The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
South bend: Rebels continue upswing
Back on Jan. 10, when South played host to North in the first leg of their annual rivalry, the Rebels had a record of 2-7.
South held on to win that night, 61-56, and that started a stretch in which the Rebels reversed their outcomes, going 7-2 to reach .500 at 9-9.
Flash forward to Feb. 11, when South and North got together again in the Rangers’ gym. This time, the Rebels left no doubt, using a stout defensive effort to fuel an effective offensive attack and prevail, 74-56.
The victory allowed South to sweep its crosstown rival for the second consecutive season and push above .500 for the first time all season at 10-9 overall and 7-6 in the Western Reserve Conference.
After an early 2-2 tie, the Rebels took the lead and kept it for the remainder of the contest. Junior Will Hagwood scored a game-high 24 points, grabbed nine rebounds and added four assists and three steals to pace South.
Season records are meaningless when these two rivals square off.
“It’s a great experience, knowing that we did it (last) year, then coming back and doing it again this year is definitely really good,” a smiling Hagwood said, referring to the season sweep. “Hopefully we’ll come back and do it again next year.”
North (0-20) celebrated Senior Night by starting all four of its seniors in their final home game. Senior Austin Vitello got things going with a basket for a 2-0 North lead.
South answered with 10 straight points, using its speed to get out in transition and score after rebounds, and dribble-penetrating the Rangers’ defense and finding open shots.
The Rebels led, 17-9, after the first quarter, but North drew within 19-14 early in the second after Nate Scott assisted on a triple by Mo Morgan and a bucket by Cam Brown.
South took control with a 10-3 run, which began with a Hagwood basket followed by a 3 on an assist by Tyree Talley. That spurt gave the Rebels a 2917 lead, and they took a 3523 lead into halftime.
Although the 2-3 zone employed by South was effective, as North was unable to shoot its way out of it and often settled for one shot attempt, the Rebels switched things up in the second half by applying pressure with a half-court trap.
“That’s what we’re trying to do now, we’re just trying to switch up our defenses and see what happens,” Hagwood said. “Tonight it worked in our favor. We switched from a 2-3 to a man and a double-trap, and they couldn’t respond.”
The Rangers struggled at times with the pressure, but when they did get through, they finished enough to have their best offensive quarter in the third. But South, led by Hagwood’s nine points in the frame, outscored North, 25-20, to take a 60-43 lead into the fourth quarter.
“Will did a great job,” South coach Doug Barber said. “I think in the second half he really stepped it up, making sure he was taking good shots. I think he forced a little in the first half, but really settled down in the second half. He took good shots, was under control, and set his teammates up.”
Senior Rico Small backed Hagwood with 16 points, several times driving to the hoop unencumbered for easy layups. Sophomore David McClain added 11 points and seven rebounds. South held a 3528 rebounding advantage and converted 33 of 64 shots from the field.
The Rebels host Kenston in their WRC finale on Feb. 14. Barber cited better health and consistent lineups as keys to the season turnaround.
“I think we’ve (developed) consistency with our lineups,” Barber said. “I think if you look back at our first 14, 15 games, it seemed we had different lineups out there due to unfortunate circumstances. I think there’s some consistency now, and you can see it’s leading to success.”
Nate Scott and Jason Reik led North with 14 points each. Kyle Randle added 11. The Rangers were 21 of 57 from the field, including 7 of 31 from 3-point range. North will travel to Riverside on Feb. 14.
“You have to credit (South),” North coach Rob Koelling said. “Doug (Barber) had a good game plan, and they dictated what we did on offense. That’s something we try to preach to our guys, to impact the other team and dictate what they do.
“We went away from good habits that we had been displaying in the last handful of games. We weren’t hitting shots that we had been hitting, but we also had a lot of oneand-done offensive possessions.”