Minimum 10 points per game

Name, school GP Pts. Avg

John Koz, Bay 8 171 21.4 Naz Bohannon, Lorain 7 143 20.4 Blake Furcron, Elyria 8 158 19.8 Daviere Andrews, Lorain 6 113 18.8 J. Kuchta, Elyria Catholic 8 146 18.3 K. Meehan, Olmsted Falls 6 106 17.7 Deari Todd, Clearview 3 52 17.3 P. Villanueva, N. Olmsted 8 138 17.3 Darin Guice, Elyria Catholic 8 124 15.5 Marcus Martin, Clearview 6 93 15.5 Anfernee Smothers, Lorain 7 106 15.1 Antonio Blanton, Elyria 8 119 14.9 R. Coleman, N. Olmsted 8 118 14.8 Joby Pfeil, Vermilion 11 157 14.3 J. Hufstetler, N. Olmsted 8 113 14.1 Caleb Waller, Vermilion 11 153 13.9 Austin Conrad, Keystone 10 133 13.3 A. Bennett, Clearview 6 79 13.2 Andy Lucien, N. Olmsted 8 103 12.9 Brandon Kuhl, Keystone 10 124 12.4 RJ Sunahara, Bay 8 97 12.1 Erik Painter, Bay 8 95 11.9 Brody Kuhl, Keystone 10 113 11.3 Jalil Little, Lorain 6 67 11.2 Lance Billings, Clearview 6 66 11.0 V. Hitterman, O. Falls 6 65 10.8 Josh Goodwin, O. Falls 6 64 10.7 Doc Jannuzzi, Firelands 9 94 10.4 Colin Myers, Firelands 9 93 10.3

3-pointers

Minimum 10

Brody Kuhl, Keystone; 21; Erik Painter,Bay,19; Caleb Waller, Vermilion 19; Sam Waldock,. Lake Ridge, 17; John Koz, Bay, 16, Jimmy Clark, North Olmsted, 15; Antonio Blanton, Elyria 15;, Kevin Kelley, Elyria Catholic 15; Jake Kuchta, Elyria Catholic, 14; Joby Pfeil, Vermilion, 13;; Turner Campbell, Keystone 12; Jamar Ross, Lorain, 12, Nik Barkdull, Vermilion 12; Victor Hitterman, Olmsted Falls, 11, Walt Moore, Olmsted Falls, 11

rebounds

Minimum 6.0 per game

Name, school GP Reb. Avg.

Andy Lucien, North Olmsted 8 101 12.6 Naz Bohannon, Lorain 7 87 12.4 Brandon Kul, Keystone 10 120 12.0 Scott Durham, Bay 8 89 11.1 Austin Conrad, Keystone 10 93 9.3 Zach Waite, Rocky River 3 27 9.0 Anfernee Smothers 7 58 8.3 K. Meehan, O. Falls 6 48 8.0 Colin Myers, Firelands 9 66 7.3 R. Coleman, N. Olmsted 8 56 7.0 RJ Sunahara, Bay 8 55 6.9 A. Bennett, Clearview 6 41 6.8 J. Kuchta, Elyria Catholic 8 54 6.8 Brody Kuhl, Keystone 10 66 6.6 J. Hufstetler, N. Olmsted 8 50 6.3 Ryan Glover, O. Falls 6 37 6.2 Blake Furcron, Elyria 7 43 6.1

Assists

Minimum 3.0 per game

Name, school GP Ast. Avg.

Jack Jelen, Bay 8 56 7.0 J. Hufstetler, N. Olmsted 8 54 6.8 V. Hitterman, O. Falls 6 33 5.5 Daimion Mahone, Lorain 10 54 5.4 Chris Sittinger, Keystone 10 48 4.8 Darin Guice, Elyria Catholic 9 35 3.9 Carter Wright, Open Door 7 26 3.7 Kevin Davis, Lorain 7 26 3.7 Austin Conrad, Keystone 10 34 3.4 Scott Durham, Bay 6 20 3.3 Naz Bohannon, Lorain 7 23 3.3 Kevin Kelley, Elyria Catholic 7 23 3.3 Antonio Bennett, Clearview 6 19 3.2 Erik Painter, Bay 8 25 3.1 Jamel Billings, Clearview 6 18 3.0 Daviere Andrews, Lorain 6 18 3.0 Drew Dawson, Vermilion 11 33 3.0 Joby Pfeil, Vermilion 11 33 3.0

Steals

Minimum 2.5 per game

Name, school GP Stl. Avg

Jamel Billings, Clearview 6 20 3.3 Antonio Bennett, Clearview 6 19 3.2 L. Christofferson, O. Door 7 21 3.0 Daviere Andrews, Lorain 7 20 2.9 Jake Kuchta, Elyria Catholic 9 25 2.8 Kevin Kelley, Elyria Catholic 9 24 2.7 Chris Sittinger, Keystone 10 26 2.6 Austin Conrad, Keystone 10 26 2.6 Marcus Martin, Clearview 6 15 2.5 Brandon Kuhl, Keystone 10 25 2.5 John Koz, Bay 8 20 2.5 Carter Wright, Open Door 7 17 2.4 Logan Bolin, Midview 10 24 2.4 Daimion Mahone, Midview 10 23 2.3 Lance Billings, Clearview 6 11 1.8

blocked shots

Minimum 2.0 per game

Name, school GP Blk. Avg.

RJ Sunahara, Bay 8 19 2.4 Scott Durham, Bay 8 19 2.4 Andy Lucien, N. Olmsted 8 18 2.3 K. Meehan, O. Falls 6 13 2.2

With the team not playing within a conference, Vermilion boys coach Kurt Habermehl had to establish different goals for the team to conquer compared to prior years.

“Being independent, you have to set specific goals during the year to try to keep the kids going because you really don’t have a conference to shoot for,” Habermehl said. “So staying above .500, keeping our record best as possible, and winning our opening tournament (Liberty-Ford Tip-Off Classic at Brookside) at the beginning of the year and the Wellington tournament (Gossman Holiday Classic), those are small goals we set for ourselves until we get to the end of the year, which is the state tournament.”

Four of Vermilion’s seven wins (7-4) have come from playing in the tournaments – each involving heart-pounding moments.

In the Tip-Off Classic, sophomore Joby Pfeil made the game-winning basket on an acrobatic layup with seconds to spare against Oberlin to advance to the championship game against Hawken. At the Gossman Holiday Classic championship game, Nik Barkdull hit a buzzer-beater in overtime to give Vermilion a 67-65 win over Wellington.

Playing as an independent also created an opportunity for Vermilion to play different teams. The exception is Vermilion will play at Bay after hosting the Rockets on Dec. 1.

“The good part of it is, you play a lot of schools you haven’t faced before and you go to places you’ve never been to before,” Habermehl said.

In the first half of the year, Vermilion’s four losses have been against quality opponents in Bay, Lorain and Norwalk.

“You don’t become a better team by playing teams that aren’t very good, so we feel that playing some of these strong teams it’s only going to get us ready for the tournament and hopefully it’s a growing process for us,” Habermehl said. “We are still a very young team with only four seniors … we don’t have a lot of experience, so playing in these tough games I think it gives our team the experience necessary to hopefully play our best basketball come February.”

Although the roster is young, Habermehl credits the team’s work ethic in practice and their aggressiveness every time they step on the floor.

Another disadvantage Vermilion has compared to the past few seasons is its size. With senior Ryley Miller being the tallest player at 6-foot-3, the Sailors have been dependent on their speed and quickness on the court.

“We’ve run into problems when we face teams that can slow us down a little bit and get us into the halfcourt set and get after us. We have to play fast – we have no choice,” Habermehl said. “If we’re a team that’s going to walk it up the floor, we may only give up 55, 60 points but we’re only going to score about 20 points. It’s a situation where we need as many possessions as possible. We do shoot a lot of 3-pointers. It’s just kind of adjusting to what we have and I think the kids have done a good job of taking the adjustments we have given them and using them to their advantage.”

Vermilion attempts an average of 16 3s per game and is shooting 32 percent from beyond the arc. Their speed and aggressiveness to attack the rim has paid dividends, helping them get to the free-throw line where the Sailors are attempting an average of 18 free throws.

With the youth and undersized roster, Habermehl is proud of the way his team has handled the adversity and has overcome the challenges. The progression of Vermilion is a promising sight as well. Last year, the Sailors won 13 games and are past the halfway point of total wins.

“It’s just kids stepping up. The past two years we graduated two 1,000-point scorers (Kyle Nader and Cameron Kuhn). It’s just a next man up mentality,” Habermehl said. “We lost two great players the past couple of years in two great scorers in Cameron Kuhn and Kyle Nader, along with six other really good seniors. It’s just a situation of next man up. It’s kind of a program-wide thing, so when a kid gets up to varsity they’re prepared to play and know what is expected of them.”

As the second half of the regular season begins the first week of January, Vermilion is aiming for a high winning percentage, trying to surpass the 13-game plateau, targeting something worthwhile since they are an independent. With the confidence boosted after the Gossman Holiday Classic win, Habermehl knows the goals are attainable but it won’t come easy.

“We’re always looking for that consistency. It’s going to be a season-long battle,” Habermehl said. “While we have played some pretty tough teams so far, we have a lot of tough teams left on our schedule, starting with Clearview next Tuesday. We still have to play the likes of an Elyria, Edison, teams like that that are very strong. You’re still going to have your ups and downs a little bit, but as long as things are turning in the right direction come tournament time, we’ll feel pretty good about where we are at.”

And-1

What a year a difference can make. After compiling a record of 8-12 during the 2014-15 season, North Ridgeville is one win away from equaling its win total. The Rangers currently sit at 7-3 and will seek to reach win No. 8 as they host Westlake on Jan. 5.

BOYS BASKETBALL

1: (1) Lorain 7-0

2: (2) North Olmsted 7-1

3: (3) Elyria Catholic 5-2

4: (5) Clearview 6-2

5: (NR) Bay 6-2

6: (4) Keystone 8-3

7: (9) North Ridgeville 7-3

8: (6) Oberlin 6-2

9: (7) Olmsted Falls 5-3

10: (NR) Vermilion 7-4

Dropped out: Elyria 4-4, Avon 5-4

Watch list: Midview 6-4, Elyria

Comments: Bay makes a huge jump into the Crop, winning five in a row. … Vermilion jumps into the Crop after winning the Wellington Gossman Holiday Classic to improve to 7-4. … Avon drops from the Crop after losing three in a row. Oberlin drops a couple of places because it has been idle since Dec. 18.

“Excited to say that I have verbally committed to run Track and Field at Miami University #goredhawks,” Bechtel tweeted.

Bechtel, a senior, is a three-time state qualifer in the 400 meters, placing fourth in 2015 (55.81) and second in 2014 with a 55.40, which was a PR. She placed seventh in 2013 with a 56.55.

Bechtel is a two-time state qualifier in the long jump, placing 10th in 2015 with a leap of 17-3 1/4 and in 2014 placing fourth with 18-0 1/2. In 2015, it was the first time she qualified for state in the 200, placing 10th with a PR of 25.09.

Bechtel ran cross country all four years of her high school tenure and competed at state from 2012 to 2014. She did not make it known on Twitter if she was going to be running cross country at Miami.

Boys basketball

1: (1) Lorain 6-0

2: (2) North Olmsted 7-1

3: (3) Elyria Catholic 6-1

4: (7) Keystone 7-3

5: (5) Clearview 5-2

6: (9) Oberlin 6-2

7: (4) Olmsted Falls 5-3

8: (5) Avon 5-3

9: (NR) North Ridgeville 6-3

10: (10) Elyria 4-3

Dropped out: Vermilion 5-5

Watch list: Midview (5-4), Vermilion, Rocky River (3-2)

Crop comments: The top three remain the same. If North Olmsted would have beat Lorain, it would have flip-flopped rankings. … Keystone climbs as it is the second team in the area to reach seven victories. … Olmsted Falls drops after losing two in a row. … North Ridgeville surges as it has won three of its past four games … Vermilion drops from the rankings after losing two in a row.

The loss was difficult to endure, Elyria Catholic head coach Phil Kuchta said, but fast forward 2 1/2 weeks, and the game against Lorain was a great learning curve. The Panthers have won three straight and are 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the Great Lakes Conference.

“We just want to compete against the best and be the best team we can be,” Kuchta said. “They’re (Lorain) very similar to a lot of teams in our district, which is one reason why we had them on our schedule. We used it as a measuring stick as far as where we are at and what we need to get better at and it was a good test for us. Our guys gained some confidence from it and we feel like we can play with anybody on our schedule.

“We have a senior-laden group and kids who really work hard at the game of basketball and who love to play. We just try to go out and have fun.”

The Panthers are part of the Garfield Heights District, which includes reigning D-III state champion Villa Angela-St. Joseph and Beachwood, which is unbeaten with a win over St. Edward.

An example of senior leadership was displayed in the Panthers’ 77-75 win against Clearview on Dec. 18. Despite sub-par play for the majority of the game – Elyria Catholic turned the ball over 20 times – the Panthers persevered.

“Jake Kuchta is obviously a great leader, he works so hard,” Kuchta said. “Kevin Kelley, same thing. He doesn’t always comes up with the big games in the box score but is a great leader on the floor and is a great extension of the coaching staff to go along with our other seniors Brian Duffield and Darin Guice. They just all show a lot of great leadership. Even when things aren’t going well, they find a way to get the job done.”

Jake Kuchta leads the team in scoring at 17.4 points per game and averages seven rebounds and 3.1 steals per game. Still, the performance of Guice has to be considered a catalyst for the Panthers’ early success this season.

Guice has more than doubled his scoring average from a year ago and has increased his averages in assists and in rebounds. Last year, Guice averaged 6.9 points and is currently averaging 16.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and a team-leading five assists per game.

“He never backs down from anyone,” Kuckta said. “He’s not that big, he’s only 5-8. But he’s got electrifying quickness. He’s a game-changer. I think that we’ve learned with him to go along with our other guys, it gives us a chance to compete with anyone in the state of Ohio.

“He’s a matchup nightmare for the other team and a lot of times he scores a lot of points over two and three people and no matter what you do it’s really tough to keep him in front. He’s developing, he’s learning how to find people when he does draw that double team. He’s learning how to get people open shots, he’s learning to play better defense … we believe he can be one of the most elite point guards in the area.”

As the team heads into 2016 and the long, difficult stretch of the season, the Panthers were given 11 days off in between games with their next game on Dec. 29 against Warrensville Heights. Phil Kuchta said that the layoff period will be a nice time for the players to recuperate physically and mentally.

“It’s been a nice break since Friday (Dec. 18). We’re using this to get better physically. A couple of guys are banged up and it’s nice to just get them some rest,” Kuchta said. “It’s also a time mentally to recharge the batteries, it has been a grueling month of December, and we want to finish it off right with a win against Warrensville (Heights) and we know it’s going to be a big game and get ready for the second part of the season, the next phase in January.

“I think us being in a bunch of close games so far has really helped us … it gives us information that helps us move forward .”

And-1

Tis the season and holiday tournaments are upon us.

* Rocky River will take part in the Sylvania Northview Tournament Dec. 28-29 with their first game at 6 p.m. on Dec. 28.

* Vermilion will be playing at the Wellington Gossman Holiday Classic with their game starting at 1 p.m.

* The Elyria Holiday Classic should be a great tournament with Elyria, Lorain, Sandusky and St. John’s Jesuit participating. The tournament is Dec. 29-30. Elyria and Lorain will face off in the 8 p.m. game on Dec. 29.

Open Door had difficulties in all facets of the game. They shot 23 percent from the field, turned the ball over 24 times and were outrebounded, 35-19.

“It definitely wasn’t going our way tonight as far as shooting, passing, and in some cases rebounding,” Open Door coach Todd Wright said. “I told the guys sometimes it’s just not your night and I can live with that. We all have those nights. We just have more to focus on during practice, work hard, and get better every day.”

Heritage Christian led, 12-6, after the first quarter and started to pull away in the second quarter, courtesy of senior Jim Liwosz’s first-half performance. He scored nine of the team’s 15 points in the second quarter and had a double-double at the break with 14 points and 10 rebounds. He finished the game with 18 points, 17 rebounds, two steals, two blocks and two assists.

“Jimmy is incredible. He has the ability to step up and just take over,” Heritage Christian coach Dave Alligood said. “I told him I needed him big tonight. He came out big, he responded, couldn’t be happier for him.

Liswosz was named the tournament MVP.

Open Door had more turnovers in the first half (15) than they did points as they trailed 27-14.

“We made some mistakes that weren’t typical of us, things we’ve worked on in practice,” Wright said. “But like I said, I just look at it as an incentive. You have to give Heritage Christian credit. They did exactly what they had to do. They knocked down shots we weren’t expecting and they knocked down a bunch of them and they hit the boards hard.”

Heritage Christian nailed seven 3-pointers and compiled 11 total offensive rebounds that turned into multiple second-chance points and second-chance opportunities.

Open Door got within 10 during the third quarter at 32-22 when Dustin Hackney connected on a two-point jumper with 3:28 remaining, but that was the closest they would get for the remainder of the game.

Heritage Christian’s largest lead of the game was at 50-27 when Liwosz scored his final bucket with 2:41 left in the game. Open Door’s Carter Wright nailed two free throws and Dustin Hackney connected on a 3-pointer to close out the game.

Hackney had a team-high 11 points and was 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. He also had an assist. Cody Edwards chipped in with eight points and snagged seven rebounds.

Heritage Christian’s Hayden Hoffman had an efficient scoring night, posting 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting, hitting a pair of 3s. He had three rebounds and two assists. Victor Jones had 10 points, four rebounds and was a pest on defense as he came up with three steals.

Open Door fell to 1-6 on the season and will seek to earn a road win as it faces Lake Center Christian Dec. 22.

Heritage Christian 50, Open Door 32

Heritage Christian (6-1): Victor Jones 10, Jim Liwosz 18, Jacob Ocknuzzi 6, Steve Wallace 1, Hayden Hoffman 15

Open Door (1-6): Carter Wright 5, Dustin Hackney 11, Jared Bublinec 4, Luke Christofferson 3, Clayton Wright 1, Cody Edwards 8

H. Christian 12 15 15 8 – 50 Open Door 6 8 13 5 – 32

Fields goals: Heritage Christian 20 of 47, Open Door 10 of 43; Free throws: Heritage Christian 3 of 11, Open Door 9 of 10; 3-pointers: Heritage Christian 7 (Jones 2, Ocknuzzi 2, Hoffman 2), Open Door 3 (Carter Wright, Christofferson, Hackney(: Rebounds: Heritage Christian: 35 (Liwosz 17), Open Door 19 (Edwards 7)

“These kind of games kind of worry you when you think you have the better team. You worry about the energy, the focus and again, I think we have a bunch of veteran guys who know how to play the game of basketball and play the right way,” Lorain coach John Rositano said. “I thought we came out with energy and I thought we pretty much took care of business in the first quarter. You can’t let teams hang around on the road because as the game goes on, they start playing with confidence and maybe start playing a little bit over our heads.”

Trailing, 4-3, to begin the game, Lorain went on a 13-3 spurt that was sparked by Daviere Andrews, who nailed back-to-back triples from the corner.

“I was very confident. I knew I was going to hit it just by the way I was set. Anytime I’m in a rhythm, I’m automatic,” Andrews said.

Andrews finished with 19 points, three rebounds and three assists.

Lorain’s strong start to the game transitioned into second quarter dominance which included back-to-back jaw-dropping alley-oop dunks by Anfernee Smothers that put the exclamation point on a hefty halftime lead. Lorain outscored Maple Heights, 31-18, and was ahead, 51-29, at the break.

Smothers finished the game with 14 points and was a presence defensively, swatting three shots and grabbing eight rebounds.

“When Smothers is playing like that we’re really, really elite and that it’s going to take a really great basketball team to beat us when you’re 6-8 guy is playing like a man out there,” Rositano said. “He’s capable. He’s not consistent with it yet but we see a lot of spurts and we’ve seen a lot more of that a lot moving forward. When he plays like that it makes the Andrewses, the Bohannons (Naz), the Littles (Jalil) so much better.”

Bohannon had a game-high 21 points and notched a double-double by snatching 11 rebounds. Kevin Davis was the fourth starter who reached double-digits in points as he chipped in with 11. He also had three rebounds and three assists.

Alfonse Hale had a team-high 16 points for Maple Heights and Lawrence Sumbry scored 13 and had four rebounds and two steals.

Lorain improves to 5-0 and 2-0 in the LEL as Maple Heights falls to 3-3 and 1-1 in the conference.

Up next for the Titans is a much-anticipated game as they host North Olmsted Dec. 22, which is 7-0 after a 92-82 win against Amherst on Dec. 18. Lorain faced North Olmsted last season and won on the Eagles’ home court, 88-75.

“It was great, it was another conference win. We’re defending our league championship and going into a game against North Olmsted. It’s a great confidence builder. They want us, we want them. We’re both undefeated. It should be a showdown Tuesday,” Bohannon said.

“it just seems to be that bringing each other together right around Christmas time would be a great time to do it, rally our school community around that,” Open Door coach Todd Wright said. “It’s something that we look forward to every year and something our school and community looks forward to every year, which is kind of special for us, especially tomorrow night’s game.”

In their game against First Baptist Dec. 18 Open Door will perform its “Silent Night” ritual, which stems from the inaugural year of the tournament and is a takeoff from Wright’s alma mater Taylor University, which is in Upland, Ind.

“The crowd comes in, they are typically dressed in a silly outfit or pajamas or whatever and are silent until we score 10 points and as soon as we score 10 points, they kind of go crazy and get all excited and the gym just erupts and is extremely loud,” Wright said. “Obviously they are cheering for the rest of the game and then with about two minutes left in the game, they all get together, and in this case our music director is going to come out and lead the entire crowd in the singing of ‘Silent Night’ as the game ends.”

ESPN did a feature last week and was on site for Taylor’s yearly tradition that started 19 years ago. Wright took his team to the game that took place Dec. 11

“Our varsity team got to see the original one at Taylor last weekend just to get them even more pumped up for ours,” Wright said. “It was great. A lot of the guys haven’t even been on a college campus before so to be on a college campus, they got to stay in a dorm, we did an official college visit and then went to the game that night and we actually got to meet with the coach before the game so he talked to the kids. Going to the game, it was just an unbelievable atmosphere … They (Wright’s team) were just pumped up to be in that environment.”

Record unblemished

A surprise can be good, but in the case of North Olmsted coach Jason Frolo, it was stupendous. The Eagles are off to a 6-0 start but the way they have managed to earn wins is a little different as opposed to last season.

“The way we have done it is a bit surprising. We were hoping to have a good year with the amount of returning players we had and the caliber returning players we had. It was a little unpredictable. We’ve had a lot of balance scoring across with (Andy) Lucien, (Ryan) Coleman, Paris (Villanueva) and (Josh) Hufstetler,” Frolo said. “Last year a lot of the time it was Andy having big games and the supporting cast around him and this year it has been well balanced and every one of our starters has taken turns of having big nights, which is nice to see.”

Four starters are averaging double-digits in points with Villanueva leading the way with 15.5 points per game. Coleman and Hufstetler follow with 13.8 and Lucien rounds it out with 12.3 points per game.

Frolo noted that the team’s ability to combine their athleticism and basketball skills has made them a difficult team to face.

“They can do that along with doing basketball plays, making smart decisions, playing together. It’s tough for opponents to prepare for us and hopefully that will continue. So far it has worked to our advantage.”

North Olmsted faces Amherst Dec. 18 in a Southwestern Conference matchup and, on Dec. 22, the Eagles play at Lorain in a much anticipated game. As of Dec. 18, Lorain is 4-0 and North Olmsted will seek to avenge its loss from last season in a 88-75 defeat Jan. 9.

“If we are still undefeated at that point, it’ll be a really exciting game. I know our guys believe they can play with them and last year we proved that. I think we played them tough as anybody up until that time of the season. It should be a lot of a fun going over there. It’ll probably be a hostile crowd, two undefeated teams in the area, two good teams and I know the kids will be looking forward to it,” Frolo said.

And-1

Elyria Catholic senior guard Jake Kuchta is one of the most pure shooters in the area. He showcased his shooting ability on Dec. 11 in a 87-76 win against Holy Name. He scored 17 in the fourth quarter and was 13 of 15 from the free throw line, which included hitting nine straight to end the game. He finished with 35 points, five rebounds and was a pest on defense, coming up with eight steals. In a 61-58 win against Parma on Dec. 15, he scored 16 and had seven rebounds and six steals to help Elyria Catholic improve to 5-1.

Game to watch

Clearview at Elyria Catholic: The Clearview Clippers come into the matchup with a 5-0 record and the Elyria Catholic Panthers come in at 5-1. The game is intriguing because Elyria Catholic managed to keep pace with Lorain on Dec. 8. Don’t let an 83-69 loss to the Titans deceive you because the Panthers led by as many as 12. Clearview’s style of play is similar to Lorain’s – full-court pressure on defense end and great ball movement offensively that transitions into good looks. This will be Clearview’s toughest game yet this season and will prove their legitimacy if the can obtain the win. For Elyria Catholic, a win against Clearview will be a nice touch to their resume and will pad their winning streak to three games.

“We always preach to them that the game is never over. Sometimes it can just be talk until you’re put into that situation,” Oberlin coach Kurt Russell said. “The kids were put in the situation, they came back, and now I believe that every game we play we are able to come back and get a victory.”

In the second quarter, Firelands’ Dominic Januzzi nailed a 3-pointer to cap off a 13-1 run that gave the Falcons their biggest lead at of the game at 33-13 with 3:13 remaining in the half. The third quarter is when Phoenix made its move.

Oberlin (3-2) outscored Firelands 17-2 in the quarter and took the lead at 34-33 with 1:58 in the third on a two-pointer by Zion Hicks. It was the first lead the Phoenix had in the game and were up 36-35 heading into the fourth.

Firelands regained the lead and were up 46-42 with 1:41 remaining in the game after Jack O’Keefe nailed a two-pointer on an assist by Colin Myers.

Oberlin’s David Payne III was fouled on the ensuing possession and split the pair at the free throw line to trim its deficit to 46-43. Missing the second shot, Januzzi grabbed the rebound, and moments later, the Phoenix forced a Firelands turnover. On the next possession Hicks nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie the game at 46-46 with 44 seconds to eventually send the game into overtime.

“We started turning the ball over, they picked up the pressure a little bit and we couldn’t handle the pressure as well as we did in the first half and that allowed them to get their run,” Firelands coach Alan Januzzi said.

Firelands (2-3) had 11 turnovers in the game, six coming in the second half.

Oberlin’s Justin Smith carried the team in the second half, scoring 10 points, including hitting the game-winning basket with 1:55 left in overtime.

“I knew we needed it, somebody was going to score the bucket eventually. I just felt like I had to put myself in the situation to get this win,” Smith said. “We have a lot of goals we want to accomplish this year. We just need things to go our way. It didn’t go our way for a while but we handled the adversity real well and we pulled it out.”

Smith finished the game with 18 points, 10 rebounds and had three steals.

Payne III had nine points for Oberlin and Hicks chipped in with nine points. Myers finished with 20 points, shooting efficiently, going 10 of 19 from the floor. He also had four rebounds and two steals. Dominic Januzzi chipped in with 12 points and had five rebounds.