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The end of a season always comes too early.
Even against a higher seed in a tournament contest, coming up short is difficult to digest.
A 50-41 defeat in a Struthers Division IV boys high school basketball sectional final spelled the end for the Lake Center Christian Tigers, and the defeat didn’t go down smoothly.
The result was tough to stomach because one quarter — the second — played such a decisive role in the outcome. Throw out those eight fateful minutes and the Tigers (11-12) outscored the third-seeded Rockets 39-34.
Unfortunately for LCCS, all 32 minutes counted, and being outscored 16-2 in the second quarter put them in a hole too deep to climb out of in the remaining half.
“We just became a little tentative on offense. We also didn’t see some open teammates at times in the quarter, and when we did get shots, we just didn’t knock them down,” LCCS coach Eric Schlabach said. “It was one of those times when nothing went right offensively. Lowellville, on the other hand, shot the ball well, and I didn’t think we competed at the defensive end late in the quarter.”
For the quarter, LCCS shot 1 of 9 from the field and 0 of 2 from the free-throw line.
Early on, it appeared the fifth-seeded Tigers would have no problem hanging with Lowellville. LCCS trailed by one point, 11-10, after the first quarter and was able to use its size advantage effectively against the Rockets.
Although the team’s usual inside prowess was negated at times by the Rockets’ energy, Lowellville rarely had an easy path to the basket or a second-chance scoring opportunity. Still, Schlabach mused that his team may have been a bit too interior-oriented, especially on the offensive end.
“We scored all 10 of our first quarter points around the basket. In some ways, maybe we were too focused on this offensively, and that might have led to some of our tentativeness from the perimeter in the first half,” Schlabach said. “Lowellville also did a good job rebounding against us. We did get 10 offensive rebounds, but it could have been more. They worked really hard to overcome their disadvantage in those areas.”
The second-quarter letdown was closely tied to LCCS’ aggressiveness — or lack thereof — on the offensive end. The Rockets (17-6) were able to keep LCCS off balance for much of the night using a matchup zone defense not similar to anything the Tigers had faced all season. Against the zone, the Tigers were often hesitant and unsure of where to go with the ball. Their frustration built throughout the second quarter, and by the time they were able to refocus at halftime and regain their assertiveness in the final two periods, it was too late.
The end of a season always comes too early.
Even against a higher seed in a tournament contest, coming up short is difficult to digest.
A 50-41 defeat in a Struthers Division IV boys high school basketball sectional final spelled the end for the Lake Center Christian Tigers, and the defeat didn’t go down smoothly.
The result was tough to stomach because one quarter — the second — played such a decisive role in the outcome. Throw out those eight fateful minutes and the Tigers (11-12) outscored the third-seeded Rockets 39-34.
Unfortunately for LCCS, all 32 minutes counted, and being outscored 16-2 in the second quarter put them in a hole too deep to climb out of in the remaining half.
“We just became a little tentative on offense. We also didn’t see some open teammates at times in the quarter, and when we did get shots, we just didn’t knock them down,” LCCS coach Eric Schlabach said. “It was one of those times when nothing went right offensively. Lowellville, on the other hand, shot the ball well, and I didn’t think we competed at the defensive end late in the quarter.”
For the quarter, LCCS shot 1 of 9 from the field and 0 of 2 from the free-throw line.
Early on, it appeared the fifth-seeded Tigers would have no problem hanging with Lowellville. LCCS trailed by one point, 11-10, after the first quarter and was able to use its size advantage effectively against the Rockets.
Although the team’s usual inside prowess was negated at times by the Rockets’ energy, Lowellville rarely had an easy path to the basket or a second-chance scoring opportunity. Still, Schlabach mused that his team may have been a bit too interior-oriented, especially on the offensive end.
“We scored all 10 of our first quarter points around the basket. In some ways, maybe we were too focused on this offensively, and that might have led to some of our tentativeness from the perimeter in the first half,” Schlabach said. “Lowellville also did a good job rebounding against us. We did get 10 offensive rebounds, but it could have been more. They worked really hard to overcome their disadvantage in those areas.”
The second-quarter letdown was closely tied to LCCS’ aggressiveness — or lack thereof — on the offensive end. The Rockets (17-6) were able to keep LCCS off balance for much of the night using a matchup zone defense not similar to anything the Tigers had faced all season. Against the zone, the Tigers were often hesitant and unsure of where to go with the ball. Their frustration built throughout the second quarter, and by the time they were able to refocus at halftime and regain their assertiveness in the final two periods, it was too late.
Leading scorer Scott Hefty didn’t bring his effective shooting touch to the court with him as he had in a win over Leetonia in LCCS’ previous game. With him struggling, the rest of the team tried to pick up the slack. Senior guard Alex Armstrong led the way with 13 points, eight coming at the line, but 3-of-13 marksmanship from 3-point range prevented the Tigers from taking advantage of a losing team’s best chance for a quick rally.
“Alex was really the first guy to become aggressive against their defense in the second half, and that really got us going. I think other guys, after seeing what he was able to do, became more confident and aggressive, as well. He really set the tone for our comeback on offense,” Schlabach added.
In spite of their subpar shooting, the Tigers entered the fourth quarter with a shot to win. An emphatic message at the half about upping their defensive intensity and competing on that end of the floor found its mark, with the Rockets managing just seven points in the third period. That kept LCCS within shouting distance, but their continued shooting woes hamstrung their hopes for one last push.
Midway through the final frame, their last real burst sliced Lowellville’s lead to two, but by that point the Tigers had burned up almost all of their fuel and could not complete the comeback by taking the lead.
Patick Mangine and Paolo DePasquale hit key shots for Lowellville down the stretch and defense was no longer enough to keep LCCS in the game. Schlabach was proud of the team’s response in an uphill fight, but conceded that allowing their deficit to swell to 15 at the half instead of keeping it in single digits was a major culprit in the defeat.
Slayman also reached double figures for the Tigers, scoring 10, while Mangine led all scorers with 13 and DePasquale added 12 for Lowellville.
