Howland topples Ravenna; Streetsboro stops Mooney

The Tigers advanced with a 45-34 comeback victory in the Div. II sectional.

By RYAN JONES

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

BOARDMAN — Trailing 13-6 after the first period one thing stood out for Howland coach Donald Andes: His team’s shot selection.

The Tigers, not known for their three-point marksmanship, attempted eight threes in the first quarter and came up empty on all of them.

Once Howland (13-8) began to attack the paint off the dribble and get the ball inside they pulled away from Ravenna and posted a 45-34 victory in Division II sectional action.

In the opener, Mooney was unable to recover from a 14-point (21-7) first quarter deficit and fell to Streetsboro 68-58.

“We were throwing up bombs,” Andres said of Howland’s 2-of-15 first quarter shooting. “We don’t need to do that. The fact that we were taking those shots bothered me.”

Howland outscored the Ravens 16-3 in the second quarter to take a 22-16 lead at the half. The Tigers full-court pressure harassed Ravenna into nine second-quarter turnovers and 28 for the game.

“We threw four different full court presses at them [Ravenna],” Andres said. “We used everything from a man-to-man jump trap, to a 2-2-1 zone press. I thought our pressure really hurt them.”

Kyle Spence led Howland with 14 points and six steals while Tyler Scott contributed 12 points and seven rebounds.

Andres said his team was up to the challenge of playing without starting point guard Drew Guido, who was out with Mononucleosis.

“We don’t go too deep,” Andres said. “Tyler Scott did a nice job for us inside and [Kyle] Spencer, who usually doesn’t get much credit, had a solid all around game. [Craig] Stan and [Rodney] Murray were good off the bench.”

Jordan Jones took scoring honors for the Ravens with eight points. Stephen Fejedelem and D.J. Paulat scored six points each.

Mooney stormed out in the second half and scored 22 points in the third quarter to cut Streetsboro’s lead to 45-41.

Tom Marlowe banked in a three-pointer from 30 feet as time expired in the third period.

“We picked up the intensity in the second half,” Mooney coach Steve Leslie said. “Tom’s [Marlowe] shot at the end of the third was an emotional boost for us. We created some turnovers but didn’t convert them at the other end. Too many times after we made a big play on defense we gave the ball right back to them.”

Mooney (11-10) struggled to contain Streetsboro’s Robert Wilson, whose versatility on offense allowed him to score 27 points. Wilson went 8-of-21 from the field, 9-of-13 from the line and captured 11 rebounds.

“He averages about 26 points per game for us,” Streetsboro coach Todd Muckleroy said. “His best asset is his knowledge of the game. He’s unusual because he steps it up in the second half. He becomes more effective as the game moves on.”

Mooney got within striking distance on three occasions during the final 3:30 of the fourth quarter. Two free throws by Marlowe at the 3:23 mark brought the score to 53-50, a three-point hit by John Stoops at the 2:03 mark cut the lead to 58-55 and a lay-up by Ronnie Martino on Mooney’s next possession left the score 60-57.

Unfortunately, the Cardinal was unable to crack Streetsboro as the Rockets converted 13-of-14 free throws during that same stretch.

“It was frustrating,” Leslie said. “We cut the lead to three or four points many times at the end, but couldn’t finish the comeback. It wasn’t for lack of effort or hustle and that’s the disheartening part. We were confident that we could make the plays to win it at the end.”

Mike Gemma scored 15 points for Mooney. L.J. Sutton added 10 points and nine rebounds before fouling out early in the fourth period, while Marlowe and Stoops scored 11 each.

Carrington Hanna led the early charge for the Rockets as he scored nine of his 15 points in the first quarter.