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Firestone's Jerome Lane (35) grabbed 19 rebounds and scored 13 points against David Oldham (20) and Kenmore as the Falcons beat the Cardinals 63-60 to set up a City Series Championship game against East.
AKRON, Ohio – Prior to the Falcons' game at Kenmore High School on Friday night, Firestone boys basketball coach Dave Milo had a conversation with junior Jerome Lane. Milo asked his star forward to go out and grab 18 rebounds in the game. Lane told his coach he would get 20.
Well, Lane came up one rebound short of his goal, but his 19th was good enough to clinch a 63-60 victory over the Cardinals (8-6, 6-4), securing a spot for the Falcons (12-3, 9-2) in the City Series championship game against Akron East in two weeks.
Firestone was up 60-57 with 14 seconds left in the game, and senior point guard Stefan Willis was at the line setting the stage for Lane. Willis missed both free throws, leaving the door open For Kenmore – at least for the three seconds it took Lane to leap up grab the rebound and put it back in the basket. Lane followed up with a free throw that gave the Falcons a 63-57 lead with 11 seconds.
“I just come out here to work hard," Lane said. "My team needs me and I need to step up on the rebounds. “I didn’t even know if he was going to miss it, but I was going (for the final shot) no matter what.”
Milo was plenty pleased with Lane stopping at 19 rebounds and 13 points. Seven of Lane’s points came in the fourth quarter.
“(Lane’s) just a beast," Milo said. "He’s such a talented individual. He comes to play every game and is definitely blue-collar.”
The Cardinals returned fire with a 3-pointer by junior guard DeSean Ballinger at the buzzer, making Lane’s three points on the final possession critical, and the offensive rebound Kenmore allowed a final costly missed opportunity.
“It was a hard-fought game," Kenmore coach Brian Dawson said. "Firestone had a good game plan and played well. We had a chance with 11 seconds left, they missed the free throw, two of our guys went for it and missed the ball.”
The Cardinals started the game, looking like they would take control early with a 6-2 run in the first four minutes, thanks to two buckets by senior Dierre Brown and another by guard Antonio Hearn.
However, some sharp-shooting from the outside turned things around, as Firestone went on a 12-2 run to end the quarter. Senior forward Corbin Bates sank three triples in that stretch, with sophomore forward Evan Kennerly adding another long ball.
“That helped so much to open up their zone, that pulled them out into man-to-man,” Milo said. “Corbin’s probably our best three shooter, and being a senior, he and Stefan are now getting a chance to play in the City championship for the first time.”
After Firestone took a 14-8 lead into the first break, Kenmore and the Falcons traded runs in the second period. After the Cardinals tied the game at 16, Firestone once again pushed its advantage to 26-21 at intermission.
The Falcons struggled in the third quarter and Kenmore again took the lead. Firestone pushed the lead to 36-23 halfway through the third quarter on a bucket by Kevin Gladney, but Kenmore closed the period on a 17-2 run. Hearn sunk a 3-pointer as time ran out to give the Cardinals a 40-38 lead. It was Kenmore’s fourth 3-pointer of the stretch.
“I don’t know what it is about the third quarter, we had a horrible third quarter, but they came out when they had to,” Milo said about his team’s second half.
Motivated to right the ship, the Falcons went on an 8-3 run to take a 46-43 lead on back-to-back baskets by Willis, and Firestone never gave the lead back.
“It was a wild game,” Willis said. “We came out and we were flat. We pulled it together, but this was a bad game for us.
“(We have to work on) turnovers and transition defense. We’ll get everybody clicking together and we’ll be good.”
Willis scored 11 points in the final eight minutes.
The Falcons will now play East next Friday to close out league play, before a return game against the Dragons on February 17.