Bloodied, not beaten: E.P. topples Crestview

Ben Gysin overcame a cut
to help the Bulldogs.

By ERIC HAMILTON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

COLUMBIANA — After being knocked to the floor late in the fourth quarter, East Palestine’s Ben Gysin got up gushing blood from a cut above his right eye.

He knew if one of the officials saw it, he’d have to leave the game. So, he took care of that by pulling his long hair down over the abrasion in order to stay in the game.

“It was a close game and I didn’t want to come out,” said Gysin. “I guess that’s one of the advantages of having long hair.”

The officials never saw the blood and Gysin hurt Crestview inside with 13 points, as East Palestine earned a 46-40 ITCL Tier 1 victory Tuesday night.

Gysin, a sophomore, is getting used to playing through blood. Last week it was a bloody nose, this week a bloody eye. But he doesn’t mind as long as his team wins.

“I guess I’m just a bleeder,” Gysin said. “I enjoy trying to help the team any way I can. Any success I’ve had this season is because of Nick [DiCello] and Wes [Best] because they get me open looks. We’ve had our ups and downs this season, but we still give it our all every time out.”

DiCello and Best combined for 14 points from the perimeter and J.C. Bollinger added 12.

The game was tight throughout, as neither team led by more than five points in the second half.

Crestview did build a 14-6 advantage early in the second quarter thanks to the hot shooting from Mark Einsiedel. The senior hit his first three shots and scored nine points in the first half.

“He’s really what kept Crestview in the game in the first half,” East Palestine (12-4, 8-4) coach Tom Bingham said. “He got off to a great start. Fortunately for us, we just hit shots in the second half when we needed to.

“We knew it would be a close game and would come down to whoever could make shots against the other team’s zone,” Bingham said. “Our kids were just able to hang around when we weren’t shooting well.”

Despite shooting just 9-for-30 in the first half, East Palestine still managed to knot the game at 20-all at intermission.

Gysin gave the Bulldogs a 27-22 lead with 5:30 left in the third quarter. Crestview (8-9, 5-7) rallied behind a strong third quarter from Jakob Leon, who finished with 13 points, to cut the deficit to 34-33 going into the fourth quarter.

The Rebels got no closer, as East Palestine handled Crestview’s press and took advantage with several open layups in the final two minutes.

“We’re just trying to build some momentum for tournament time,” Bingham said. “We have a big one Friday night against Columbiana at our place. The league race is over, but we’ll come ready to play. These kids have a lot of pride, so I know they’ll be ready.”