Photo by Brian Dulik
The boys basketball teams from Highland and Cloverleaf congratulate each other after wrapping up their season. Colts coach Dan Brown (left) and Hornets counterpart Tom Harrington are in the foreground.
WESTFIELD TWP. -- Cloverleaf's boys basketball team finally got to celebrate Senior Night, but Highland wound up enjoying the evening even more.
The Hornets got 24 points from sophomore Chad Sedio and 16 from junior John Alexander, taking an early lead and never looking back Tuesday in a 64-47 Suburban League victory over the Colts.
Though the schools were told by conference officials that they did not have to make up their snowed-out contest from Feb. 26, neither coach wanted to cheat their players out of playing a final regular season game -- after being eliminated from the OHSAA Tournament.
"Our kids deserved to have their Senior Night, and I'm glad Tom (Harrington) and I were able to give it to them," Cloverleaf coach Dan Brown said. "Obviously, I wish we would have won tonight, but these guys have built a foundation for the future with their attitude and their effort all season long.
"I hope in 2-3 years, they all can come back to our games and say, 'We're proud of what we helped start here.'"
Sophomore guard Zach Miglich and senior swingman Dillon Wilson had 11 points apiece to lead the Colts (5-16, 2-12), while senior center Cody Furr added nine.
Medina County scoring leader Colin Wray, another 12th-grader, scored eight points for Cloverleaf, which dropped its opener to Westlake at the Grafton Midview Division I Sectional.
"We lost to a good basketball team tonight," Brown said. "It's a credit to their coaching staff that they were playing so well at the end of the season."
Sedio made 8-of-13 field goals -- with a county season-high six 3-pointers -- and scored 16 first-half points for Highland (8-14, 3-11). His final trey came with 4:15 left in regulation and put the Hornets up 53-37.
"We gave Chad a chance to start on varsity and become a good contributor because we knew he had it in him," Hornets coach Tom Harrington said. "The last couple of weeks, his numbers have gone way up because he's not overthinking everything. He's just going out and playing basketball. It was really only a matter of time."
Senior forward Grant Guenther had 10 points and junior forward Nate Kressin chipped in nine for Highland, which reached the Brecksville Division I Sectional finals before falling to Middleburg Heights Midpark.
With the victory, the Hornets finished in a sixth-place tie with Copley in the SL. They also quadrupled their win total from 2008-2009 in their first season under Harrington.
"I'm very happy with the way things have gone this year," Harrington said. "To go from two to eight wins shows just how hard these kids have worked to become better players. Honestly, I can't wait for next season to get started."