BOARDMAN Division II boys games are heart-stopping

While one game went to overtime, the other was decided in the final seconds.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BOARDMAN -- Cardiac patients and the faint of heart are advised to avoid the Division II boys basketball tournament at Boardman High School.
Saturday, Metro Athletic Conference champion Poland High, the fourth seed, won the rubber match of its series against Canfield, a 51-50 overtime triumph.
Wilson upset third-seeded Struthers 57-55 when senior Whelton Whitfield carried the ball up court during the final eight seconds and fed classmate Mark Rheins for a last-second bucket.
Up next: Thursday, Poland (14-7) plays Wilson (12-11) in a district semifinal.
"You couldn't have seen two better basketball games in the state tonight," Wilson coach George Burich said.
"I told the kids before the game that we can't play 31 minutes, we have to play 32 minutes of basketball. And it came down to 31:59 of basketball to win. If we had quit at any point, we wouldn't have won."
The Poland-Canfield finish was equally dramatic as the Bulldogs tied the game at 44 with 91 seconds remaining in regulation when senior David Schumer sank two free throws.
With 55 seconds to go, Canfield stole the ball and set up for a last shot. Chase Booms' 5-footer hit the rim and bounced off.
Late in the extra session, Cardinals senior Joel Vertanen's free throw gave Canfield its final lead, 50-49.
But Poland junior Lou Davanzo scored a putback basket with 33 seconds to go.
Stealing victory: Following a timeout with seven seconds remaining, Booms took the inbounds pass then tried to pass to senior Brian Hulea in the paint, but Bulldogs sophomore Neil Harris tipped the pass and Schumer grabbed the ball and tossed it down court to preserve the win.
"The first thing I thought was get it out of there," Schumer said.
Of the final play, Cards coach John Cullen said, "We had the look we wanted. The pass was there and the kid may a nice deflection to take the ball away."
The Cards rebounded from a horrible start, when they fell behind 10-0, to take a halftime lead of 19-18.
Canfield led by six late in the third quarter, but Bulldogs junior Jamie Dunn hit back-to-back 3-pointers from the top of the key to tie it at 30. Dunn finished with 11 points.
Schumer scored eight of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter. More important, said Poland coach Ken Grisdale, was how well Schumer defended Hulea late when teammate Dean Coutris was in foul trouble.
"Hulea was killing us, but I think down the stretch Brian didn't get too many good looks," Grisdale said.
In their final games, Hulea and Vertanen led the Cards with 16 and 11 points, respectively.
Wilson 57, Struthers 55: Burich said Whitfield, who led the Redmen with 22 points, "is a first-year player. He never played high school basketball before, and he keeps getting better every day."
The Redmen led throughout the game until the Wildcats (13-8) began the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run for their final lead, 46-44.
Whitfield sank five free throws down the stretch. Rheins finished with 11 points.
Mike Colaneri and Pat Watt led Struthers with 14 and 11 points, respectively.