Saturday, February 22, 2014
Driver, teammates
dominate Leopards
AUSTINTOWN
Thirty minutes after an impressive 76-51 regular season finale win over Liberty on Friday night, the seven seniors on the Austintown Fitch boys basketball team were still in their uniforms out on the court, taking pictures and soaking up every last moment they could.
Thanks to a dominating all-around team performance by the Falcons, Fitch coach Brian Beany was able to start the celebration early, substituting for each of his seniors, one by one, to a standing ovation from the home crowd.
“I guess if I could have planned it out the way I wanted to, it came true,” Beany said. “That was something special for them and they deserved that. Couldn’t have asked for a better night.”
The Falcons’ senior class — Jessie Driver, Michael Butcher, Gabriel Chepke, Alex DiFrancesco, Quincy Higgins, Austin Hogan, and Jacob Capezzuto — accounted for 54 of the team’s 76 points. Driver led the way with 17 in a limited role because of early foul trouble, but even that couldn’t keep a smile off his face after the game.
“I was mad at first when I got pulled,” Driver said. “Then I saw how well they were playing so I couldn’t really be that mad.”
The contest was tight early, when Driver picked up two first-quarter fouls, as Fitch held a slim 17-16 lead. He remained on the bench to start the second quarter, but that didn’t faze the Falcons (18-4), who went on a 10-0 run and held the Leopards (13-10) scoreless over the first 4:15 to extend the lead to double digits.
“The game was the second quarter when we missed a whole lot of inside shots and foul shots,” said Liberty coach Dan Bubon. “If we would have made just some of those shots in the second quarter we would have been right there. You dig a hole against a good team like [Fitch], you’re done.”
Asim Pleas finally broke the scoreless drought more than midway through the quarter with a free throw, although he missed five in the quarter and struggled all night going just 5-of-13 from the foul line. Pleas finished with a game-high 23 points and nine rebounds, but often found it difficult to get a good look at the basket from anywhere inside the 3-point line.
“The difference was our defense after the first quarter,” Beany said. “We started to communicate better, we started blocking out a little better and we kind of limited their scoring opportunities — making them force some tough shots.”
Fitch outscored Liberty 20-8 in the second quarter with Driver on the bench, and took a 37-24 lead into the locker room. The senior guard — the team’s leading scorer averaging 18.5 points — came out to start the second half looking to make up for lost time. He scored seven quick points, grabbed two rebounds and assisted on two other plays to help the Falcons stretch their lead to 20.
“There was no way, in our minds, we were losing this game at all,” Driver said. “We just came out, shot well, and put the ball in the hoop pretty much.”
Liberty began to look for the outside shot more and more as the game progressed, but an off-night shooting, combined with the Falcons’ height down low limiting second-chance opportunities, spelled doom for the Leopards.
“I’m OK playing tough teams if it’s going to make us tougher for the tournament,” said Bubon. “It makes our regular-season record overall not look so good, but I lost my ego years ago. If this game is gonna make them better next week, I’m OK with it.”
Liberty will try to regroup before Burton Berkshire comes to town Tuesday for a first-round game in Division III.
Fitch earned a first-round bye in the Division I tournament and will host the winner of a game between Uniontown Green and Hudson on March 1.