The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Bison hold off Pirates in final seconds to win
Beachwood advances to regional for first time since 2013
NILES >> As expected, the Division III district final between Beachwood and Perry was a game of momentum swings that came down to the wire.
The Bison erased a sixpoint halftime deficit with a 25-point third quarter, but the Pirates in turn cut a 10-point second-half deficit down to three, and had the ball with a chance to tie with two seconds to play.
Perry was faced with a long inbounds pass, but got it in and had an open look from 3. The shot was off the mark, and the Bison exuberantly rushed the floor in celebration of a 54-51 victory.
Beachwood won a district title for the first time since 2013, when the Bison advanced to a regional final before bowing out. Beachwood beat Perry for the second time this season, including a 70-65 victory on Jan. 27.
Brothers Max and Noah Page led Beachwood with 17 points each, and Nate Lurie added 14. Max drilled three critical 3s in the third quarter. The first two forged a 2626 tie, and the third extended the Bison lead to 35-30.
“It feels amazing,” Max Page said regarding Beachwood winning a district title for the first time in 10 years. “It feels great to do it with this group of seniors. At halftime, coach said that being down six points with the pace of the game was nothing. We kept our energy, kept it going, and we got our run.”
Beachwood (17-8) took an 11-8 first-quarter lead largely due to its early dominance on the boards, out-rebounding Perry, 12-2. The Bison paid special attention defensively to Perry’s Brayden Richards and Jake Cubbison, hoping to limit their effectiveness by denying drives to the basket.
Perry evened up the battle of the boards from the second quarter on, and were able to get out in transition in the second frame after rebounds.
Richards scored six points in a 12-4 Perry run at the end of the second quarter that gave the Pirates a 24-18 halftime lead.
Beachwood was just 6 of 26 from the field in the first half, having missed a few easy inside buckets. The fortunes of the Bison changed dramatically in that regard after the break.
Max Page’s two 3s made it a 26-26 game with 5:07 left in the third quarter. Beachwood created separation with an 11-1 run capped by a Noah Page bucket off a feed from Lurie that made it 41-31 Bison.
“At halftime we were down six points, and we knew it was do or die,” Lurie said. “We had to put it together and play as hard as we could. Shots started falling that weren’t in the first half, we got a lead and never looked back.”
Perry’s season was on the line with the Pirates down, 45-35 to start the fourth quarter. Behind Richards and Cubbison, Perry chipped away.
An and-one bucket by Richards and triple by Cubbison cut it to 45-41. Beachwood extended its lead to 51-43 on a Lurie layup and a free throw by Michael Kesselman with two minutes to play, but it wasn’t over yet.
A 3 by Richards made it 51-46, and with 50 seconds left, Cubbison scored to make it a 52-48 game, but Richards fouled out.
The Bison sank two at the line to go up, 54-48, but Cubbison drilled a 3 with 14 seconds left to make it a one-possession game, and a Jayden Studio steal gave the Pirates one more chance.
A 3-point attempt missed and a carom sent the ball back to the other end, but went out of bounds off Beachwood with two seconds left, after which the Pirates missed their final attempt to tie.
Beachwood shot 37% (18 for 48), sank 13 of 22 from the line, and held a 31-25 rebounding edge. Noah Page grabbed 9 rebounds, and Josh Jones had 7 boards and 4 key assists in the second half.
“It doesn’t feel real, at this point,” Beachwood coach David Krasnow said. “The game felt a lot like our season. There were ups and downs, and we kept working and kept fighting. We had a terrible second quarter and great third quarter.
“Two great teams, class teams, well-coached teams, going at it to the very end, the last second. Wow.”
Richards and Cubbison each finished with 16 points to lead Perry, which finished 20 of 48 from the field (42%). The Pirates were 7 of 11 at the line. After turning the ball over just once in the first half, Perry turned it over 10 times in the second half, each seeming more costly than the last.
“We talked all year about how important it is to start the third quarter,” Perry coach Al Iacofano said. “Coming out of the half, we had two straight turnovers, and they capitalized. We can’t give them extra opportunities. They’re too good and have too many weapons.”
Four seniors finished their careers at Perry; Owen Tomasic, Jake Cubbison, Charlie Rockwell, and Datone Washington. Cubbison is the No.2 all-time leading scorer in Perry basketball history.
“Jake was our secondleading all-time scorer, and when you lose those points from a four-year starter, that’s a pretty big hole in the roster for next year,” Iacofano said. “The other (seniors), rotation guys, their attitude, their commitment in the offseason, they’re reliable kids, you could trust them. They didn’t always get the scoring opportunities that Jake Cubbison got, but you need those types of kids to have a successful roster.”