Tigers upend LaBrae in TAC

Newton Falls dropped the Vikings into a tie for first place with Lakeview.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
NEWTON FALLS -- Curious of a word to best describe the Newton Falls High boys basketball team?
Try "dangerous."
"That's the best game we've played all year," Newton Falls coach Roy Sembach said minutes after his host Tigers disposed of LaBrae 78-58 in a Trumbull Athletic Conference game Tuesday.
"We could become a very dangerous team," he said.
Shaking up the TAC
Newton Falls (9-6, 5-4) certainly looked that way against LaBrae (13-2, 8-1), which came into the game unbeaten in the TAC and with one loss overall. The Vikings now share first place with Lakeview.
"Frankly, we were tired of coming close to beating everybody," said Sembach, whose team lost to LaBrae 57-54 in January. "We felt we could have won that first game, so we wanted to salvage something out of the rivalry."
In an effort to boost his team in Tuesday's rematch, Sembach made a conscious effort to use more of his bench.
"We thought we had to shake things up," Sembach said. "We wanted to increase the intensity, and it worked."
One of 11 players seeing game action was junior forward Dan Rankin, who provided an emotional lift.
Since injuring his shoulder in January 2003, Rankin has undergone two surgeries, Sembach said. The junior made his return in the first quarter to a loud ovation and played sparingly.
"The whole team was glad to see him get in the game," Sembach said. "He's been through a lot."
Making the biggest impact in Newton Falls' win was the play of 6-foot-6 senior forward Alex Cooper, who totaled 15 points and 17 rebounds.
"Alex responded to a challenge in practice," Sembach said.
Cooper added, "Me and Coach had a dispute about some things. He told me that he wanted me to play like the man that I am, to be more aggressive and not be afraid of anybody."
Consider that challenge accepted and met.
Balance
In Newton Falls' all-around attack, senior Andrew Grunder had 16 points, junior Eric Medallis 14, senior Kirby Spahlinger 13 and junior Troy Balint 12.
"Our guards showed discipline in being patient and taking good shots," Sembach said, "and they did a good job of knocking them down."
LaBrae, which couldn't get closer than nine points in the second half, was led by senior Mat Frederick with 13 points and junior Jason Frederick with 12.
"We're still really young; the ball's bounced our way a lot this year," LaBrae coach Gregg Isler said. "We'll bounce back."
richesson@vindy.com