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Howland builds big lead, then holds off Poland in AAC showdown
By Doug Chapin
HOWLAND
For several years part of the Poland High boys basketball success has come from the Bulldogs’ frenetic style of play. Using plenty of substitutes, Poland has often worn down opponents with an aggressive, physical style of play on both ends of the floor.
On Friday night, Howland beat the Bulldogs at their own game, posting a 71-59 All-American Conference American Division victory. The Tigers (4-1, 2-0 AAC) lost all but one point of a 20-point third quarter lead before holding on for the win.
“This was definitely a measuring stick going against Poland,” first-year Howland coach Bill Bogan said. “Coach [Ken] Grisdale has a program there that’s been solid since he got in over there. To be able to compete against one of his squads, I’m humbled and honored to be able to do that because I respect the man to death. If we can model our program after him also then we’ll be nothing but good here.”
Bogan has modeled his team to some degree on the programs of former Girard coach Bob Krizancic at Mentor and of coach Steve Arnold at Warren Harding, where Bogan has been an assistant coach in recent seasons.
Both teams played uptempo on offense and physically aggressive on defense and the Tigers led 18-13 after one quarter and 29-23 at halftime. Howland increased the lead to 52-32 with 2:45 remaining in the third period. Poland (1-3, 1-2) cut the gap to 55-44 by the quarter’s end and to 60-59 with 3:22 left in the game. From that point, though, Howland outscored the visitors 11-0.
“We told the kids in the timeouts and at the quarter breaks that Poland was going to make a run,” Bogan said. “They are too well-coached, they’re great kids down there. Colin Reardon is as good an athlete and as much as gamer as any kid I’ve ever seen.
“We knew they were going to make a run and it was just a matter of whether we could sustain it or not. We grew tonight, we learned from it and we can get better.”
Reardon led all scorers with 23 points and added nine rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Jacob Wolfe came off the bench to score 12 points for Poland and Connor Schultheis added 11 points.
Chris Maze led Howland with 19 points and also had 10 rebounds, four steals and three assists. John-Mark Weisman added 16 points, including 4-for-6 shooting from 3-point range; Arbie Murray had 15 points and eight rebounds; and Brendan Cope totaled 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Bogan said his players have bought in to and accepted the new philosophy.
“Listening to Jim Tressel, he says you’ve got to tell kids why. Kids today want to know why you want them to do things and you have to explain it to them,” Bogan said. “We explained to them why and to their credit they have bought in.
“They come in [to practice] and there’s skin left on the floor every day and they haven’t backed down one bit. Tonight is a product of that.”