RIDGE OH- Coming in to this season, everyone pointed to Springfield as one of the area’s best chances to get into regionals. The Tigers returned a ton of young talent from a season ago, and still have strong senior leadership. It’s been a long season, with more ups than downs. Going through all of it has gotten the Tigers to this point.

After rolling in their first three games of the bracket, Springfield found themselves in a dogfight for the trophy.  Maplewood gave the Tigers all they wanted. Especially on the defensive side. A 15 point third quarter was enough for the Tigers to hold on during a slow 6 point fourth. Springfield came out on top 36-31 to secure a trip to regionals.

Springfield was led by Jacey Mullen who got in to double figures with 11 points. Madison Lesnak was right behind her scoring 9. Jameka Brungard added 6 points to the night.

The Tigers advance to the regional semifinals. They will be paired with Buckeye Central. That game will take place on Thursday at 6:00 at Massillon Perry High School.