Wildcats, Windham advance in Div. IV

Warren JFK lost to
Southington while the Bombers outgunned
Fairport Harbor.

By DOUG CHAPIN

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

WARREN — Trumbull County schools Warren JFK and Southington faced opponents with outstanding guards Tuesday night in a Division IV boys basketball district semifinals doubleheader at Warren Harding High.

Kennedy dropped a 65-60 decision to Windham, led by senior Phil Workman who scored 20 points while Southington withstood a 40-point performance by Fairport Harbor sophomore Aramis Greenwood in an 82-79 victory.

Southington (18-4) and Windham (18-4) will play in the district title game Friday at 7 p.m. The game is a rematch of Windham’s 75-56 district semifinal win over the Wildcats a year ago.

“We need to make sure we match Windham’s intensity,” Southington coach Mike Karr said. “I know my kids are capable of doing it, basically that’s how we played against PV. If we can bring the same intensity Friday, we can have a shot to get the game at the end.”

Senior Trey Tietz helped the Wildcats get Tuesday’s game in the end, scoring nine of his team-high 28 points in the final quarter, including a 6-for-6 performance at the foul line. He was 6-for-10 from 3-point range for the game.

Tietz got plenty of help as Brad Sherwood had 19 points and seven rebounds, Kevin Henline had 15 points and six rebounds and Brad Gilanyi recorded 11 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

Greenwood nailed four 3-pointers and penetrated to the basket almost at will for his 40 points. He also led the Skippers (16-7) with eight rebounds. Mark Burchett and Danny Ward added 15 points apiece.

“We had seen Fairport play four times, so we knew their three guards were pretty much 95 percent of their offense,” Karr said. “He [Greenwood] is an outstanding player, and tonight’s the best I’ve seen him play. We had a hard time holding him off.”

Southington led 22-20 after one quarter, 41-38 at the half and 62-56 after three quarters.

The largest lead for either team was eight points and, with the pace at which the game was played, any deficit was quickly diminished. The Wildcats shot 52 percent (27-for-52) from the field, including 47 percent (9-for-19) from 3-point range.

“We’re a much better team in the open court,” Karr said about the tempo of the game. “We didn’t do a very good job defensively, but I thought we did a very good job executing on offense, especially in the last three or four minutes in the game.”

Southington saw a 79-72 lead with 1:16 left in the game dwindle to 79-77 at the 47-second mark. A Gilanyi free throw made it 80-77, then Tietz grabbed an important rebound in traffic at the other end and was fouled. He sank two free throws with 17 seconds to play which turned out to be enough for the Wildcats.

Warren JFK was outrebounded 20-13 in the first half, including numerous offensive rebounds and putbacks by the Bombers. Windham led 19-17 after one quarter and 32-29 at the half.

The Eagles (9-12) rebounded better in the second half (17-15 JFK) and took a 51-48 lead into the final quarter. Windham caught up a 54-53 with 2:49 remaining and led 60-55 at the 1:22 mark. Kennedy was back to within 62-60 with 21 seconds remaining, but gave up a rebound on a missed Windham free throw and the ensuing two foul shots helped seal the decision.

“In the second half we did better on the boards. That helped us,” Kennedy coach Bruce Timko said. “What hurt us all year was foul shooting. Tonight we were six for 13 and missed the front end of two one-and-ones in the fourth quarter. They made their foul shots in the fourth quarter.”

The Eagles were led offensively by junior forward Nick Brown who had 20 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Senior Brian Guarnieri had 11 points, five rebounds and four assists, Stephen Procopio added 12 points and six rebounds and Ryan McCollum had seven points and eight rebounds.

“We wanted to keep the game in the 50s or 60s and we thought we had a shot,” Timko said. “We did that, we had them where we wanted but we just didn’t finish the job. We told our kids, though, that we will be back.”

Windham won the district title a year ago and reached the state semifinals in 2006. Workman added seven rebounds and four steals to his 20-point performance. He had plenty of help as Cody Apthorpe had 17 points and 16 rebounds, Jay Lugo scored 13 points and Dave Everhart had 11 points and seven rebounds.