The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Vikings get best of neighborhood rivals
VASJ seniors defeat Euclid for the fourth consecutive season
Jason Priah, Khalil Mitcham and their senior classmates at Villa Angela-St. Joseph grew up with a handful of players who now wear Euclid uniforms. One of them includes Priah’s cousin, Reggie.
Familiar ties add another layer of significance to a rivalry between schools separated by less than two miles. Now, the Vikings’ seniors have eternal bragging rights over their counterparts.
Sophomore Jaden Hameed led all scorers with 19 points, Jason Priah added 14 and VASJ defeated Euclid, 58-43, Feb. 9. VASJ’s players in the Class of 2019 earned their fourth win in as many games against their crosstown rival.
“That meant a lot, plus, you know, this is basically like our little brothers,” Priah said. “So, you know, we wanted to get this one bad, especially knowing how big the rivalry is from the past few years.”
The Vikings never trailed Feb. 9. VASJ bolted to a 9-3 lead after Julius Cummings’ corner 3 off a feed from Priah and was ahead, 13-8, after a quarter.
Hameed opened the second quarter with back-toback 3s and VASJ went ahead, 21-9, before Garvin Clarke helped the Panthers pull back within five, 2419, at half.
Euclid’s momentum transitioned into the second half, when the Panthers sliced their deficit to a point, 31-30. Priah’s layup and Hameed’s fourth 3 pushed the Vikings’ lead back to nine, 42-33, and they led, 46-36, after three quarters. VASJ slowed pace in the fourth quarter to leave Euclid with a 15-point victory.
The Vikings demonstrably enjoyed their rivalry win, most evident in Priah’s celebration after he blocked a shot near the end of the third quarter as he clenched his fists in celebration and roared to VASJ’s student section.
“I think I was more hype for that block than he was,” Mitcham said. “I’ve never seen that before. I had a lot of fun playing this game.”
Even Hameed, usually of a reserved demeanor on the floor, participated in the back-and-forth between opponents.
“I was having some fun,” Hameed said. “I do a little
talking now and then.”
VASJ improved to 13-4. The Vikings won for the second time in 24 hours after they defeated Padua Feb. 8.
Coach Babe Kwasniak thought the game was more important to Euclid — coached by his brother, TJ — than his own players, being that voting for seeds in the district brackets concluded and the Vikings are out in front of the North Coast League’s Blue division.
“This game is just about pride,” Kwasniak said. “It’s a matter of, OK, you know these guys for the rest of your life, so you’ve got to tell yourself, when I see them for the next 20 years, these seniors never lost to Euclid.”
Clarke led the Panthers with 16 points as Euclid dropped to 12-6. The loss ended an eight-game winning streak.
TJ Kwasniak admitted the heated atmosphere favored VASJ. He hopes a contest in a raucous environment will help prepare his players for critical postseason games.
“There’s no way to practice that,” Kwasniak said. “There’s no way to prepare for it. You just have to play in games like that and, unfortunately, we play in one a year. We haven’t played in a game like that all year, and it showed.”