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Aquinas holds off Usher, Warren JFK
Warren JFK pushes Aquinas
in third meeting, but Knights win
By CURTIS PULLIAM
Canton
Zach Usher wouldn’t admit that it was the best first half of his career.
But it was pretty darn close.
Usher had 20 points, but the St. Thomas Aquinas Knights shut him and the Warren JFK Eagles down in the second half on their way to a 61-51 win in a Division IV regional semifinal at the Canton Memorial Fieldhouse.
The two teams were very familiar with each other as they played twice in the regular season in the North Coast League.
That didn’t matter when defending Usher in the first half.
“He (Frank DiMarzio) was playing off of me and I was able to post up and get an easy 3-pointer,” Usher said. “ Basically I was able to do anything I wanted.”
But so was Jacob Paul of the Knights.
The junior guard had a terrific third quarter, hitting three 3-pointers. Paul finished with 25 points.
The Eagles got within three at 52-49 in the fourth quarter, but could not get any closer.
The Knights decided to run a four-corners offense and ran about four minutes off the clock.
“If you want to hold the ball and go to states then kudos to them,” Usher said. “They’re a good team and they won. Nothing else you can say.”
Knights head coach Matt Hackenberg defended his choice to run the time off.
“What we wanted to do was to make them come out,” Hackenberg said. “It wasn’t necessarily to run the clock specifically, even though we accomplished that. But we wanted to open up some gaps.”
The Knights also clamped down on Usher, who scored just one point in the last 16 minutes and finished with 21.
“I have always just went off one half,” Usher said. “That’s always been my thing.”
The Eagles (13-12) got off to a hot start in the first quarter and took a 19-18 lead.
The Knights responded with a 10-3 run to go up 28-22.
Usher who kept the Eagles close with 10 points in each of the first two quarters.
The Knights took a 36-35 lead into halftime.
“We were right there with 16 minutes to go,” said Eagles head coach John Richards. “We were right there with two minutes to go. We have nothing to hang our heads about.”
The Knights (22-4) beat the Eagles convincingly twice during the regular season, but Warren JFK hung around most of the game this time.
“We have been playing our tails off over the last five games,” Richards said. “We came out really aggressive and attacked their pressure and we made it pay.”
But the Knights adjusted.
“We talked about taking the proper angles and the proper spacing and position,” Hackenberg said. “I thought we positioned ourselves better in the post [in the second half].”
Eagles senior A.J. Grant had 10 points and classmate James Burney added nine.
Richards, who will lose nine seniors from his district championship team, was happy with the the Eagles’ effort.
“We as coaches couldn’t be more proud of them,” Richards said. “They just lost to a good basketball team. I think they know we gave everything we could throw at them.”