YOUNGSTOWN OH- With the season winding down, the road to the tournament becomes important. Especially, when one team can gain momentum in a heartbeat. For coach Chivas Whipple and the Youngstown East Golden Bears, their only win was a 47-45 thriller against Akron North. Meanwhile, the Howland Tigers and coach Dan Bubon were coming off of a one point loss to Cardinal Mooney and were in desperate need of keeping their over .500 streak alive. These two have met, but the last time Howland beat the Bears was back in 2018-19.

First quarter saw East’s Luther Bell drain a three with it being a back and forth game with Anthony Massucci leading the back for Howland. The first quarter would be tied at 14 all and the second quarter was just as close with Jarred Colon hitting a three and Massucci scoring in the paint along with a shot downtown making it 33-32.

Gabe Badea got into motion down low and started to draw key fouls hitting two free throws at the line along with the sophomore Alex Henry. East battles back in the fourth with Tyron Hudson, Bell and Sa’ad El-Amin. However, key important free throws and foul trouble paved the way for the Tigers of Howland who would win by the final of 68-61.