The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Middies outlast Rangers in SWC battle
Sometimes, patience is a virtue. On Jan. 19, it was almost Midview’s undoing in a conference clash with North Ridgeville.
Carrying an 11 point lead into the fourth quarter, the Middies played keep away for the better part of six minutes to start the period. It wasn’t until a Nyco Vidal 3-pointer with a minute and 50 seconds left in regulation that Midview scored providing just enough of a buffer to hold off the Rangers, 51-49.
“We were looking to get great ones and our guys took to it,” Midview head coach Jim Brabenec said. “We didn’t get many good opportunities and then we started to turn it over. Luckily Nyco knocked down that 3-pointer and gave us a little bit of cushion.”
North Ridgeville waded their way through a river of struggles to cut Midview’s double digit lead to just five points midway through the fourth quarter. For the next two and a half minutes the Rangers didn’t get any closer.
“It’s been our thing all year. We let teams go on runs and then we fight back,” North Ridgeville coach Bryan Morgan said.
“It all goes back to the inconsistency. We lose focus, we don’t execute offensively and then all of the sudden they go on a run.”
It wasn’t until the Vidal three that North Ridgeville made its move. Sophomore Jake Boynar scored eight of his team high 13 points in the quarter, including four of the Rangers final six points. Boynar pulled North Ridgeville within one after knocking down a pair of free throws in the final thirty seconds.
Midview responded by making three of its final four free throws to close the game out, including a make from Sophomore Ryan Runser.
Runser denied the Rangers an opportunity to pull within a score earlier in the quarter after he had the ball stolen by Boynar. Runser lost the ball at the top of the arc and chased down and blocked a layup attempt by the Rangers guard to keep the Midview lead at five.
“I had counted the two points already,” Brabenec said. “He got down there and pinned the ball off the backboard and we were able to get the loose ball. Just an extra effort play by Ryan by not giving up on that play.”
Midview took that lead in the final stages of the third quarter as Vidal scored nine straight points. The senior finished with a game high 19. Senior Tyler Dawson was also apart of the Middies third quarter run knocking down a trio of 3-pointers.
Dawson was the game’s second leading scorer with 14.
“I thought they outplayed us for a lot of the night. But that little spurt we had there in the third was created off our defense and playing really hard,” Brabenec said. “But we’ve got to be able to do that for a full game if we want to continue winning.”
Midview will look to turn this win into a streak against Amherst on Jan. 22, while North Ridgeville will look to bounce back against North Olmsted on the same date.