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The Woodridge Bulldogs were able to overcome Mogadore's home crowd and win a pivotal PTC County boys basketball game 59-55 on Tuesday night.
MOGADORE, Ohio – There was no shortage of heroes on Tuesday night at Mogadore High School.
In a Portage Trail Conference boys basketball game both visiting Woodridge and Mogadore believed was essential to win to stay in the County Division race, the Bulldogs had a little extra and won 59-55.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the way my kids finally were able to finish a basketball game,” Woodridge coach Brian Fantone said. “Nick Flasco played on a sprained ankle the entire second half and made big play after big play for us.”
Both teams came into the game 6-3 in the division, chasing leader Southeast at 8-2.
Flasco, a 6-foot-2 senior forward, rolled his right ankle early in the second quarter and still managed to score 18 points and grab 12 rebounds.
“The adrenaline pretty much helped get me through,” Flasco said. “When I first did it, it hurt. But, with this being my last time ever playing here, nothing was going to stop me from being out on the court.
“This place was so crazy, (my ankle) really didn’t affect me that much during the game.”
He had ice on it immediately after the game.
Flasco was huge during the middle of the fourth quarter scoring eight points to fuel a 9-2 run which gave the Bulldogs a 55-46 advantage with 1:30 to go.
And then, just when you thought Fantone and his charges might be able to take a breath, here came Mogadore senior guard Michael Duma.
His 3-pointer at 1:22 made it 55-49.
His fade-away jumper at 20.9 seconds made it 56-52.
And his 3-ball from the deep right corner at 7.7 seconds made it 58-55.
Duma finished the game with 31 points, including seven 3-point goals – one of which came on an inbounds play with 1.6 seconds left in the first half.
“How many big shots did Duma hit?” asked Fantone.
The 3-point marksman could have cared less about his big night after the loss.
“The rivalry carries over from football. We needed this win for the league tonight,” Duma said. “(Thirty-one points) absolutely means nothing if you don’t win. You might as well score zero. It’s a huge disappointment.”
Duma had 19 points in the first half when Mogadore was able to take a 29-25 lead into halftime.
“(Michael Duma) put us on his back and carried us for a while and then we did have some kids step up,” Mogadore coach Russ Swartz said.
Woodridge (9-4, 7-3) hurt Mogadore (10-4, 6-4) on the offensive backboard, scoring five put-back goals in the first half and at least seven for the game.
“The difference was their athleticism,” Swartz said. “They were able to get 50-50 balls after we knocked them away.
“They destroyed us off the glass.”
Senior Alex Roebken (8 points) and junior Hunter Van Camp (7 points) provided some additional scoring support for Duma.
Woodridge also used a balanced attack to get the road win. Junior guard Sean McCoy had 12 points and junior guard Nelson Perry contributed 11 points, four assists and four steals. Senior Anthony Mong added 10 points for the Bulldogs, who play Friday at Garrettsville Garfield.