The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Raiders ousted by Falcons
GARFIELD HEIGHTS » You’re a team that’s barely above .500, you start one senior and you’re facing the reigning Division IV state champions in a district semifinal. What do you do?
“We just played like it was our last game, which it was,” said Columbia’s Josh Borling, the lone senior starter. “All the guys played with heart.”
Translation: The Columbia Raiders gave a great effort March 5 in a Division III district semifinal at Garfield Heights High School, falling to top-seeded Lutheran East, 63-50.
“I’m proud of the guys,” Columbia coach Larry Babics said. “We executed everything we could. They’re defending state champions and they’re really good.”
The Raiders, who finish at 1212, only led once, 9-8, with 3:36 remaining in the first quarter. That lead became a 15-9 deficit by the end of the period, but the margin never got bigger than 16 the rest of the game.
“Losing by 13 to a state champion,” Babics said. “That’s about three points per quarter and you’re there.”
Lutheran East plays in the rugged Lake Erie League, facing teams such as Cleveland Heights, Lorain and Warrensville Heights — teams that like to play up-tempo with lots of pace. Instead, Columbia played a zone the entire game, hoping to slow things down, clog the inside and force the Falcons to shoot from the outside.
“We just wanted to make them shoot jumpers,” Babics said. “You can’t take everything away from them. They’re very good at getting it inside or driving to the basket, so we wanted to force them to shoot jumpers.”
The zone definitely forced Lutheran East to slow down and take outside shots. Babics said the Falcons won because of two things, 3-point baskets and free throws. Lutheran East made six 3-pointers — three by senior guard David Gulley — and hit 19 of 31 free throws.
Ironically, the Raiders stayed in the game in no small part because of their free throw shooting. Led by sophomore guard Jake Kile, who hit 9 of 10 freebies, Columbia only missed two of 16 free throws.
Kile led the Raiders with 17 points from his point guard position. He handled the intense pressure defense employed by Lutheran East, finding alleys to the basket to either hit a driving layup or draw a foul.
“He’s only a sophomore,” Babics said. “He needed that. The good thing is we’ve got a lot of these guys back. We’re very excited about what we have coming back.”
Lutheran East built the lead to nine, 30-21, by halftime and it was up to 3521 less than a minute into the third period. But rather than fold, Columbia outscored the Falcons, 14-9, for the rest of the quarter to make it 44-35 entering the final eight minutes.
There were very few field goals in the fourth quarter, two by Lutheran East and four by Columbia. Instead, it was a slow parade to the foul line, with the Raiders eventually being forced to foul, leading to the Falcons making 15 of 27 free throws.
Columbia made 6 of 8 foul shots, and after junior Adam Ross hit two with 3:22 to play, the margin was just seven, 52-45. But for the next 2:41, the Falcons went on a 9-0 run, putting the game out of reach.
“I think our guys played to the best of their ability,” Babics said when asked to reflect on the season. “I think we may have overachieved a little bit in some outsiders’ eyes, but I think we’ve started to earn back some respect.”
Playing in his final game for Columbia, Borling added 10 points for the Raiders and Ross had nine.