The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Bengals drop a nail biter to the Bulldogs
Garfield Heights makes go-ahead basket in the final seconds
Benedictine has faced one of the area’s most demanding schedules all season, squaring off against some of the best Northeast Ohio has to offer.
That was the case again on Feb. 7, when the Bengals traveled to Garfield Heights to face the talented Bulldogs, who like Benedictine have taken on a brutal schedule with similar results.
The Bengals met Garfield Heights’ challenge until the end of a 59-57 setback. They weathered the Bulldogs’ strategy of slowing the game down for three quarters and then speeding it up in the fourth. Benedictine took the lead at the end of the first quarter and held it all the way until the the last three minutes of the game.
Garfield Heights (10-9) took a 57-55 lead, its first advantage since the first quarter, on a Brison Waller basket with 1:02 to play. Davin Zeigler tied it for Benedictine with 45 seconds left, but standout sophomore Meechie Johnson took a pass in the lane and put in a layup with two seconds to play, and the Bengals missed a final deep 3-point attempt.
Benedictine (8-10) held a 52-45 lead earlier in the frame, but was unable to put the game away, partially due to the Bulldogs’ tempo switch, and partially due to their control of the boards, which was 35-17 at final count.
“They outrebounded us, but we controlled the game,” Benedictine coach Rob Stircula said, “We just didn’t handle pressure well late. We had some errant passes, and we took some quick shots when we had the lead and didn’t make ‘em. We compounded mistakes. We missed a layup, and then got a foul, then they were in the bonus. They got two extra points with the clock stopped. It was little things like that, we just didn’t make enough winning plays.”
The three players that scored in the final 1:02 all scored in double-digits. Johnson had a game-high 24, Zeigler led Benedictine with 20, and Waller added 14 for the Bulldogs.
“They made some big plays when it counted,” Garfield Heights coach Sonny Johnson said of Meechie, his nephew, and freshman
Sonny Johnson, his son. “We had some good assists, and we rebounded well, and that was important in a game in which we didn’t play our best. I think the zone slowed them down, and when we went man, I think that threw them off as well. We’re just lucky the ball didn’t bounce their way.”
Waller, a 6-foot-8 senior, was a study in perseverance. He missed his first ten shots, but finished with a double-double, adding 12 rebounds to his 14 points. The majority of his production came in the second half.
“We go as Brison goes.” Johnson said. “If he would have made his layups, he would have had 30-some points today. That didn’t happen, but when you get out with a win when our guys aren’t playing their best, that is a blessing.”
After a 3 by Benedictine’s Andy Barba tied the game, 12-12, late in the first quarter, Eric Bucker stole a pass and hit a layup at the other end for a 14-12 Bengal lead to close the frame. Benedictine led for the next two quarters and deep into the fourth, going up by eight at one point.
“We moved the ball, but in the first half we couldn’t
make a shot to save our life,” Stircula said of his squad’s early efforts. “We either made it, or it was the ugliest shot you saw all day. We played hard, but we just didn’t finish the game out.”
Benedictine shot 40.4 percent from the field (21 of 52). The Bengals had their lowest output in the fourth quarter (11 points) when the Bulldogs finally came out of their 2-3 zone and switched to man.
Barba finished with 10 points and 3 rebounds for Benedictine, which also got four steals from Jashun Cobb. The Bengals, who have lost four straight, will host Walsh Jesuit on Feb. 8.
“Davin did a good job attacking in the high post against their zone,” Stircula said. “We got the ball moving, but we didn’t make shots or handle pressure down the stretch. When we got pressure, we didn’t look to score, we looked to pass. They read it, and got into passing lanes.”
“We’re in pretty much all of them, we’re just not finishing down the stretch,” Stircula said of his team’s losses. “We just have to finish games out better and start winning some of these down the stretch, to get ready for March.”