The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Fairview falls to Holy Name in GLC semis
Holy Name moves on to GLC championship game
Early deficits can be hard to come back from.
Fairview found that out the hard way in an 88-76 loss to visiting Holy Name in a Great Lakes Conference tournament semifinal on Feb. 16.
With the win, Holy Name (98) advances to the GLC championship game and will take on the winner of Rocky River vs. Bay on Feb. 19, while Fairview (10-9) will play the loser of the Rocky River-Bay game on Feb. 19.
The Pirates and Rockets are set to square off on Feb. 17 for a chance to play for the GLC title.
“When you get buried in such a deep hole, sometimes it’s impossible to get out of it,” Fairview coach Ryan Barry said. “We cut (the deficit) to 11 at half after another bad first quarter against them. We just couldn’t get the stops. We had some matchup issues with (Holy Name’s) size and we had some lack of execution defensively. The better team tonight won.”
The Warriors came out flat and found themselves trailing by double-digits early on. The Green Wave led 28-8 at the end of the first quarter.
The home team’s deficit reached as many as 25 points before the Warriors made a run.
Fairview used big second quarters from senior Ethan McQuate and junior Michael Goff to get back into the game. McQuate scored eight of his 26 points in the quarter, while Goff tallied nine of his 15 in the second.
The Warriors closed out the first half on an 18-4 run and found themselves trailing by 11 at the half at 40-29.
In the second half, Fairview kept battling. The Warriors scratched, clawed and fought to bring themselves within eight points several times and within seven points late in the fourth quarter.
“There was no other choice but to fight,” McQuate said. “We had to bring it.”
Fairview guard Danny Hanton caught fire in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 of his 23 points. The junior stole a Green Wave inbounds pass and streaked down the floor for a layup with 2:42 left in the contest. The bucket pulled
the Warriors within seven at 77-70.
That’s as close as the home team would get, however, as Holy Name closed the game out at the free throw line.
Fairview wasn’t able to get enough stops on defense and struggled to contain Holy Name’s big men throughout the night. Green Wave seniors Logan O’Brien and Joshua Petrilla gave the Warriors fits all night. O’Brien poured in 42 points and 17 rebounds, while Petrilla scored 17 and grabbed eight boards.
“It’s hard to guard those tall guys,” said McQuate. “They are both 6-foot-6 or something so it’s tough to guard them.”
The Warriors will look to regroup and prepare themselves for another game against a conference opponent in three days with third place in the conference on the line.
“Our kids are resilient,” Barry said. “That’s the best part about this group. It sucks that we can’t win a conference, but I know they’ll come to work tomorrow. We have a game Friday and then the state tournament. I’m still confident that we can make a run and that starts tomorrow.”