Fairless downs Aquinas and Hoover is routed in the evening games.
NORTH CANTON The goal of Lake Center Christian boys basketball, says head coach Ryan McGonagle, is to put its best product on the floor each and every game.
“I don’t think we did that today,” the first-year head coach said Saturday during the 14th annual Mercy Medical Classic at Hoover High School.
The Tigers’ best was needed against a strong Triway squad.
Jordan Stokes and Gabe Walker combined for 43 points as the Titans overcame a big performance by Payton Triplett and held off Lake Center 71-62 in the day’s second game.
Triway used an 8-0 run to close the first half and take a 35-30 lead. Lake Center stayed on the Titans’ tail throughout the second half but could not slow them enough to get the game back to even.
“I thought we executed on the offensive end,” McGonagle said. “We just struggled to get stops on the defensive end. I think it’s a pride thing. I don’t think we played with pride.”
The quick, springy Walker, a 1,000-point career scorer, totaled 21 points, nine rebounds and three steals. His baseline drive and two-hand jam highlighted Triway’s run at the end of the first half.
Stokes, a 6-foot-5 senior like Walker, scored 22 points and grabbed six rebounds.
Braden Biggs added 10 points and six assists while Bryce Biggs also scored 10 points for the Titans (7-2), who shot 30 of 49 from the floor (61.2 percent).
Triplett, whom McGonagle calls one of the hardest workers in the program, has struggled shooting the basketball this season. The coach believes those struggles have bled into other areas of his game, which is why he brought the 6-4 junior off the bench Saturday.
“We had a long meeting last week about how he just needs to keep sticking with his shooting,” McGonagle said. “I told him a breakout game was coming for him.”
He was right.
Triplett scored a season-high 28 points. He made 6 of 11 3-pointers. Senior Jacob Ickes scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds to match Triplett for team honors on the boards.
Outside of Triplett, the Tigers (5-5) shot 4-for-17 from the arc.
Lake Center closed to within three points when Ickes knocked down a 3 with 5:26 left. But Walker answered with a jump hook and then fed Stokes for a bucket. The Tigers never got back within a single possession.
Inconsistent Crusaders fall
Central Catholic caught the turnover bug at the worst time and lost 56-50 to Avon in the first game of the day.
The Crusaders led 44-42 with 4:04 left when Dylan Johnson found Brian Shepard for a layup. But Central committed turnovers on four of its next five possessions as Avon grabbed control.
Central head coach Matt Creamer shook his head after watching the Crusaders (5-4) go scoreless for the final 6:28 of the first quarter but fight back to lead by as many as eight points early in the third quarter.
“I think we play in spurts,” Creamer said. “I just told them, we’re a rollercoaster team. We’re a Dow Jones-er. Play good. Play bad. Play good. Play bad. That’s just our life here. We have no consistency of development from last year to this year.
“Here’s why: At any opportune time, when someone has to step up, they get picked dribbling the ball. They take a quick bad shot. They try to pass the ball where it shouldn’t be passed.
“It bleeds, going from this guy to this guy. It’s like the plague.”
Shepard led the Crusaders with 14 points. Johnson scored six points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. Stone Sirpilla added seven points, five rebounds and four assists.
Ryan Maloy, Jacob Chasteen and Dean Emerine scored 13 points each for Avon (3-6), which snapped a five-game losing streak. The Eagles made 10 3-pointers to provide the difference in a game that was even in turnovers (15 each) and shooting from the floor (both teams at 20 of 51).
Fairless getting healthy
Jack Laney scored 17 points and Mason Degler totaled 16 as Fairless cruised to a 59-43 win against St. Thomas Aquinas in the third game of the day.
The Falcons led 18-8 after one quarter and never were seriously threatened in improving to 3-8 on the season.
“We had three starters out for three and a half weeks,” Fairless head coach Kevin Bille said. “This is literally the first week in probably five weeks we have everybody together. … I’ve probably got to be a little more patient with some of the rustiness. But overall I thought we did a pretty good job offensively and got some good looks and shot it pretty well.”
Bo Snyder added 10 points for the Falcons in game that was pushed back to 6:15 p.m. from 1 p.m. after the originally scheduled 6:15 game — Columbus Walnut Ridge vs. Tallmadge — was cancelled because of the weather.
J.P. DiMarzio led Aquinas (1-8) with 16 points. Garrett Repp and Hunter Smith scored 11 points each for the Knights.
Hoover routed by Brunswick
Brunswick’s defensive pressure was too much for host Hoover to handle in the final game of the day as the Blue Devils rolled to a 71-45 win
The Vikings fell behind 10-0 and 18-2 to start the game. Kyle Goessler knocked down a 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer to put the Blue Devils up 23-9.
Goessler led Brunswick (9-2) with 15 points. Zak Zografas scored 14, while Alex Wyatt had 12 and Nick Felecian 11.
Nick Bunnenberg’s 15 points led the Vikings (3-6), who suffered their fourth straight loss.
Schedule change for Sunday
The first game of Sunday’s action will be at 1:30 p.m. between Warren JFK and Oak Hill. The originally scheduled Ursuline-Maumee Valley game for 11:45 a.m. has been cancelled, with Maumee Valley replacing Spire Academy in the 6:45 game. Maumee Valley will face Western Reserve Academy in that game.