Eagles’ flight to state glory grounded

By Tom Williams

Youngstown Christian falls to Lutheran East, 57-47, in regional final

CANTON — For about 12 minutes, the Youngstown Christian boys basketball team stood toe-to-toe with Lutheran East, a tested team that played seven Division I opponents during the regular season.

But midway through the second quarter of the Div. IV regional championship game Friday night at the Canton Fieldhouse, Lutheran East began to assert itself.

And shooting woes took their toll for Youngstown Christian at the start of the fourth quarter as the Eagles fell behind by 19 points and eventually lost, 57-47.

“I would have like to seen if we could have hit some shots and see what would have happened,” Youngstown Christian coach Dolph Carroll. “We got some great looks and we had some time to finish. We just could buy anything from the perimeter.”

The Eagles (21-4) were 19-of-60 from the field.

Lutheran East (22-2) finished the second quarter with an 11-2 run to take a 30-22 lead into the locker room.

But Youngstown Christian kept the margin manageable during the third quarter, trailing 42-30 with eight minutes to play.

“I thought the kids did a great job,” Carroll said. “If they were airballs or shooting off the backboard … but they were literally shots that went in and out.

“We needed a couple of them to fall ... maybe we could have gotten off to a run,” Carroll said. “That’s the frustrating thing — you don’t know how it could have changed the momentum.

“We did everything right except we just couldn’t hit shots,” Carroll said.

Senior Olonzo Johnson led the Eagles with 25 points and nine rebounds.

“Zo comes to play every night,” Carroll said. “He’s amazing — he doesn’t back down, he doesn’t quit, he doesn’t get frustrated. He’s just a great competitor. He’s had a great career, no question.”

Junior guard John Pecchia scored 13 points for the Eagles in their first regional final appearance.

Five of Pecchia’s points came in the opening moments when the Eagles took a 5-3 lead.

Johnson’s first three points and another Pecchia basket extended Youngstown Christian’s lead to 10-5.

Lutheran East coach Roger McClinton said the Eagles’ zone defense at the start was a surprise.

“We were a little flat in the first half,” said McClinton, who guided the Falcons to the 2005 state title. “It’s been a long season and some of our first halves haven’t been great but we always seem to come out ready in the second half.

“We played a rough schedule this year and we were up for the task,” McClinton said.

Three baskets by senior forward William Felder (6-foot-6) put the Falcons ahead. The game seesawed until Lutheran East’s second-quarter run.

“It was fun, very-fast paced, tiring,” Johnson said. “They are a very good team of athletes.”

Asked what was different about the Falcons compared to their last three opponents (East Canton, McDonald and Warren JFK), Johnson said, “They were a lot longer. Going to the right we had to be careful of blocked shots.”

The Eagles struggled to find room against Felder, Ladell Trohy (6-5) and Robert Martin (6-3).

“Defensively, we kept our hands in their shooters’ face,” said Felder who scored 20 points and had five rebounds and two blocks. “They like to go to their [outside shooters] and we tried to shut that down to make them go inside.”

Felder picked up his third and fourth fouls in the first 32 seconds of the final quarter and sat for about five minutes.

It didn’t matter.

Senior guard Bradley Stevenson, who scored 12 points, hit three straight jump shots to help the Falcons extend their lead to 50-31.

McClinton said the key was spreading the ball around and making the Eagles chase.

“We were ahead by 12 and there is no reason to shoot other than lay-ups,” McClinton said. “So we worked the clock and opened up the court.”

The Eagles mounted a mini-rally when sophomore post player Anthony Walker and Johnson scored baskets while Pecchia made two free throws.

But the Eagles were unable to eliminate the Falcons’ double-digit lead.

“We did a decent job on the backboard,” Carroll said. “We competed with them all night long”.

Reflecting on the Eagles’ first district title and regional appearance, Carroll said he hopes it’s the start of a good tradition.

“It’s got to help, obviously,” the second-year head coach said of the Eagles’ tournament run. “It shows the young kids what hard work is going to do and it shows that you can aspire to really actually get something accomplished.

“It gives the kids, it gives the school, it gives the fans a taste of what it’s like and what can be accomplished.

“And that is what is kind of fun and neat to see,” Carroll said. “You hope the young kids see this and say ‘let’s go to work, we can do it.’ ”

williams@vindy.com