Wickliffe rides roller coaster to winner’s circle

January is not a time of year associated with amusement parks, but Wickliffe took its home fans for a rollercoaster ride Jan.8 against visiting Cuyahoga Heights in a CVC Valley clash.

The Blue Devils first ascended with a 17-4 run, featuring four three-pointers, to close out the second quarter and take a 38-21 lead into halftime.

Wickliffe reached a peak in the third quarter, outscoring the Redskins by five to take a 22-point lead into the fourth. Then came a steep drop. Cuyahoga Heights cranked up its pressure to a maximum, and forced nine Blue Devil turnovers, nearly all of which turned into points for the visitors. When the smoke cleared and time out was called with 3:45 left in the game, Wickliffe’s 52-30 lead was reduced to 57-56.

That was the moment the ride began its ascent again for the Blue Devils, as they outscored the Redskins, 142, down the stretch to attain a 71-59 victory.

The win, Wickliffe’s fourth in its last five games, improved its record to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the CVC Valley heading into a key league matchup at Kirtland on Jan. 11.

“The way we’ve been going this year, we start off slow, and that’s something we’ve been working to get better at,” Wickliffe coach Marc Lewis said. “We’ve been trying to figure out how we can get out of the gate faster. The third quarter in every game has been our best quarter. We’re a streaky team. When we get hot, we’re hot.

“One thing we do really well is play in transition, and that’s why we play the way that we play. On both ends of the court we want to be running, get up and down, try to get that momentum.”

Wickliffe’s style of play and hot shooting helped it rack up a big lead, but things took a drastic turn in the fourth quarter.

“The fourth quarter was a coaching mistake,” Lewis admitted.

“I even looked at the kids and said, ‘This one’s on me’. I took off the press, and I shouldn’t have. That’s what did us in – I should have kept that momentum going. We’ll learn from that one.”

Lewis said he knew the Redskins had expended a lot of energy to battle back in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, and when the moment was right, the Blue Devils resumed their pressure. That led to more scoring opportunities, both from the field and the foul line, and Wickliffe was able to take advantage in the closing minutes.

Junior Anthony Olsen, who has been battling illness, led Wickliffe with 13 points off the bench. Sixfoot-four junior Brenton Petras added 11, and Dallas Zollars and Gianni LaPaglia contributed nine points each. The Blue Devils were successful on 11 of 14 freethrow tries in the fourth quarter, after having converted just 5 of 12 through the first three frames.

Cuyahoga Heights slipped to 6-3 overall, and 4-2 in the CVC Valley. While its fourthquarter comeback was impressive, Coach Mike Tartala would prefer to see that type of effort for 32 minutes.

“Handling pressure was going to be the difference in this game,” Tartala said. “They handled it relatively well in the first half, and we did not, and they got out to a big lead. They didn’t handle it as well in the second half, and our guys played with a lot more energy, and that gave us a chance to come back and win it. To our kids’ credit, they really hung in there. They’re a great group of kids, and we’re going to a win a couple of those as the year goes on.”

The Redskins, who will travel to Cardinal on Jan.11, were led by senior Nassiem Salem, who scored a gamehigh 20 points, including an 11-of-14 effort from the foul line.

Junior Ryan Selig, who alertly grabbed several offensive rebounds to keep possessions alive, added 10 points.

Wickliffe will look to keep its momentum going in the showdown with the Hornets on Jan. 11.

“This (win) sets the tone for the second half (of the season),” Lewis said.

“This is exactly where we wanted to be. Going into this tough game with Kirtland, we’ve got a little bit of momentum. This is going to be a hard game for us. They’re deep, and they’re tough, and that’s Kirtland basketball.”

“The way we’ve been going this year, we start off slow, and that’s something we’ve been working to get better at.”

Wickliffe coach Marc Lewis