The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Lake falls to Glenville in district semifinal
This was not the way it was supposed to end for Lake Catholic.
For the second consecutive season, the No. 2 seed Cougars were eliminated from the Division II tournament in a district semifinal at Lakeside in stunning fashion, falling to an inspired No. 3 Glenville, 57-54.
Glenville, who will play Lutheran East for the district title on March 7 at Lakeside, was inspired by Coach Michael Holt’s battle with leukemia, and played with a combination of high energy and patience. The Tarblooders led for the entire first quarter and most of the second before opening up a double-digit lead in the third.
Lake Catholic fought back to take the lead in the fourth quarter before letting it slip away again. Down, 54-49, in the final two minutes, the Cougars gave themselves one final chance.
Luka Eller scored on a feed from Christian DeMitro, then Aiden Fitzgerald split a pair of free throws. Joe Malchesky stole the ensuing inbounds pass and laid it in to tie it up at 54-54 with 42 seconds to play.
Raekwon Bryant hit a layup to give the lead back to Glenville, and Lake Catholic missed a jump shot at the other end, but Eller grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 3 seconds left.
He missed the first attempt, and purposely missed the second, but was whistled for a lane violation, as one of the referees said he had crossed the foul line too early to try to rebound his miss.
Tyshawn Smiley split a pair of free throws for the margin for Glenville. Bryon Ottrix Jr. led the Tarblooders with 23 points, while Smiley added 14 points and nine rebounds. Glenville forced nine turnovers, eight on steals, and seemed to take advantage of every mistake.
Bryon Ottrix Sr. a Glenville assistant coach filling in for Holt, took the team to see their ailing coach in the hospital the day before the game.
“We went to see Coach Holt yesterday, and all he talked about was how he was going to fight this, and how he was ready to battle. I told the guys if we could take this same fight to the basketball court, we could beat anybody.”
Eller, headed to play basketball at Miami (Ohio) next season, had a doubledouble in his final game at Lake Catholic with 16 points and 11 rebounds. He also surpassed 2,000 career points.
Running mate Luke Frazier, who will play for Dayton next season, scored 18 points and added five assists, two blocks, six rebounds, and four steals. The Cougars had won 10 straight games coming in, and did everything they could to pull this one out, but it wasn’t meant to be this time.
“I thought what really
helped (Glenville) is that were very patient with what they were doing offensively,” Lake Catholic coach Matt Moran said. “They hit shots after running off 20 or 30 seconds, and that got us out of our game a little bit. Hat’s off to them for being disciplined.”
Eller, sitting dejectedly at his locker afterward, wasn’t happy with the call that went against his team, but reflected fondly on his time at Lake Catholic.
“I purposely threw it off the rim, and they said it was a lane violation, that I went too early,” Eller said. “I disagreed, but it’s the ref’s call.
“It’s been a pleasure playing with all these guys, and I’m sure gonna miss it. I just want to thank Coach Moran for all that he has done for us.”
Malchesky added 11 points, and Fitzgerald had nine for the Cougars. Along with Eller, Frazier, and DeMitro, the Cougars will lose eight seniors to graduation.
“This is the closest our team has been in all four years,” Frazier said. “It’s like a brotherhood, and that’s what I’m going to miss the most. I’m going to miss Luka, he’s like my brother. I’m going to miss playing with him.”
Malchesky, Fitzgerald, and Gavin Davenport will be key returnees for Moran and the Cougars next season. Lake Catholic won a NCL title for the second consecutive season, quite an accomplishment considering the strength of that league, which will disband after this school year.
But it will be awhile until Moran and his charges get over this one, and are able to sit back and enjoy the memories from this unforgettable season, in which they finished as the No. 1 team in The News-Herald Top of the Crop.
“The last eleven games everything seemed to go our way, and today just wasn’t one of those days,” Moran said. “It is what it is. We can’t hang our hat on this last game. What these guys accomplished for this school and this community, can’t be taken away. I think those things will always outweigh this loss.”