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Poland rallies to beat Ravenna
By Greg Gulas
BOARDMAN
Poland’s Colin Reardon forgot to include his game shoes while packing for Friday’s Division II boys basketball sectional tournament game.
When it was all said and done, the Ravenna Ravens wished that he would have forgotten his game as well.
Reardon scored a game high 27 points while Ben Tadla added 15 as the No. 2-seeded Bulldogs stopped the Ravens, 61-53 to advance to Wednesday’s district semifinals at Boardman High School.
They will take on No. 3 seed Streetsboro, a 57-41 winner over Southeast in Friday’s opening game.
“I’m an extremely superstitious person so when I realized that I had forgotten my shoes, I was almost afraid to tell coach [Ken Grisdale] about my situation,” said Reardon.
“When I get dressed before a game, I put certain things on at the same time and then follow a pre-game ritual from which I never try to deviate,” Reardon said.
With Reardon and his pre-game ritual knocked off track, the Bulldogs were anything but on track in the first half against the upstart Ravens (11-11) who, behind four points by Isiah Sanders, raced to an 11-2 advantage.
Sanders remained hot in the second frame, nailing nine of his team-high 21 points as the Ravens opened a 29-23 lead at halftime.
“I was upset with Colin in the first half and we had some words because he looked like he was fogged,” said Grisdale.
“We needed to get back into the game and in order for that to happen we had to do it defensively. Their defense dictated the first half and as it turned out ours the second half,” he said.
Poland started the third quarter with a 6-0 run on two buckets by Reardon and two free throws by Ben Tadla, which allowed them to take their first lead of the game, 30-29, a little under two minutes into the half.
Baskets by Sanders and James Claridy helped the Ravens regain the lead, 33-30 but four points each by both Reardon and Tadla keyed a 13-4 run by the Bulldogs (16-5) as they forged a 43-37 advantage with one period remaining.
It was a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way.
Reardon added 10 points in the final stanza as the Bulldogs held on for their fourth straight victory.
“They were much more physical than we expected,” said Tadla. “In fact, they seemed to be a totally different team from the one that we watched on film and against Hubbard.”