The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Falcons fight, come up short in district semis
Sharpshooter Jackson Talbott scores 12 points in loss
AKRON >> Sometimes all you need to do is believe in yourself.
That self-belief nearly helped Firelands pull off an upset on the road at Buchtel in a Division II district semifinal on March 4.
The Falcons battled all game but fell short, 60-48, as their season comes to a close.
Buchtel advances to a district final where it will face Norton on March 6.
“I couldn’t be more happy with the effort,” Firelands coach Alan Januzzi said. “We talked about focusing on the game plan, not being intimidated, coming out and playing hard and that’s what (we) did.
“This is a great team that we’re playing. I think they are sixth in the state, (they) have a great player in (Chris) Livingston ... and our kids didn’t back down. They came out, they battled, they fought and they were right there.”
The score is far from an indicator as to how the game went. No. 9 seed Firelands (157) never looked intimidated and fought hard the entire way.
No. 2 seed Buchtel (16-4) led 16-8 after one quarter and were poised to run away with the game.
However, Firelands had something to say about that as it outscored the Fighting Griffins 12-8 in the second quarter.
Sharpshooter Jackson Talbott (12 points) knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter, while teammate Alex Angle netted four points to pull the Falcons within four. Firelands trailed 24-20 at the break.
The Falcons really made it interesting in the third quarter.
Firelands used an 8-2 run midway through the quarter to tie the game at 28 all with 4:17 left in the third. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Caden Bomback (10 points) and Talbott evened the score.
Following Talbott’s game-tying 3-pointer, Buchtel closed the quarter out on a 10-3 run to take a 38-31 lead into the fourth quarter. The Fighting Griffins drilled back-to-back 3-pointers on the final two baskets of the quarter.
A 7-2 Buchtel run to open the fourth quarter gave the home team a 4533 lead and all but put the game out of reach from the feisty Falcons. Buchtel closed the game out in the fourth to seal its victory but the home team had to earn it, thanks to the effort from Firelands.
“I’m proud of the way we played,” said Talbott. “We are a very senior-led team. It just sucks it has to end this way. We competed really well and it would have been a different story if we just came in here and got blown out. We came in here and competed until the very end. I’m proud of all the boys.”
Firelands 6-foot-7 forward Mitchell Hodges drew a tough assignment as he guarded one of the best players in the state in Buchtel’s 6-foot-7 Chris Livingston.
Hodges went toe-to-toe with Livingston, didn’t back down and kept him in check for most of the game before Livingston got going late in the third quarter. A pair of dunks sparked Livingston as he finished with seven points in the third and a gamehigh 24 points.
“We were just trying to keep it out of his hands,” said Hodges. “If he did get it in his hands, (we tried) to shut it down, tried not to let him shoot or get in the lane. If he did, we tried to get rebounds after he missed.”
Hodges himself had a nice night. The senior scored 13 points, grabbed five rebounds and blocked over five shots. Hodges used his big frame to alter shots, force misses and send several balls flying away from the basket with blocks.
“Mitch is something. He’s very quiet and very humble,” Januzzi said. “When you look at him, you don’t see that fire in the eyes, But every once in a while, you do see that fire in the eyes and he just didn’t back down.
“He’s going against one of the best players in the nation tonight and he’s blocking his shot, going at him and I give him a ton of credit. He played a great game.”
Firelands graduates five seniors in Bomback, Talbott, Hodges, Angle and Evan Zidar.
With the novel coronavirus pandemic looming and threatening to shut the season down early on, Firelands players and coaches were thankful to be able to have a season this year and do what they love.
“I’m just glad we had a season,” Talbott said. “That was in question until pretty much the start of the season so it was a great season.”