Ben Donlow’s last-second tip-in lifts Poland past rivals

Donlow finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds against Canfield.

POLAND — Only a few heartbeats remained in the type of game that can stop your heart — or set it racing.

The biggest regular season contest in the Mahoning Valley this season was tied in the final seconds Friday night and the ball was in the hands of Poland senior Niko Fatimus, who had burned his rivals for 42 points in their first meeting.

As he drove in, his path to the rim was blocked, his look at the basket was five fingers short of clear and as he released a 10-foot jumper it, it looked like it was going to be short.

But it also looked like it had a shot.

At that moment, senior Ben Donlow knifed toward the basket and managed to squeeze in front of Canfield senior Joe “Bulldog killer” Hoelzel.

Fatimus’ shot bounced off the front of the rim, bounced again and ... went out. On its way down, Donlow leaped high in the air, stretched out every bit of his 6-foot-4 wingspan and tipped it up.

And. It. Dropped. In.

“Luke [Wollet] picked me up and took me over there,” said Donlow, pointing to the student section after Friday’s 73-71 win. “I don’t remember what happened after that.”

Well, in a word, pandemonium.

Three-fourths of the crowd went crazy, Wollet grabbed the rivalry trophy off a table behind the bench, Canfield junior Dan Campolito flung the ball up toward the ceiling and, with the Bulldogs gathered in front of them, Poland’s students starting chanting “This is our house!”

“I drew it up that way,” quipped Poland coach Ken Grisdale of the last play. “I was going to call timeout and then I didn’t and I didn’t handle that situation real well. Ben bailed me out.

“I was telling the kids, in 50 years when they have their senior reunion, they’ll be telling people Ben came from half court to tip it in.”

The dramatic finish was a fitting finale to the best two-game basketball series you’ll ever see. Canfield won the first round 96-89 in a game every bit as good and the only tragedy was the fact that Canfield’s enrollment has six boys too many, sending the Cardinals to Canton for the Division I tournament instead of Round 3 in the Division II district final.

“It would be awesome,” said Grisdale, “but I don’t want to play them again.”

Donlow finished with 14 points — four of them off dunks — and 10 rebounds on the night before his 18th birthday.

He’s dreamed about this victory for weeks, but never in his wildest dreams did he make the game-winning shot.

“Niko takes all the game-winning shots,” said Donlow. “That’s Niko job on our team.

“I’m just helping him out.”

Fatimus added 12 points and four assists, David Baker had 14 points and six rebounds and Wollet had 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Bulldogs (19-1, 6-1), who, by the way, captured a share of the All-American Conference Red Tier crown.

Campolito had 21 points and senior guard Gene Wollet added 20 points, four rebounds and four steals for the Cardinals (17-3, 6-1). Hoelzel, who scored 40 points in the first meeting, had just 14 while battling foul trouble. Mike Podolsky, who had the flu the past two days, added 12 points.

“They’re crushed, as I am,” said Canfield coach John Cullen. “How you feel is directly proportional to how much you have invested.

“They’ve got a lot invested.”

Friday’s game was, in many ways, the exact opposite of the teams’ first meeting. After watching Canfield burn his defense for a lifetime’s worth of layups, Grisdale went away from his frenetic, full-court pressure and inserted a triangle-and-two defense designed to stop Podolsky and Campolito.

It was reminiscent of the pre-2007 Grisdale, who led the Bulldogs to two state tournament appearances playing a half-court game. Then, two years ago, he switched styles and went back to Columbus.

“At this time of year, you do what you have to do,” said Grisdale. “We may be dumb, but we’re not stupid. We’re going to figure out what we have to do to give ourselves the best chance to win.”

The defense seemed to confuse the Cardinals, at least at first.

“In our scouting report, we said they were going to do something, whether it was a 1-1-3 [zone] or just half-court trapping,” said Cullen. “They selected guys they were not going to guard early.

“It took awhile for us to adjust. He was picking his poison, is all.”

The Cardinals hadn’t seen that look all year but, as Cullen said, “we made some adjustments on the fly.”

The game went back and forth through the first three quarters but Canfield couldn’t seem to grab the lead or make a big run, as it had in the first game. Poland appeared to have the game in hand with two minutes left when a Donlow layup inside (on a beautiful pass from Wollet) gave the Bulldogs an eight point lead, 70-72.

Then Hoelzel answered on the other end, Wollet missed the front end of a one-and-one and Gene Wollet hit a huge 3 to cut the deficit to 70-67. After a Fatimus free throw, Gene Wollet scored again, then Hoelzel stole the ball and hit a quick layup to tie the game at 71 with 29 seconds left and set up the frenzied finish.

“For us to put ourselves in position to win that game speaks volumes for what kind of heart we have in that locker room,” said Cullen.

When asked if he’d like another shot at them, Cullen paused, smiled and said, “It’d be a great game, wouldn’t it?”

scalzo@vindy.com