The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Rangers hold off Pirates
Eastlake North basketball coach Rob Koelling hoped the lesson imparted from the Rangers’ four-win season in 201718 was knowledge on how his players needed to finish games. This season, the team’s seniors — especially Brian Skolny and Mikey Duleba — are responsible for helping guide their teammates late in games.
In a tie game against Perry, the game’s result was placed upon Skolny’s shoulders. He was fouled with 21 seconds remaining, affording the senior guard a oneand-one opportunity at the foul line.
Skolny replicated his free throw procedure from practice as he steadied himself with three dribbles, then imagined himself inside an empty gym.
He converted each opportunity, a pair of Perry shots at the other end bounced off the rim and the Rangers evened their record with a 61-59 victory over the Pirates.
Duleba led North with 17 points, Aaron Broja added 16 and Riley Cunningham chipped in 11. Skolny finished with nine points.
The Rangers showcased their ability in the first quarter. North built a 3112 lead by the end of the period with offense predicated on forcing turnovers at the defensive end, ball movement and players cutting in the offensive halfcourt.
“That’s our potential,” Skolny said. “That’s pretty much our ceiling, maybe we have even more left but that’s what we can play at.”
Duleba scored 11 of his points, knocking down a pair of transition 3-pointers. Cunningham made three 3-pointers in period and Broja notched 10 points.
“The ball had energy,” Koelling said. “Each guy was stepping up. But we can’t feel that the game’s done right there, we’ve got three quarters to play.”
Perry slowed its tempo against North’s full-court zone press as the Rangers’ shooters cooled off. Nate Cubbison hit three 3-pointers in the final minute of the half, including a buzzerbeater, as the Pirates sliced North’s 19-point lead to four, 39-35.
As Perry settled in, Koelling saw the Rangers grow lazy on defense and stop moving on offense.
“I think we just got complacent,” Duleba said. “We got comfortable almost and we stopped playing as aggressive.”
The Pirates drew within a point, 45-44, before Skolny’s 3-point make and Evan Liddington’s and-one layup pushed North’s lead back to seven headed to the fourth quarter. Perry took its first lead, 54-53, when Drew Schiano hit a 3-pointer with under six minutes to play.
Duleba responded with a layup and the teams were tied, 59-59, after Jake Reid converted a pair of free throws. Skolny’s foul shots secured a 2-0 weekend for the Rangers after they defeated Mayfield, 60-50, Dec. 7.
“That game last night was probably the best win we’ve got,” Broja said. “I’m excited for Brush Tuesday.”
Cubbison led all scorers with 18 points and Schiano chipped in 13 in Perry’s season-opener.
Pirates coach Al Iacofano thought the team had a pair of quality shot attempts in the game’s final moments. He attributed Perry’s loss to the effort necessary to overcome its early deficit.
“At the end of the day, we didn’t feel like we lost it in the last two minutes,” Iacofano said. “We put ourselves in a position, after being down (19), we lost it expending the amount of energy that we had to down (19) points.”