Liberty falls to ’Dogs

West Branch beat Struthers in the other Division II game.

By GREG GULAS

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

BOARDMAN — Jon Kittle scored 22 points including the go-ahead 3-pointer with less than a minute remaining as the No. 4-seeded Lakeview Bulldogs defeated the Liberty Leopards, 43-39 in Division II sectional semifinal action Tuesday at Boardman High School.

In the nightcap, West Branch got 27 points from Trent Woods and 12 from Steve McNeely as they outdistanced the Struthers Wildcats, 78-61.

Lakeview will play Niles Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the sectional finals while West Branch will meet Hubbard on Saturday at 6 p.m.

Kittle, who had three 3s in the game, was nursing an injured knee but found a way to get open throughout the game.

“It felt good to finally step up and get the job done. As a senior I felt like I had to step it up for the team. They trust me to shoot so I just kept on shooting. Fortunately they went in when we really needed them to fall,” Kittle said.

While it was Kittle’s offense that sealed the victory for the Bulldogs (13-8), it was their defense that set the tone of the game.

Lakeview got five points from Mike Graham in the opening quarter while their defense held Liberty to just two buckets overall en-route to a 10-5 lead after one period of play.

The Bulldogs defense held Liberty scoreless for the first four minutes and 19 seconds of the game.

Five points by Kittle in the second quarter then helped Lakeview build a 17-13 lead at the intermission.

It was at halftime that head coach George Lanterman challenged his squad to play a complete game at both ends of the court when they left the locker room.

“We didn’t start two of our three seniors coming out of the break because I felt like we weren’t playing with any emotion. In the end, however, it was our three seniors that stepped up to get the job done,” Lanterman said.

“The two 3-point buckets by [Jon] Kittle, and free throws by [Greg] McCumber and [Dan] Whaley were key late in the game. Give all of our kids credit. They worked really hard all game,” he added.

The Leopards went on an 11-2 run to start the second half for a 24-19 lead, but Whaley canned three free throws with under two minutes to play as Liberty had to settle for a 29-28 advantage heading to the final quarter.

Liberty increased its lead to 39-35 with just 1:45 remaining on the strength of two buckets by Anthony Cleveland, but back-to-back buckets by Kittle from beyond the arc gave Lakeview the lead for good with under a minute remaining while the Leopards failed to score the rest of the way.

“I was proud of our overall effort but give Lakeview credit. They stepped up their game when they needed it most. The two 3-point baskets by [Jon] Kittle down the stretch were key,” Leopard head coach Dan Gorski said.

The Bulldogs canned 15 of 45 shots from the field and could manage just three of 18 from 3-point range, canning their final two attempts when they needed them most in the closing minutes of the game.

Liberty was 17 of 40 from the field but held a 26-21 rebound advantage.

Cleveland had a team high 19 points for the Leopards while teammate Jamon Wagner hauled down a game high 10 caroms.

In the nightcap, Woods canned a career-high 27 points to pace three Warriors in double figures to lead West Branch.

Woods’ 10 points and eight markers by Vic Pappas in the opening quarter helped West Branch (12-9) to the early 23-16 lead, increasing the margin to 36-30 at halftime on the strength of three buckets from beyond the arc by Steve McNeely.

Woods then connected on 15 points in the second half as the Warriors went on a 16-0 run after intermission, never looking back en route to the win.

Jordan Morell had a team-high 20 points while Nate Jacubec added 15 markers, all from 3-point range for the Wildcats (6-15).