Toughened, tested East wins

It was during a regional semifinal against Malvern, when Cleveland Heights Lutheran East was fighting for its tournament life, that coach Anthony Jones thought the team’s regular-season schedule might as well have been the sixth man that night.

The Falcons squeaked out a 69-64 victory in overtime and went on to advance to their first Division IV state tournament since 2009.

Lutheran East continued to show poise and toughness in shutting out Delphos St. John’s in the third quarter on the way to a 50-25 Division IV semifinal victory Thursday at Value City Arena.

“The purpose was to be prepared for these moments,” Jones said of the schedule. “We played a tough Malvern team knowing that if we didn’t play a tougher schedule we could lose to a team like that.”

Jones put together a who’s-who schedule of Division III state semifinalist Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph, 2016 Division IV champion Willoughby Cornerstone Christian and Division I state semifinalist Lakewood St. Edward. There also were games against Youngstown Ursuline, Canton McKinley, Cleveland Heights, Cleveland St. Ignatius, Garfield Heights and Maple Heights.

The Falcons (19-9) lost them all and have the worst record of all 16 state tournament teams.

“We were just happy we were able to compete in those games,” Jones said. “At the end of the day, it was about (getting to) this point. I told them regular-season wins and losses nobody remembers. What people remember is, ‘Who was the state champion?’ ”

St. John (21-5) trailed just 16-13 at halftime, but it didn’t score in the third quarter while giving up 21 points.

Lutheran East senior guard Maurico Tate, who had 10 points, credited the team’s practices as well as the schedule for helping calm the first-half nerves.

“Our practices are intense,” he said. “All 15 of us practice hard every day. It’s nonstop.”