Salem finishes strong, outlasts Lakeview in OT

The 55-50 win in overtime puts the Quakers in the Division II district final.
By JOHN BASSETTI
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BOARDMAN -- A turnaround helped the Salem High boys basketball team finish strong late last season when the Quakers won a sectional crown with all juniors.
Tuesday in the Division II district semifinal against Lakeview at Boardman, top-seeded Salem chipped away in the second half until it forced overtime, then proceeded to finish strong and win, 55-50.
"That's prepared us for this situation," Salem coach Jeff Brink said of the carryover from 2004-05. "This is what we drill for. It's nothing new. We just have to persevere and find a way to get it done and make some plays."
That's what the Quakers (19-3) did down the stretch and beyond in clinching a district final berth.
Stuck to plan
"We battled, no matter what we were faced with," Brink said of unfavorable calls, including technical fouls, traveling and player control fouls. "We just kept sticking to the game plan and tried to find a way to get it done.
"We feel fortunate to be playing Saturday."
Salem will play the winner of Thursday's game between Niles and Canfield.
Ryan Benchwick, Tom Jesko and Tyler Pierce had 17, 16 and 15 points, respectively, to keep Salem in the thick of the battle that wore thin on Brink, who was called for a technical in the third quarter.
Ed Mackiewicz made both free throws and No. 3 Lakeview (17-5) built a 32-26 lead.
But Benchwick made one of his several blocks and Pierce finished the play at the other end with a dunk.
That got the Quakers rolling.
As Salem closed in and took the lead, 43-41, Lakeview's Dustin Opalka made two free throws to put the Bulldogs ahead, 45-44. Jon Kittle added two more free throws and Salem fell behind by three.
Heath to rescue
Then Jarin Heath came into the picture and made a 3-pointer with 29 seconds remaining in regulation.
Early in the four-minute overtime, Pierce put Salem up, 49-47, but Opalka's fifth 3-pointer gave Lakeview a 50-49 edge.
Pierce missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and Kittle got the rebound.
When Lakeview missed its subsequent goal attempt, Heath got the rebound and passed to Jesko who scored at 2:48 for a 52-50 lead that carried the Quakers.
"Jarin doesn't get a lot of shots because he doesn't take a lot of shots," Brink said of the 5-10 senior who had five points. "He's one of our best players.
"He's capable of putting up 20-25 on a given night. He waits his time and waits until it's needed. He's done it over and over again," Brink said. "When we need to make a play, he's there to save the day."
His regulation-tying goal and key rebound in overtime were the rage.
Read rebound
"I read it [rebound] from the other [left] side and broke for the ball," Heath said of retrieving Lakeview's missed shot with Salem down, 50-49. "It felt great to hustle and then get my teammates involved," he said of eventually getting the pass to Jesko.
"He's a playmaker," Brink said of Heath. "He understands the flow of the game. He understands when things have to be done."
Brink credited all of his guards for trapping, being active, creating some havoc and forcing Lakeview into bad shots.
He then turned the topic to his big men.
"You have to talk about the play of Benchwick and Pierce inside. When we were trapping, Lakeview had some opportunities in the paint, but those two, especially Benchwick, had some blocks."
Opalka scored 17 points for Lakeview, which made 17 of 48 goals to Salem's 21 of 32.
"I think we left everything on the floor," coach Larry Herrholtz said of his Bulldogs. "We did exactly what we wanted to do tonight. We played toe-to-toe with the No. 1 seed.
Had a chance
"We had a lead with less than a minute to go. You couldn't ask for anything else but a chance in the end and that's exactly what we had."
Mackiewicz added 12 points for Lakeview, while Kevin Albert tacked on 10.
Mark Seger had his hands full covering Benchwick.
"He doesn't get noticed on stats because he's a defender," Herrholtz said. "He did a wonderful job and did what a senior will do. Seniors step up and that's what Mark did tonight - one heck of a job on a 6-6 kid [Benchwick], who is probably one of the best posts in the area."
bassetti@vindy.com