It was more than a non-conference win for the Falcons.
Any game against Mogadore is a big one for neighboring Field, and the Falcons soared to the occasion Tuesday, beating the Wildcats, 59-42.
Field coach Dave Olinger said his team has a board with the Falcons’ opponents — and their records. A chance to take on an 8-1 team that leads the County Division, he said his team picked up on that.
Especially on the defensive end, where the Falcons (6-8) forced 16 turnovers and held the Wildcats to 24 percent from the field.
"Defensively tonight, I just thought we were outstanding," Olinger said. "On the ball, we have Tanner Voiers and Carter Baumberger (doing) an excellent job. They took turns on (Mogadore guard Lukas) Swartz, but the other four's movement was excellent tonight, too. Hands were where they were supposed to be. They weren't playing with them down by their knees. They had them up. They were moving."
The backyard rivalry only added to the heat of the night — and tacked on motivation for the Falcons.
"Ever since I was a freshman, this game has always been big, especially since we're so close," said senior Andrew Johnson, who led all scorers with 21 points. "This game, on the road especially, coming into their place and beating them, it's really a great win."
Caleb Francis outscored Mogadore 9-8 in the first quarter, a credit to Field's sophomore guard and the Falcons' intense defense.
"If someone's guarding me hard or somebody's guarding him hard, one of us has to step up, and obviously in the beginning, it was Caleb and he really took off," Johnson said.
When Mogadore came back to tie the score at 15 early in the second quarter, Field responded with a 12-0 run.
Johnson, one of the Falcons’ top cross country runners, made sure their lead held with nine of his 21 points coming in the fourth, mainly on the fast break.
"I’m just glad I’m a cross country runner and I have plenty of endurance," Johnson said. "That’s it. I could sit here and run all day back and forth. I’m glad my teammates were able to play defense and give me a good pass and me just finish."
It was a remarkable performance from the Falcons, who shot 50 percent from the field and held the Wildcats to 24 percent from the field and 15 percent from deep. No Mogadore player topped eight points Tuesday night.
"They did to us what everybody else has tried to do, take Luke out, face-guard him and so forth, and they were the most successful team so far doing that," Mogadore coach Russ Swartz said. "No one played very well for us. No one stepped up like we've done."
Even Olinger had to admit it was one heck of a night.
The Falcons were strong from the start, with Francis taking the opening tip to the bucket, then taking an entry pass in the paint and going through two defenders for a layup and a 4-0 lead. Johnson tacked on another layup and Francis surged to the hoop for a fast-break bucket to take an 8-0 advantage.
The Wildcats responded well.
Down 13-5 late in the first, junior Camden Ramirez swished a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, kick-starting a 10-2 run that tied the score at 15. Junior Kyle Coffman capped the run, splitting the Field defense for the game-tying bucket with 6:05 remaining in the first half.
Then, Field held Mogadore off the board for nearly six minutes — with junior Connor Kerr finally breaking the slump with a floater with 18 seconds remaining.
Six minutes was plenty of time for Johnson to give Field the lead, as he stuck a 3-point try off the back rim and in to go up 18-15. His next 3-pointer, rolling off a screen, was prettier, sailing straight through twine.
Down six, the Wildcats (8-2) forced a couple of shots — and missed some open 3-pointers — and the Falcons took advantage.
Johnson lobbed a pass over the defense to sophomore forward Jacob Lupardus for a layup and a 23-15 lead. Junior forward Logan Citraro hit a second-chance floater to go up 10. Finally, Johnson found a cutting Voiers, a senior forward, to cap the 12-0 run.
"No doubt, the spurt they went on to finish out the second quarter was huge," Swartz said. "It was 15-all. We ended up being down 10 at half. That was huge."
Field hit just four 3-pointers — two from Johnson early in the second quarter — but the Falcons got plenty of buckets off cuts and fast breaks.
"We had a lot of cutters going to the basket that we were able to get open," Olinger said. "When you have a lead, we were able to do that, because defensively they start to press and they have to come out and start denial a little bit more, and we get some of those backdoor cuts a little bit more."
Mogadore, meanwhile, struggled from deep, making 5-of-33 (15 percent). Field's length certainly helped on defense, but Swartz didn't want that to be an excuse.
"We've played against teams all year that have had length," Swartz said. "Rootstown has got length. Lake Center has got length. South Range has got length. They just fit into what we played against all year. We just did a bad, poor job of executing."
The Wildcats next host Crestwood, the team it shared the 2016-2017 County championship with, Friday night.
"We're going to find out on Friday," Swartz said. "You know darn well Crestwood is going to come and do the same thing. We'll see how much better we get."