Anything that could’ve gone wrong did go wrong in the first half for North Ridgeville while on the road in Westlake.
The Rangers gave up 40 first-half points, and the Demons shot 68% from the floor to build an 11-point lead. Ryan Turk and Andrew Wallenhorst combined for 28 points, just one off Ridgeville’s team total.
None of it mattered as North Ridgeville picked up the intensity on the defensive end and outscored Westlake by 25 in the second half for a 68-54 victory Dec. 21.
For the second straight game, the Rangers (4-1) had to overcome hot shooting starts from opponents. They weathered the storm against Avon earlier this week, but couldn’t come all the way back in a two-point loss. In this game, they left no doubt with a strong second half that shows the potential of this team.
“We’ve been waiting to see that,” North Ridgeville coach Ben Chase said. “The first half was the same thing as Avon — everybody hit shots for them. They came out red hot. I told (my players) to stay the course, we’re going to be fine.”
“I put in Brett Lienerth in the third quarter, and he dominated that second half defensively. Dominated. Our guys guarded. We have the potential to guard like that. We just have to see it for four quarters. That was a heck of an effort in the second half from our guys.”
Ridgeville is a tough out when it plays its style of basketball. However, in the first half, Westlake dictated how the game was played. The Rangers didn’t have energy early, and it bit them as the Demons got out to a 22-11 start after one quarter. Turk scored 10 points and Wallenhorst had eight in the first eight minutes.
The Rangers finally found some life when Collin Jones drove baseline and hammered home a dunk. He stole the ball on the other end that led to a 3-pointer in transition from Jayden Parish. Westlake quickly called timeout, and it still had answers offensively for whatever North Ridgeville was able to do.
The Demons’ lead stretched back up to nine following two baskets from Derek Occhipinti and a pullup jumper from Turk. Both teams went back-and-forth to end the first half before Turk made another deep 3-pointer to increased the lead to 11 at the break.
Turk shot 7-for-8 from the floor in the first half for 17 points. In the loss to Rocky River the game prior, he scored all eight Demon points in overtime, but was held scoreless during regulation. Wallenhorst also chipped in 11. Though unlikely heroes were doing the scoring, the Rangers had to make some changes.
“(Turk) made every shot he looked at,” Chase said. “We had four films on them, and we hadn’t seen that from him. He destroyed our game plan, so hats off to him. We blitzed him every time he got the ball (in the second half) because as a coach, I can’t let a guy just beat us for four quarters. We had to do something different. I’m proud of my guys for making the adjustment and executing.”
In the second half, Turk was held to two points on only four shot attempts. North Ridgeville’s defense swarmed him and didn’t allow the sophomore to continue pouring in points. Like Chase mentioned, led by Lienerth, the Rangers played stout defense.
Despite this, Westlake was able to hold its 11-point lead as Sam Brucchieri made two free throws with 4:33 left in the third. From then on, North Ridgeville outscored Westlake for the remainder of the game, 35-10.
As a team, Westlake had more turnovers in the third quarter (seven) than in the first half alone (six). The Rangers’ length created problems and forced the Demons into those turnovers. Westlake still held a 47-45 heading into the fourth, but it was clear where the momentum was heading.
“In the first half, we executed,” Westlake coach Luke Harris said. “We ran our offense, we executed. We were patient and took what the defense gave us. Nothing was forced, and we when can do that, we’re a good team and can put up a high volume of points. But in the second half, they pressured a little bit more and we lost our minds. We weren’t able to calm ourselves down.”
Charlie Steinmetz started the fourth quarter with a bucket to tie it for Ridgeville, but Brucchieri scored down low to put Westlake back in front. Kyle Miller tied it back up and Jackson Stacy nailed a 3-pointer to give the Rangers the lead for the first time since 2-0. They finished the game on a 16-5 run from there.
Jones (12 points) and Parish (19 points) had their usual big games for North Ridgeville, but this couldn’t have been done without a team effort. Even without Griffin Turay, this team is more than capable.
“Coach said that everybody has to step up and do a little more,” Jones said. “I don’t have to fill in all his points, but I can fill in some of his rebounds. Everyone has to step up and I just do whatever we need.”
