HARWELLPHOTO.COM
Kenmore senior Antonio Hearn led the Cardinals with 21 points, but it wasn't enough in a 55-53 district semifinal loss to Canton McKinley. Hearn ends his high school career having scored more than 1,500 points.
AKRON, Ohio – Firestone point guard Stefan Willis waited until that last 20 seconds of the game to put an exclamation point on the Falcons 77-63 victory over Buchtel on Senior Night on his home floor.
Willis jumped a Griffin passing lane and came up with his fifth steal of the game. The 6-foot-1 senior took the ball and had his eyes set on the basket. Willis took off from just inside the foul line and with his left hand slammed the ball through the hoop.
Falcon fans roared their approval as Willis high-fived everyone he could see. Willis even went up into the stands to celebrate. Officials gave Willis a technical foul for that outburst. Buchtel guard Tyler Jones was called for an intentional foul on the play because he knocked Willis down after the dunk.
“It wasn’t my first-ever dunk, but, it was my first dunk over somebody,” said Willis. “As soon as I got the steal I told myself that I’m dunking.”
Willis waited until the game was out of the Griffins’ reach before deciding to throw it down.
“I wasn’t going to do it in the first half because the game was close,” Willis said. “When we put the game out of reach I said let’s go, let’s wing it.”
Firestone coach Dave Milo said beating Buchtel was important to Stefan.
“He has a lot of friends at Buchtel. He knew he had to step up his game,” Milo said. “He’s my leader on the floor.”
Willis only had seven points at halftime, but stepped up in the second half to total 20 points with four rebounds, four assists and five steals.
I’d give it a 10,” Willis said when asked what grade he would give himself for the dunk. “Because it was Senior Night and it’ll be something I’ll never forget.”
The Falcon victory was important for another reason. It’s the first time in at least four years that Firestone has swept the two-game series from the Griffins.
“That’s pretty special” said Milo. “It’s special when you can beat the defending City Series champions twice in one season.”
The Falcons grabbed the lead at 16-15 with less than two minutes to go in the opening quarter and extended the margin for the rest of the game.
Elijah Bell led Buchtel in scoring with 17 points.
Firestone has another big game on Friday night, traveling to Kenmore to play the Cardinals.
“We remember what happened to us after we beat Buchtel the first time, we lost to Kenmore,” Milo said. “We can’t let that happen again.”
The Griffins play East Friday night on the Dragons home floor.
In other games involving City Series teams:
ST. VINCENT-ST. MARY 69, KENMORE 62. At Akron, the Fighting Irish (9-6) won their third straight game by holding off the host Cardinals. Lorenzo Cugini and D. J. Blanks proved too much for Kenmore as the pair both scored 21 points to lead St. Vincent-St. Mary.
The Cardinals received 15 points from Antonio Hearn and another 15 points from Desean Ballinger.
The win is the Irish’s second consecutive over Akron City Series teams, after beating Buchtel 64-52 on Saturday.
AKRON GARFIELD 102, NORTH 54. At Akron, three Golden Rams scored at least20 points to lead Akron Garfield (6-9, 4-6) past City Series foe North. Senior Darius Hoisten recorded a double-double with 22 points and 17 rebounds.
Meanwhile, sophomore Brelyn Brewton also had 22 points and senior Dezmond Love added 20 for the Golden Rams. Senior guard Jorden Boykin scored seven points and handed out 12 assists for Garfield.
Junior Damon Bowman led the Vikings with 16 points.
EAST 93, ELLET 56. At Akron, the host Dragons (13-1, 9-0) stretched their winning streak to 10 games thanks to the senior trio of Davonte Brunson, Mycle Shadie and Sir Charles Travis. Brunson scored a game-high 29 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Shadie had 20 points and 12 assists. Travis accounted for 16 points and nine rebounds in the win.
Ellet (2-14, 1-9) received 17 points from senior Ryan Walsh, no other Orangemen reached double figures.