Last week, Christian Ruiz had to miss Lorain’s Feb. 14 game against Shaker Heights due to a family emergency. The senior forward didn’t know if his dad was going to live or not.
Eleven days later, Ruiz’s dad was at Lorain High School to watch his son play in his final home of his career. Ruiz’s play inspired with 19 points and 10 rebounds in front of his dad to lead Lorain to a Division I sectional title over Copley on Feb. 25, 60-41.
Last week, Christian Ruiz didn’t know if his dad was going to make it.
Today, his dad was able to come to the game and watch his son put up 19 points and 10 rebounds in his final home game
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— Travis Nelson (@travisnelson40) February 25, 2023
“Man, it’s a blessing,” Ruiz said. “Just a week ago, I was in fear thinking that I wasn’t going to see my dad again. I was able to play at least one more night in front of my dad, and it’s just amazing. I know that my teammates and everybody is behind my back, and we’re just trying to do anything that it takes to get to the next level.”
The Titans did just that, and they move on to the Elyria District semifinals at 7 p.m. on March 1 against the winner of No. 2 Brecksville-Broadview Heights and No. 20 Normandy.
No. 19 Lorain wasn’t expected to host the sectional final. No. 21 Copley upset No. 13 Berea-Midpark on Feb. 22, as did Lorain with a road win over No. 14 Wadsworth to set up this game. Not only did Ruiz play inspired, but everyone stepped up in this game for Lorain.
Trailing, 5-4, early, Ike Rowser scored eight straight points to put the Titans up by seven. Leading, 15-10, going into the second quarter, Lorain went on a 9-0 run in two minutes to go by 14. Jaiden Guerra-Howard had two strong takes to the rim for baskets, Anthony Lorenzo knocked down a 3-pointer and Asiah Kielian drove in for another layup.
However, Copley (12-12) had an answer and cut the deficit to four by halftime. In the last six minutes of the half, Lorain only scored two points, and the Indians went on a 12-2 run.
Noah Edingburgh made two shots and Scooby Stanford made a pair of free throws to cut it down to eight. DJ Pettis scored for Lorain, but Copley scored the final six points of the half. Stanford, Christian Hood and Trent Wininger all scored down the stretch to make it 26-22.
“It wasn’t pretty at times, but everyone came together from on the bench to the guys that were out there,” Lorain coach Matt Kielian said. “It was a really emotional game to be a part of.”
Ruiz had a quiet first half with only five points, but he came up big with 14 in the second half. He quickly scored two putbacks in a row to put Lorain up eight. Wininger made four free throws to cut it back down to four, but Lorain didn’t let Copley inch any closer. Pettis had an and-one and Kielian made a 3 to halt the momentum. Ruiz scored another bucket in transition and Guerra-Howard made a layup with 1.3 seconds left to make it 39-30.
In the fourth quarter, Lorain had been tested enough times to not let the lead crumble. Ruiz and Kielian combined for 18 of the Titans’ 21 fourth-quarter points. Guerra-Howard scored the only field goal of the fourth that wasn’t Ruiz or Kielian to put the Titans up 11, and Copley couldn’t recover.
Hood hit two free throws to bring it back down to a nine-point deficit, but Lorain went on a 9-1 run to put it out of reach. Ruiz had another putback and scored down low on a nice pass from Kielian. Pettis and Kielian both made free throws before Ruiz got a steal and went coast-to-coast with a nice move to fake out a defender and laid it in.
“It’s important because I feel like that I have to bring everything I can to this team to make sure that we get out of here with a win and keep advancing,” Ruiz said. “We’re going to Elyria Catholic to play another big game, we just have to start getting ready. We’re not done yet.”
When the game was all but over in the final minute, Lorain’s four seniors were taken out in a cool moment in their last home game. After the game, the team huddled up at midcourt and coach Kielian wheeled out Ruiz’s dad in his wheelchair with the team surrounding him. The emotions ran high.
“We talked about taking advantage of the opportunities and we had an opportunity to get (Ruiz) another home game,” Kielian said. “The way it worked out was amazing. He took advantage of the opportunity that was given to him, and I love that his dad was able to witness it.”
Ruiz led all scorers with his 19-point performance, and Kielian scored 15. Wininger scored 15 and Hood scored 10 to lead Copley.
