The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Blue team wins boys N-H Classic, 148-133
Teams combine for 281 points in ‘energetic’ senior all-star game
The 40th annual News-Her- ald Classic at Lakeland Community College, sponsored by Hooley House, March 31 delivered on its promise as an offensive exhibition. As a result, the Blue and Red teams needed an extra four minutes after 40 in regulation to decide
a winner.
The Blue team outscored the Red, 19-4, in the extra period behind six points by game MVP Tyler Williams to earn a 148133 overtime victory. The 281 points scored set a record for The News-Herald Classic.
“It was energetic,” Williams said. “It was fun. It was a good experience.”
Brush’s Williams and Richmond Heights’ Darius Dudley led the Blue team with 19 points apiece. VASJ’s Jerry Higgins, Richmond Heights’ Malik Tucker and Euclid’s Emari Baddour added 18 points each. University’s Seven Richmond chipped in 12 and South’s Norman Hughes finished with 10.
Cornerstone Christian’s Kendall Saunders led all scorers with 24 points. Saunders caught fire in the second half and made six 3-pointers to help the Red team overcome a double-digit deficit and force overtime.
Cornerstone’s Jeremy Owens and Cardinal’s Luke Timas scored 18 apiece for the Red team, Mentor’s Matt Koski added 14, Hawken’s Hugh Brown scored 13, Chardon’s Alex Sulka finished with 11 and Mayfield’s Aaron Hicks chipped in 10.
Euclid coach T.J. Kwasniak, who helmed the Blue team, appreciated the opportunity to coach new players and see opponents become teammates.
“It was fun to coach a couple kids that you’ve seen play a bunch of times,” Kwasniak said. “I thought this was as talented as it’s been, probably the last five years or so. So it was definitely a nice game to be a part of.”
The biggest challenge for Kwasniak and his counterpart, Cornerstone’s Andy Weybrecht, was finding enough minutes for the talent on each bench.
“That was hard,” Kwasniak said. “There’s so many good players and trying to find everyone to play a half, that was the worst part. There’s a couple times you
see, man, if those kids played together for a season, how good they would be.”
Brown’s 3-pointer gave the Red team an early lead, 4-3, before Baddour’s 3 and layup gave the Blue team a 11-4 edge. Blue led by doubledigits when Sulka knocked down a 3-pointer to pull the Red within seven, 41-34, late in the first half.
Brandon Samsa’s corner 3-pointer gave the Red its first lead since the opening minutes, 52-50, just before halftime. One of Hughes’ three 3-pointers was followed by a Richmond putback to give Blue the lead again.
Blue led, 66-60, at halftime. The Red team fell into a double-digit hole late in the second half. Koski’s dunk cut the Blue lead to 11, 113-102, with six minutes remaining. Saunders found his shooting stroke to bring the Red team back into contention. His sixth 3 put the Red team up, 123-122, in the final minutes.
The Blue team regained the lead, 129-126, after Benedictine’s Mario Caywood finished a layup through a foul. Chardon’s Mike Laudato sent the game to overtime, 129-129, with a heavily contested corner 3-pointer.
The Red team was unable
to sustain momentum into the extra period, when the Blue dominated. Higgins’ layup and a 3-pointer opened a six-point lead, then Hughes’ 3 and Richmond’s putback stretched the lead back to double-digits. Williams capped his MVP performance with a dunk and corner 3-pointer.
Tongue in cheek, Kwasniak felt the difference in overtime was obvious.
“Coaching,” Kwasniak said. “I made my only two subs of the game, I subbed in Norman Hughes and he hit the 3. I’ll say that was the play of the game, when I subbed him in. The next play, he hit a 3.”