Lakeview's free throw success keeps league tied

Eddie Mackiewicz made a dozen tosses from the foul line.
By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
GIRARD -- The foul line saved the Lakeview High boys basketball team Tuesday in a Trumbull Athletic Conference game against Girard, and enabled the Bulldogs to stay tied for the league lead.
The Bulldogs made 25 of 29 free throws, including 18 in the final quarter. Their last 16 points came from the foul stripe as the Bulldogs turned back the Indians, 69-56.
Lakeview built a 19-point lead (47-28) after three periods before Girard rallied to cut the deficit to five (60-55) with about a minute left.
But the Indians were forced to foul much of the final quarter and couldn't overtake the Vikings.
Eddie Mackiewicz, a 6-2 senior guard, led Lakeview's foul-line assault with a perfect 12-for-12 at the line -- including 8-for-8 in the final period -- and a game-high 20 points. Mark Seger, a 6-3 senior forward, added 14 points and Dustin Opalka, a 5-11 junior point guard, contributed 13.
Opalka had seven points in the final period, five from the foul line; while Mike Marando, a 6-0 junior guard, had six of his eight points in the final quarter, four from the line.
Mackiewicz can shoot
"Eddie Mackiewicz by far is our best free throw shooter," said Lakeview (13-4, 9-2) coach Larry Herrholtz, whose Bulldogs stayed tied with Liberty and LaBrae for the league lead. "When he's there at the foul line, we know his shots are going to go in. He practices shooting free throws a lot in the offseason."
Earlier in the game, Seger was Lakeview's main weapon thanks to his rebounding and shooting. He helped the Bulldogs take a 14-4 lead early in the second quarter and a 27-19 halftime lead.
Seger had 14 rebounds, including nine offensive rebounds.
Mackiewicz added seven rebounds while Opalka had four steals and three assists and Jon Kittle three assists. Marando had eight points.
Girard attacks the hoop
Coach Bryan O'Hara of Girard (2-15, 2-9) was pleased with the way his team bounced back to give Lakeview a good game after the Indians have been struggling all season.
"We kept attacking the basket. They didn't seem like they could stop us," O'Hara said. "[Brett] Cubellis and [Eric] Stevens were penetrating pretty well in the fourth quarter."
Stevens scored 16 points, including 12 of them in the final quarter to spearhead the rally, while Cubellis added 15 points.
But after Cubellis' two foul shots cut Lakeview's lead to 60-55 with about a minute left, Opalka made three foul shots to make it 63-55 with 36 seconds left.
After Sean Mostov's foul shot cut the gap to 63-56, Mackiewicz made six straight foul shots to seal the verdict.
Mostov and Brett Dutton each had eight points for the Indians.
kovach@vindy.com