ROMM PHOTOGRAPHY
Green senior Evan Keeslar led all scorers with 13 points, but the Bulldogs lost to visiting Lake 47-42 on Tuesday night.
NORTON, Ohio -- Cuyahoga Falls boys basketball coach Rob Slone had a different kind of message for his team Tuesday night after its 53-48 win over Norton.
“I told them we needed something to break the dam so the water could start flowing,” Slone said. “It’s getting them to learn how to win.”
The Black Tigers opened the flood gates in the first quarter, going on a 7-0 run and forcing the Panthers to swim upstream the rest of the game. Junior point guard Devin Speicher scored six of those seven points to give Cuyahoga Falls the lead.
If it wasn’t for Norton guard Mat Harvey, the ship would have sailed for the Panthers in the first eight minutes of the game. Harvey hit three shots from behind the arc in the first period to keep Norton close. Cuyahoga Falls led after one quarter 18-14.
The defenses took over in the second quarter. The Black Tigers clung to a three-point lead at halftime, 26-23.
Cuyahoga Falls came out of the locker room riding a wave. A 7-2 run in the first four minutes of the third quarter gave the Black Tigers a 33-25 lead, forcing Norton coach Rod Swartz to call a timeout. Whatever Swartz told his team worked. The Panthers went on a 10-2 run, tying the game at 35 with 5:29 remaining in the fourth quarter.
“Our defensive rotations were killing us,” Slone said. “They put Sherman on the block and their shooter in the corner. When we double-teamed Sherman, he’d just kick it back outside. On offense, we just didn’t keep our composure.”
With the game tied, the captain on the floor for the Black Tigers, Devin Speicher, took control. Speicher’s pass led to a Matt Lawrence layup to give the Falls a 37-35 lead with five minutes to go. The Lawrence layup was the start of a 9-0 run over the next three minutes that put the game away for Cuyahoga Falls. In that run, Speicher had one point, two assists and two steals.
“They took away my ability to drive after the first quarter,” Speicher said. “I’m a point guard. I have to create for others. We have a lot of shooters on the team, I have to find them.”
It has been a struggle for Norton in the last couple of weeks. The Panthers have lost four of their last five games.
“We have to do some soul searching and get ourselves out of it,” Swartz said. “We have to continue to do the things we do in our system because our system works. We’re just out of sync right now.”
SCOREBOARD
Cuyahoga Falls (3-7) 18 – 8 – 9 – 20 = 53
Norton (8-4) 14 – 9 – 9 – 16 = 48
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
Cuyahoga Falls: Jacob Slone 4 3-5 12, Devin Speicher 3 4-8 10, Matt Lawrence 3 3-4 10, Cory Asbury 3 2-3 9, Henry Shaw 2 2-2 6, Joshua Ricker 2 0-2 4, Luke Ritzinger 1 0-0 2. Totals: 18 14-24 53.
Norton: Mat Harvey 6 0-0 17, Tyler Sherman 5 5-10 15, Matt McGlone 2 5-10 9, Rob Cundiff 2 0-0 4, Jeff Schulte 1 0-0 3. Totals: 16 10-20 48.
3-POINTERS: Cuyahoga Falls 3 (Slone, Lawrence, Asbury); Norton 6 (Harvey 5, Schulte)
In other games:
CUYAHOGA VALLEY CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 59, ELLET 44. At Cuyahoga Falls, junior Bob Peters went for 24 points to lead the way for the Royals over the Orangemen.
Ellet (2-10) led by two at halftime, but CVCA outscored the Orangemen 35-18 in the second half.
Marty Lee and Alex Punka each added 10 points for CVCA (7-4).
Ryan Walsh dropped in 16 points to pace Ellet. Tarek Vierhuve had 11 for the Orangemen.
LAKE 47, GREEN 42. At Green, senior Evan Keeslar led all scorers with 13 points in the losing effort for the Bulldogs.
Lake took control with a 21-5 third quarter and then held off a Green rally in the fourth to seal the victory.
Ryan Coen and Chase Vaudrin each scored 12 points for Lake (10-1). The Blue Streaks snapped a two-game against Green.
Senior forward Andrew Pratt had 11 rebounds for the Bulldogs (5-5), who out-rebounded the opposition 34-16.
The Bulldogs travel Friday for a Suburban League road game at Revere.
MOGADORE 49, LAKE CENTER CHRISTIAN 40. At Hartville, Michael Duma’s 17 points led the Wildcats in the victory.
Alex Roebken scored eight for Mogadore (8-3).
Michael Peterson scored 11 to lead Lake Center Christian.
ROOTSTOWN 52, RITTMAN 38. At Rittman, the Rovers outscored the Indians 29-16 in the second half after holding a one-point advantage at halftime.
Kyle Ringler was the leading scorer for Rootstown (5-6). He had 15 points in the victory.
Joe Sciliano added 11 for the Rovers.