The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Midview gets buzzer-beater to cap rally
For three quarters Jan. 11, it looked like Olmsted Falls was going to cruise to a victory. But visiting Midview rallied from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to tie the score in the waning moments of regulation.
Then, with 1.5 seconds remaining, Andrew Gooch threw a high-arcing inbound pass from his own baseline to 6-foot-6 junior Jonny Manning. Manning outjumped two Bulldog defenders, caught the ball,
turned and shot a 14-footer from the right elbow that swished as the buzzer sounded, giving his Middies a wild 50-48 SWC win.
Manning’s bucket, which gave him 17 points on the night, capped a 15-2 fourthquarter outburst for his Middies (6-4, 6-2) that turned this game completely on its ear.
“Give credit to our assistant coach (Kevin) Considine — he’s been telling me to install that play for years,” Midview coach Jim Brabenec said. “He actually ran it in the freshman game and he got a chance on it, but we lost. Jonny made a heck of a catch and he was able to turn and shoot it and the ball went in the hoop.
“I’m proud of him and proud of our guys. They just kept fighting. Jonny’s a big-time player. He’s our leader, he’s our captain and good things happen to those who work hard. Jonny works his butt off, so I’m not surprised that he came up big in that moment.”
Manning tied the game at 48 with 30 seconds left on a baby hook. All told, he scored six of his 17 in that fourth, but the last four were the biggest four points for not only him, but his team.
“My coaches told me on the sideline, ‘You catch it, you gotta shoot it because we don’t got a lot of time,’ “said Manning, who shot 8-for13 from the floor and made one of two free throws for both teams in the game. “So when I caught it, I just tried to get the best clean shot that I could. Once it left my hand, I knew it was going in.
“All I was focused on was the rim. I caught that and all I could see was the rim. We’ve practiced that play a couple of times, and it hasn’t always gone right. It was a last-resort tonight — we knew we had to do something there, and it worked.”
The run for Midview actually started in the final moments of the third quarter, when Dane Reichard – in his first game back after missing the previous two due to injury – sank backto-back 3-pointers to cut Midview’s deficit from 4629 to 46-35 heading into the fourth quarter.
Olmsted Falls, in stall mode to start the fourth quarter, turned the ball over on its first three possessions, and all three
turned into Middie baskets – a layup from Manning, a 3-pointer from Reichard and a baseline jumper from Marcell Young – that cut the deficit to four, 46-42, with 5:08 remaining.
Eric Hanna, who scored 12 points for Olmsted Falls (8-2, 6-2), temporarily stopped the bleeding with a layup while being fouled with 2:35 remaining. But he failed to convert the free throw, and Reichard sank his sixth and final 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to cut the deficit to 48-45 with 2:10 remaining.
“It felt awesome – you hate having to sit out and watch,” said Reichard, who scored a game-high 18 – all on 3-pointers – on 6-of-9 shooting. “I was itching to get back out on the court and I tried to play my best tonight, and I think I did the best I could.
“I was feeling good and my teammates kept giving me the ball. I hadn’t been hitting them that great this year, but everyone kept me positive and kept telling me to shoot. I was able to knock them down.”
Isiah Johnson split a pair of free throws with 43.1 seconds remaining to make it 48-46. After another Falls turnover, Manning sank his hook to tie the game at 48.
The Bulldogs had the ball with 15 seconds left and set up for the game-winning points. However, they failed to convert on a layup with two seconds remaining. Manning grabbed the rebound and Brabenec called a timeout with 1.5 seconds remaining, setting up the wild final sequence.
“Besides the first quarter where Falls got loose a bit and hit some 3s, I thought our defense played well,” Brabenec said. “We expected that – nothing but respect for Falls. They have a heck of a program here, and Coach DeLisio is one of the best coaches in the area. But our guys kept fighting and battled and defended their way to the end.
“We were able to get a stop there at the end and made a big play. This is huge for our confidence, and we’re going to celebrate this tonight, but we’re going to get practice (Saturday) morning because it doesn’t get any easier.”
Falls jumped out to a 2514 lead after the first quarter and took a 29-21 lead into the half after a lowscoring second quarter for both teams. And, when the Bulldogs opened up the second half with seven unanswered points, which turned into a 16-8 run, it appeared the hosts were going to run away with it.
“Credit Midview – they deserve to win,” Falls coach Chris DeLisio said. “Jim did a great job coaching his team, and I did not do a good job as a coach. I thought we handled the zone in the fourth quarter in a terrible way. We tried to pull them out of it and it backfired. That’s totally on me as a coach.”