The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Senior class leading Bulldogs
Olmsted Falls’ upperclassmen take team to new heights
No one saw Olmsted Falls pulling off a monumental upset over Lorain in the district championship last weekend.
Well, no one except the Bulldogs.
Their reason for such high confidence is because of a starting five that features all seniors: Forward Ryan Higginbotham, and guards Michael Fritz, Gavin Dietrich, Eric Hanna and Braden Galaska.
A starting five that always shows poise.
And a starting five that will trust each other against Akron St. Vincent St. Mary (21-3) in the Division I regional semifinal on March 13.
“We’re the ultimate team,” senior Ryan Higginbotham said. “We all play for each other. No one on this team is selfish. We have good players and they did their individual goals while keeping the team in mind and we all play for each other. It’s really fun to be on an unselfish team. I’ve played on AAU teams where guys are just looking for their shot, so it’s a good thing to have good teammates.”
Higginbotham scored 13 points along with eight rebounds, two assists and two steals in the 6053 win over Lorain.
After getting knocked out in the first round last season to Berea-Midpark, the drive to make amends began.
It left a sour taste in Higginbotham’s mouth — but that loss helped make them stronger.
when we lost in the first round, we had really high hopes for us,” he added. “Everyone our whole lives has told us we’re really good and we never really had to face adversity or losing. It just feels good to bounce back from that. People said that we couldn’t do it. That we play in not such a great conference. That we couldn’t beat a really good team, and it just feels good to know we are good and we believe in ourselves.”
They beat a Titans team that featured Ohio Mr. Basketball candidate Devon Grant, holding him to 17 points — 10 below his season average.
“When we were in second, third grade, I don’t think if you told us we would win a district championship against Lorain, I don’t know,” Fritz added. “We would’ve been like, ‘We’ll see.’ It’s pretty cool to be able to say we did that.”
The starting five has led the Bulldogs to a 23-2 record and have been playing with each other since the third grade. At times, nothing has to be said to know what one is thinking of the other.
Head coach Chris DeLisio, who has been with them since 2010-11, experienced his first district title and it was the Bulldogs’ first since 2008-09.
Braden Galaska, a 6-foot-1 guard, has averaged 12.2 points per game and 5.1 rebounds per game, while Eric Hanna has led the team in scoring with 18.8 points per game.
DeLisio said the continuity of the starting five is what makes them special and their only two losses came against Lakewood (44-40) and Midview (5048).
“It’s a formula for winning,” he added. “You can have talent, but any cliché you ever heard about being together, having that sixth sense of how to play together and being supportive of each other, it’s all true of these guys for sure. It certainly helps, especially in really clutch situations. The Lakewood game’s a perfect example. The guys never looked worried, they always stayed together and you could tell their mindset was just to figure it out together even in the timeouts, they were as they should be.”
And the starting five’s growth has been fulfilling to watch for DeLisio.
“It’s one of the best parts of coaching,” he said. “To see kids grow, and you know that their physical growth is also related to their mental growth and how they learn to handle situations, their commitment to getting better. The amount of work these guys have done behind the scenes has been unbelievable. I mean these are guys who just don’t miss workouts. They don’t miss offseason weight room, whether it’s coming in the morning to shoot. Our guys have the opportunity to shoot pretty much all year round except for our dead periods and they take advantage.”
This senior-led starting five has seen it all throughout the years and when they walk into the University of Akron on March 13 for what will basically be a road game, it’ll just be another challenge they’ll have to overcome.
“It’s really just all we’ve worked for our whole lives,” Dietrich said. “We formed the connection with each other in middle school, elementary school. We’ve been together, we’ve been so close. We’re all friends. It’s just a great accomplishment as a group together.”