The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Dukes claim backyard rivalry game
Anytime traditional rivals Wellington and Firelands take the court against each other, you can disregard the records.
And, heading into halftime and through the early part of the third quarter, the winless Falcons were within striking distance of the Dukes, trailing by four.
But an 11-0 run, which blossomed into a 21-7 run early in the fourth, put to rest any chance of Firelands picking up its first win of the season on Dec. 14 at Wellington High School.
The host Dukes rode that second-half surge to a 65-49 Patriot Athletic Conference Stars Division win, improving them to 4-1 (3-0 PAC) on the season.
Firelands fell to 0-5 (0-3 PAC).
“It’s a backyard rival and I thought both teams played really hard,” Wellington coach Dan Gundert said. “I know Alan (Januzzi) does a great job and he would get them ready to play and it would be a battle. Our kids responded to some adversity early and got a good victory.”
The Dukes got three players into double-figures in the scoring column, led by senior captain Ryan Whitaker’s 15 (and gamehigh nine rebounds), senior Brandon Orozco’s 14 and junior Mason McClellan’s 14. Juniors Noah Diermyer and reserve Ben Bliss each chipped in with nine to lead the well-rounded effort for Wellington.
“I thought I played alright, but I thought I played a little sloppy at times too,” said Whitaker, who shot 6-for-12 from the floor and added two of his team’s six 3-pointers. “I had a lot of turnovers and I definitely need to cut down on those. Anyway I can my team win, I’m gonna do whatever it takes. I’m glad to get out of here with the ‘W’ — that was big for us.”
Gundert was pleased by their performances.
“Ryan is our guy. He’s our leader, a two-year captain and a three-year starter,” he said. “He plays hard. I got after him a little bit. I thought he missed some loose balls early on and he knew it. From that point on, I thought he played really hard.
“Some of the things Mason does for us no one else can do. When you grab an offensive rebound and kick out for a 3, those are backbreaker plays. Credit to Mason for making them. He’s a three-sport athlete and we love that around here. ‘B’ was down after a rough first quarter, and he responded quite well.”
Wellington looked to be in control from the start, using a 13-3 run to open up a 22-10 first quarter lead. With a steal that turned into a fast-break layup by Orozco with 3:26 left in the first half, Wellington led, 30-20, and appeared to be fully in the driver’s seat.
However, the young Falcons had other plans. Seven unanswered points on layups from Caden Bomback and Mitchell Hodges and a 3-pointer from reserve Jackson Talbott, who led Firelands with 14, cut the deficit to three, 30-27, with time running down in the half. A 3-pointer by Whitaker temporarily stopped the bleeding, making it 3327 at the half.
“That’s just the kind of group we have,” Whitaker said. “We work really hard and we’re never out of it. If someone’s gonna throw a punch at us, we’re gonna throw one right back, and that’s what we hang our hats on. We’re always gonna work hard, no matter who we’re playing or where we’re playing.”
A thunderous dunk by Hodges cut the Firelands’ deficit to 35-31 and momentum — and the crowd — appeared to be in the visitor’s favor. But that would be the last Falcon bucket until a 3-pointer from Talbott — one of four from the sophomore — with 1:47 left in the quarter.
Starting innocently enough with free throws by Orozco and McClellan, the Dukes began to slowly pull away from Firelands. It picked up when Bliss hit a 3-pointer, McClellan spilt a pair of free throws, Whitaker put one back and Orozco sank a layup. All of a sudden, Wellington’s lead was up to 46-31, and it was all academic from there.
“I thought we started taking care of the basketball,” Gundert said. “Early on, especially under some pressure, we were not doing a great job of moving the basketball. We were trying to dribble through their traps. We really got after our guys about moving the basketball and making the extra pass.
“When we did it, I thought things looked really good. And that’s a credit to our guys. I thought they responded well. We definitely challenged them at halftime and they responded.”
The closest Firelands came was 11 points after an 8-0 run midway through the fourth quarter. But the Dukes were able to pull away down the stretch.
Hodges finished with 13 and five rebounds for the Falcons, while Austin Urban added eight.
“Wellington played very well tonight,” Firelands coach Alan Januzzi said. “They hit shots when they needed to hit shots. Their kids stepped up. They executed in the half-court to kind of manage the momentum. Dan (Gundert) did a great job of game coaching tonight. Congratulations to him and his kids — they are off to a good start.
“Our goal tonight was to get our kids to fight, to battle, because the last two games have been pretty difficult for us on the road. Honestly, I thought our kids played hard and they came ready to play tonight.”