43
Cullen’s Raiders pull away to eliminate Columbiana
BEAVER TOWNSHIP
The distance from sectional to district for South Range is about 10 miles, but the strides made by the Raiders this season — in terms of improvement — are much greater.
After a four-win season in 2013-14, South Range bounced back under second-year, but overall veteran coach John Cullen to win a Division III sectional by beating Columbiana at home on Friday night, 60-49.
Columbiana kept it close, using a full-court press in the third quarter that confounded the Raiders, who eventually recovered to sink 19 of 25 free throws en route to a Salem district appearance against Canton Central Catholic.
Columbiana’s Devin Rice had 18 points, but sophomores Mark Vennetti and Dan Ritter,played key roles for South Range (15-8).
Vennetti had 17 points including the biggest of his three 3-pointers coming from the right corner at 7:02 of the fourth quarter to give the Raiders a 41-33 lead.
“I don’t even remember who I got the pass from because I was so into the game,” Vennetti said. I wanted this game more than anything, so I put it up and it went in. It was great.”
Ritter was among the bench players inserted by Cullen in the fourth period.
Ritter took an inbounds pass from Garrett Anderson and went coast-to-coast for a layup that helped light up South Range.
“After waiting on the bench, I was pumped up and, when the coach put me in, I was ready to play,” Ritter said. “Usually I play three quarters, but tonight, the way the game was going, they didn’t want to take Mark out because he was playing fantastic. But when coach gave me a chance, I did what I could do.”
Cullen said that Columbiana’s press caused his Raiders to lose their poise, which translated into poor ballhandling in the third period and allowed the Clippers (14-10) to pull within 36-33.
“It was difficult because we had zero points [against the press],” Cullen said. “We were predetermined with our passes rather than making the easiest pass. Once we slowed down and pivoted before passing, our poise returned and things started getting better.”
Columbiana coach Ron Moschella said Cullen did an excellent job changing personnel.
“They didn’t hurt us too much inside, except for their out-of-bounds plays, but they hit some real crucial 3’s,” Moschella said. “I thought we were playing good, but we couldn’t stick a 3 until the very end. They played a tight zone and wouldn’t allow any penetration.”