Young Panthers earn momentum-building win

For a young and developing Euclid squad, picking up a pair of wins could work wonders in terms of building momentum and confidence as the regular season moves into its final third and postseason seed meetings approach. The Panthers knocked off Elyria on Jan. 31, 60-49, and followed up with a 6953 road win at Kirtland on Feb. 1.

Junior Steven Key and sophomore Jaiden Cox-Holloway scored 20 points each

THE SCORE EUCLID 69, KIRTLAND 53

for Euclid, and the Panthers took control with a 11-0 run and led by double digits the rest of the way.

The game was played at a fast pace throughout, as both teams pushed to get out ahead in transition to try to turn rebounds into points at the other end.

“We swung the ball, and played as a team,” said Key, who also grabbed four rebounds. “We were in the right spot, and we weren’t lazy on defense today.”

Statistically the teams were close, with Euclid (7-9) holding a 37-34 rebounding edge while turning it over 10 times to Kirtland’s eight.

The Panthers shot 46 percent (26 of 56) from the field, while the Hornets tallied at a 37 percent clip (22 of 59). “Coach (Shawn) McGregor does a great job, and like we told these guys, maybe they don’t play the schedule we do, but 12-3 is 12-3,” Euclid coach John Kane said regarding the host Hornets. “There’s a winning tradition in their athletic programs, and they’re tough kids. “We knew we would have to match their intensity early, and I think we did a really good job of that. We told our kids what a big weekend this was for us, last night and tonight. We needed both games to improve our line a little bit with sectional and district seeding coming up.”

Kirtland (12-4) rallied from an early deficit to tie the game at 11-11 on back to back baskets by Zach Samsa on assists by Anthony DeMarco. Cox-Holloway responded with a 3 and a 2 to give Euclid a 16-11 lead after one quarter.

Leading, 19-15, in the second quarter, Euclid made it 30-15 on its game-changing 11-0 run that featured five points by Devin Reed off the bench. Key offset a pair of 3s by Kirtland’s Jonathan Ridgeway with four points to make it 34-21 Euclid going into halftime.

The Panthers extended their lead to 50-34 on in the third quarter paced by 8 points by Cox-Holloway. A 9-1 Kirtland run to start the fourth drew the Hornets within 53-43, but Euclid responded with a 14-4 run to put it out of reach.

Kane was impressed with Key, who has developed into an offensive leader in recent games for Euclid, along with Cox-Holloway.

“Steve does a great job of beating his guy off the dribble and finishing in the paint,” Kane said. “What I think he really did well (tonight) was making the right play and kicking out to shooters when guys collapsed on him. When he does that kind of open up for him even more.” Samsa paced Kirtland with 17 points, and T.J. Green gathered seven rebounds. Kirtland will host Berkshire on Feb. 4. McGregor saw the game against the Division I Panthers as a perfect opportunity to test his team with the postseason approaching.