Lakeview gets defensive to beat Niles in Div. II

By Greg Gulas

BOARDMAN — Ethan Metheny scored 16 points while the Lakeview defense held Niles to just 21 points over the final three quarters as the Bulldogs defeated the Red Dragons, 52-36, on Tuesday in the Division II boys basketball sectional tournament.

In the opening game of the night at Boardman High School, Tyler Rockwell’s 17 points paced West Branch to a 59-54 win over Crestwood.

West Branch (7-14) will meet Poland at 7:30 p.m. on Friday in a sectional championship game, while Lakeview (17-4) will play the winner of tonight’s Cardinal Mooney-Salem game on Saturday.

“Niles played with more energy than we did in the first half, so you have to give them credit for their excellent game plan,” said Lakeview coach George Lanterman.

“They beat us on the glass so at halftime, while we didn’t make any drastic changes, we did stress that we needed to move the ball around more and get everyone some touches,” he added.

“We didn’t panic with the score 23-20 at halftime. Someone told me after the game that we got fundamental in the second half and I’d have to agree with that assessment,” said Lanterman.

Saul Vaughn’s six points in the opening period staked the Red Dragons to a 15-13 advantage, but Robert Franks scored six of his eight points in the second quarter, and the Bulldogs’ defense limited Niles to just two basket to forge the three-point advantage at the intermission.

“We weren’t playing hard enough in the first half,” said Metheny, who had just three baskets in the first half..

“After the intermission we hustled up and down the court, went after loose balls and I’d have to agree with [Lanterman] that we did get more fundamental in the second half.

“It’s tournament time so we cannot afford to come out like we did tonight if we expect to win. We must come out stronger and not be as tentative.”

The third quarter proved to be a low-scoring one, as Lakeview outscored Niles only 7-5 to forge a 30-25 lead heading into the final period.

Metheny’s eight points helped Lakeview to a 22-11 advantage over the final eight minutes to seal the 16-point victory.

The Red Dragons (6-15) held a 19-14 edge in rebounds with Vaughn hauling in a team-high five.

Lakeview’s Mike Graham led all rebounders with six.

West Branch 59, Crestwood 54

In the opening game, Crestwood (11-10) built a 36-33 lead midway through the third period but Evan Campbell’s basket with 1:07 remaining gave the Warriors the lead for good at 40-38.

Matt Tafe added 12 points to join Rockwell as the only two Warriors in double figures, offsetting the efforts of Troy Calapa, Graham Schwesinger and Kyle Walters who scored 16, 15 and 14 points, respectively, for Crestwood.

Both teams made 24 field goals, but the difference came at the free throw line where West Branch was 8-of-17 while Crestwood was just 1-of-4.