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Mogadore's Jake Cramer drives past Garrettsville Garfield's Austin Click during the Wildcats' 60-46 victory over the G-Men on Friday night.
The final few minutes of the game dubbed Southeast the outright leader of the Portage Trail Conference County Division at Woodridge in boys basketball action on Friday night.
The Pirates defense recorded some crucial defensive stops en route to a 60-54 victory, while the Bulldogs couldn’t gain any offensive momentum late in the game.
“Our kids did a really good job of bearing down those last two minutes and getting a couple of key stops late,” Southeast coach Matt Dillon said. “Every game in this league is extremely close.”
With just under six minutes remaining in the game, Woodridge led 52-47.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game for us to win,” Dillon said. “We feel really fortunate just to get out of here with a win because we knew it was going to be a difficult game for us.”
The Bulldogs maintained their lead throughout the quarter, but could never break away.
“We didn’t do things fundamentally well the last three minutes of the game and they did,” said Woodridge coach Brian Fantone. “That’s the difference in the game tonight.”
At the 1:52 mark, Southeast took over the lead, 54-53, for the first time since halftime. Woodridge could not find enough offensive continuity in order to overtake Southeast, though.
“Our efficiency on offense was awful," Fantone said. "we get a five-point lead and then we start taking jump shots. We stopped doing what got us back into the game which was attacking the basket and getting to the foul line.”
Southeast came in with a half-game lead over the Bulldogs in the division race, but is now alone in first place after the victory.
Southeast (11-4, 8-2 PTC), whose last loss came against Garrettsville Garfield, 49-39, on Jan. 6, extends-a six game win streak, while Woodridge (8-4, 6-2) drops a three-game winning streak.
The Pirates, who fell to Woodridge 42-40 earlier in the season, led the Bulldogs 35-24 at halftime.
But by the end of the third quarter, Woodridge led 47-44.
Southeast looks to keep its streak alive and remain at the top of the division as the Pirates travel to Mogadore next Friday.
“Mogadore, in my opinion, might be the best team overall in the league,” said Dillon.
Southeast defeated Mogadore, 59-48, in the teams' first meeting of the season.
In other boys basketball games:
BRUNSWICK 65, NORTH ROYALTON 50. At Brunswick, Zach Parker led Brunswick with 18 points in the NOC matchup
Ryan Badowski put up 16 points for the Bue Devils, who shot 12-of-16 from the field in the second half. Taylor Armagost added 14 for Brunswick
Travis Tarnowski paced North Royalton with 12, while Nick Woods had 11.
CRESTWOOD 70, FIELD 57. At Mantua, Jacob Graves scored 21 points to lead the way for the Red Devils over the Falcons.
Aaron Jackson scored 15 points for Crestwood, while Joe Snyderburn and Trevor Sweet added eight points each.
Junior Stevie Fosnight had 20 points for Field, including 10-of-10 from the free-throw line. Senior Kody Lowden scored 11 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Senior Jake Kruse added nine points with four assists.
KENT ROOSEVELT 73, COVENTRY 41. At Kent, senior Bruce Thomas went off for 27 points to push the Rough Riders past the Comets.
Senior Zach Brett had 12 points for Kent Roosevelt, which outscored Coventry 37-20 in the second half.
Coventry was led by George Jacobs, who scored 12 points. Austin Humbert put in 10.
MANCHESTER 57, FAIRLESS 41. At New Franklin, junior Jamar Dukes paced the Panthers with 12 points in the victory over Fairless.
Senior Seth Chappell scored 11 points, while junior Bryan Daily dropped in 10 for Manchester (4-8, 2-5).
MOGADORE 60, GARRETTSVILLE GARFIELD 46. At Garrettsville, the Wildcats took a 32-21 lead into halftime and made it stand up.
Hunter VanCamp led all scorers with 24 points for Mogadore (10-3, 6-3). Michael Duma added 15 points for the Wildcats.
Cody Berg led the way for Garrettsville Garfield with 16 points. Matt Pratt chipped in 13 for the G-Men (5-8, 5-4).
ROOTSTOWN 57, EAST CANTON 29. At Rootstown, the Rovers took a 16-8 lead after the first quarter and combined it with a 34-19 second half to seal the victory.
Four players hit double-digit scoring totals for Rootstown (7-7, 4-5). Kyle Ringler led the Rovers with 18 points, while Mike Conley, Evan Ferrell and Joe Sciliano each put in 12 points.
Duke Taylor led East Canton with nine points.
WINDHAM 75, WATERLOO 50. At Windham, the Bombers won the PTC contest after taking a 42-21 lead at halftime.
Junior Cameron Pozsgai and freshman Parker Rickey each had 18-point performances to lead the way for Windham (9-6, 6-3). Junior Matt Knight added 15 points to the Bomber victory.
Tom Saviers was the leading scorer for Waterloo with 15 points, followed by Zack Morgan and Jacob Podnar, who each scored 12 points.
AKRON EAST 92, AKRON GARFIELD 41. At East High School, senior Davonte Brunson erupted for 31 points to lead the way for the Dragons in the lopsided victory.
Brunson, who eclipsed the 1,000-point mark last week, was honored at the game for his scoring feat.
Senior Mycle Shadie was just as impressive, scoring 27 points against the Golden Rams. Senior Sir Charles Travis added 12 points for East (12-1, 8-0).
Garfield senior Darius Hoisten led the Rams (5-9, 3-6) with 18 points.