Olmsted Falls gutted out a tough win on the road Feb. 2, holding off North Ridgeville, 60-58, to keep a narrow lead atop the Southwestern Conference with five league games left.
North Ridgeville scored four points in less than a minute to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 50-48 heading into the fourth quarter, and took a 56-55 lead after Jason Vrda’s 3-pointer with 3:12 left in regulation, but Olmsted Falls’ Eric Hanna answered with a 3 of his own before Tom Lloyd knocked down a pair of free throws to ice the game.
“(North Ridgeville) fought like heck and we expect nothing less from (North Ridgeville coach) Bryan (Morgan’s) teams,” Olmsted Falls coach Chris DeLisio said. “I thought from the perspective of watching two teams really duke it out, I thought it was an outstanding game. A lot of guys on both teams making really tough plays and gutsy plays at the end.”
Both offenses went somewhat stagnant in the final eight minutes after a high-scoring third quarter and a big defensive play kept the pressure on North Ridgeville.
After Hanna’s late 3-pointer, the Olmsted Falls (14-2, 12-1 SWC) defense forced a costly Rangers turnover near the one-minute mark that set up Lloyd’s free throws with 13 seconds on the clock.
Hanna finished with a game-high 24 points and scored six of the Bulldogs’ eight 3s.
“Against Lakewood I didn’t get many looks. They had a good defensive game plan (for me) so I really wanted to win tonight,” Hanna said.
On the flip side, North Ridgeville (9-8, 6-7 SWC) has an offensive weapon of its own in M.J. Smith. The senior led the Rangers with 21 points, including five 3s, and shot 7-of-10 from the field.
“He’s the whole package. He can do it all,” DeLisio said of Smith. “We also know (North Ridgeville) has other guys that can hurt you, which was obvious tonight, so they’re not a one-man show by any stretch of the imagination. So you can’t just sellout on M.J. because the other guys will hurt you.”
It was a crucial win for the Bulldogs who were fresh off a 10-point loss to second-place Lakewood on Jan. 30. Olmsted Falls now controls its own destiny and can at the very least share a conference title if it wins out the rest of the way.
“We know that we have to respond to adversity, especially a big loss like the one to Lakewood, but we’re tied for the conference so we control our own destiny so it was huge to stay on track and (North Ridgeville’s) a tough team,” Hanna said. “They’ve got guts, made a lot of tough shots.
“They definitely showed up for us tonight which we know (will happen) because we’re the top dog right now.”
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