The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Looking ahead to upcoming area playoffs
Lorain or Olmsted Falls? See who Marissa McNees chose to win the matchup and more as girls and boys playoff basketball continues.
NORTON >> Open Door basketball coach Todd Wright will remember the Patriots’ 2018-19 season as an incredible winter. The Patriots won 20 games to tie their singleseason program record. Senior Trey Brooks became Open Door’s all-time leading scorer. A quest for a district title, though, fell short in a 78-66 loss to Richmond Heights March 8 in the Division IV Norton District championship. Jared Bublinec led the Patriots with 16 points as coaches from John Carroll and Baldwin Wallace were on hand to watch him play. Miles Hunt finished with 15, Brooks added 13 and Carter Wright chipped in 12. The loss ended an era of basketball involving Open Door’s senior core that dated to kindergarten, when Bublinec and Carter began playing together. They met Hunt when they were 5, and Brooks joined them in sixth grade. A stinging loss didn’t erase the past decade of friendship. The Patriots’ players ended their high school careers together. “I think it means the world to me,” Bublinec said. “Coming up with these brothers of mine and this coach that has known me since kindergarten, I think it’s just a good time to celebrate what we did. We’re memorable at this school and I hope it carries on, creates a legacy for younger kids that can do this and better in the future.” The Patriots seized early momentum with their 3-point shooting. Open Door made four 3s in the first quarter. Shots by Gavin Dobbins and Bublinec pushed the Patriots’ lead to eight, 22-14, after a quarter. Richmond Heights righted itself in the second quarter to take control of the game. After the Patriots led, 26-19, the Spartans outscored them, 17-6, to take a 37-32 lead at halftime. Open Door began the second half with seven unanswered points, capped by Brooks’ first basket of the game to give the Patriots a 39-37 lead. Richmond Heights responded to push its lead back to seven, 52-45, by quarter’s end. A Bublinec jumper followed Hunt’s and-one layup to slice the Spartans’ lead to one, 6160, midway through the fourth. Richmond Heights scored 13 of the game’s next 15 points to pull away permanently. Gbolahan Adio led the Spartans with 18 points, Houston scored 14 and Talbert and BJ Carter added 14 apiece. After Richmond Heights lost in a sectional final last season, Quentin Rogers’ group won its first district title since 2014. “That’s a big step for them,” Rogers said. “We’re trying to build a culture and they’re setting the pathway for the guys that are coming after them. This is something that they had as a goal and they accomplished it. We still have a lot left to do.” Wright fought back emotion postgame as he recalled his players’ work ethic in seasons and offseason past. Most significant to the eighth-year head coach are the relationships forged between his players that will last into the future. “This is a group of guys that love each other,” Wright said. “You could tell and you could see that. They put in the work on top of that to become better basketball players and better teammates, just made for an incredible season, one that I’ll certainly never forget.”