The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
It ain’t over until it’s over for the Patriots
A neck-in-neck battle up until the the last second, the Euclid Panthers beat Open Door Christian Academy by two after a layup by Garvin Clarke at the buzzer.
Open Door took the game to the final seconds, but Carter Wright’s 3-pointer at the buzzer fell short as did the Patriots’ comeback against host Euclid, which won, 67-65, in a late-season nonconference game that pit the Division I Panthers against the streaking D-IV Patriots. The loss is Open Door’s (18-4) second in three games after winning 16 in a row through Feb. 15 when the Patriots fell to Andrews Osborne in the Lake Effect Conference tournament championship. Euclid led, 53-45, through three quarters before the Patriots made their late-game push, and the game was tied at 65 as the final seconds in regulation drew near, but with 3.9 seconds on the clock, Garvin Clarke hit a layup to give the Panthers a 67-65 lead and the win. Clarke scored 17 for Euclid (14-7) and surpassed 1,000 career points with a basket in the game’s opening minutes. Mario Lacey had a team-high 18 points for Euclid while Octavious Hardy added 10. Open Door standout Trey Brooks had a gamehigh 20 points, including four 3-pointers, Jared Bublinec had 19 points and three 3s, and Miles Hunt chipped in 15 points. The Patriots conclude their regular season and will face the winner of Kidron Central Christian and Lake Center Christian in a Division IV Norton District sectional final on March 1. Open Door is seeded third in the district. Euclid has one game left on its schedule before the postseason begins: a Greater Cleveland Conference matchup with sixthplace Brunswick. The Panthers are seeded second in the D-I Solon District and will face the winner of No. 10 Kenston-No. 7 Maple Heights in a sectional final on March 2.