’Dogs steal Bengals’ bite

By Joe Scalzo

Poland defeated Benedictine 77-63 in the Division III regional final.

CANTON — Outside of overtime-seeking snow plow drivers and, possibly, road salt salesmen, Poland High boys basketball coach Ken Grisdale might have been the only person in Ohio to open up his blinds this weekend and crack a smile.

A regional semifinal victory over Perry Thursday had drained his team’s energy and, with a game against hyper-athletic Cleveland Benedictine looming two days later, the Bulldogs needed an extra day of rest.

The blizzard obliged.

“We were praying for that to happen,” said Grisdale, whose team defeated the Bengals in last year’s regional final. “That extra day gave us a reprieve.”

Using fresh legs, strong games from returning starters Ben Umbel and Anthony DeFelice and a phenomenal third quarter, the Bulldogs pulled away for a 77-63 victory in Sunday’s Division II regional final at the Canton Civic Center.

The top-ranked Bulldogs (25-0) will meet second-ranked Chillicothe (23-2) Thursday in a state semifinal at Value City Arena. It will be Poland’s second straight trip to Columbus and fourth overall.

“No Poland team has ever gone to state two years in a row, so that was one of our goals,” said Umbel, a senior. “It’s just a great feeling.”

Umbel finished with 21 points, four rebounds, four assists and six steals, while DeFelice, a senior point guard, added 18 points, including 11 in the first quarter.

The teams were nearly even in the first half, with the first quarter ending in a 20-20 tie and the Bulldogs battling back from a seven-point second quarter deficit to take a 38-37 lead.

But the score was a bit of a mirage. Poland’s depth — Grisdale continued to go nine deep, although the starters played more minutes than during the regular season — was beginning to wear down the Bengals. Benedictine coach Rob Stircula had wanted to use his extra day to prepare for Poland’s full-court style, but was forced to cancel practice Saturday when he couldn’t get to the school.

“They have a unique style; no one plays it besides them and Upper Sandusky,” said Stircula, referring to the team that beat Poland in last year’s state semifinals and served as the inspiration for the Bulldogs’ style this season. “And Akron Hoban [Thursday’s opponent] is such a good team, you can’t look past them.

“We needed another day to prepare.”

With his starters getting tired — and his backups struggling to control the ball against Poland’s press — the Bengals started settling for jump shots on offense in the third quarter. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, started to heat up, making 8-of-14 shots — including five 3-pointers — to outscore Benedictine 23-11 in the quarter.

“They never shut us down,” said Stircula. “We just missed shots.”

Poland’s flurry ended with two huge 3s in the corner from sophomore Ben Brocker. He made the second just before the buzzer sounded and was kneed in the chin by Benedictine’s 6-foot-8 junior Justin Jamison after releasing the ball.

“I don’t know what was going through my head — I just shot them,” said Brocker. “On that last one, I was more worried about the guy coming at me. I thought it was a little short.”

Benedictine cut its deficit to six (67-61) with about two minutes left, but couldn’t get any closer as the Bulldogs went 6-of-6 at the line in the final minute and 18-of-20 for the game.

The Bengals return all five starters — including sophomore Cameron Wright, an Ohio State recruit who scored 29 points — but Stircula was in no mood to talk about the future.

“Everybody has been saying that — next year, next year,” he said. “Next year was this year. We were down here. We were in it pretty much the whole game.”

But Poland’s depth proved to be too much. Last summer, when Grisdale started testing a new style, he made sure to use 10-12 players in each game. The idea was to develop depth, in case a key player or two got injured or in foul trouble.

After watching them play for a few days, he knew the team had a chance to make it back to Columbus.

“Yeah, we thought so,” Grisdale said. “I’m not going to lie.”

Although five sophomore played significant minutes Sunday, the Bulldogs (not surprisingly) relied heavily on their seniors. And they delivered.

But there’s one goal left.

“No team at Poland has ever won a game at state, so obviously that’s the next step,” said Umbel. “Hopefully we can win it all.”

scalzo@vindy.com