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Champion hits 12 3’s in regular-season finale against Mineral Ridge
Champion hits 12 3s in regular-season finale against Mineral Ridge
By charles grove
MINERAL RIDGE
While the Division III tournament doesn’t start until next week, Champion head coach Jamie Carrino said the Golden Flashes’ 85-79 win Friday night felt like what’s to come next week.
“That felt like tournament basketball,” Carrino said. Lucas Nasonti paced the Golden Flashes (16-6) with 30 points while Noah Bayus, Eric Karafa and Drake Batcho added 14, 11 and 11, respectively.
Mineral Ridge (12-10) got 31 points from Albert Alli before he fouled out in the fourth quarter. Zane Rummell, Austin Reese and Mac White all scored in double-figures with 17, 10 and 10, respectively.
Champion came out swinging from the very beginning, hitting seven 3-pointers in the opening eight minutes. However, the Rams fired back and trailed by nine after the opening quarter.
The Rams got out to a 6-0 run in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 42-34, but an 11-0 run to close the half gave the Golden Flashes what looked like an insurmountable 53-34 lead.
“We were moving the ball well and were hitting the open guy in the first half,” Carrino said. “But then the tide turned.”
Alli exploded out of the locker room with 11 straight points, including three 3-pointers, to get Mineral Ridge within 10. But with four fouls, Mineral Ridge head coach Randy Riccitelli sat Alli the remainder of the quarter, hoping to save him for the stretch run.
“[Alli] brought us back in the game, but he had four fouls so I thought if we could keep it around 10, I could get him a breather,” Riccitelli said. “But when he went back in he picked up his fifth. If he hadn’t been in foul trouble it could’ve been a better night.”
That fifth foul didn’t stop the Rams from continuing to close the gap. After Champion stretched its lead to 63-49 on an R.J. Smith 3-pointer, Mineral Ridge chipped away, getting the deficit down to five points on two occasions in the fourth quarter. But free throws down the stretch by Nasonti and Michael Turner sealed the road victory for Champion.
“[Mineral Ridge] did a good job of slowing us down and making us play a pace we didn’t want to play in the second half,” Carrino said. “We needed to keep our intensity up but when you have 15-, 16-, 17-year-olds, it’s not always an easy thing to do when you have a 19-point lead. But come tournament time we have to play that way if we want to make a run.”
Nasonti said was able to find opportunities to drive against Mineral Ridge’s man-to-man defense and it only became easier since his teammates were hitting their shots from the outside.
“I was able to penetrate because they play a lot of man defense and I was able to beat my man off the dribble and then find my teammates or take it all the way to the rim,” Nasonti said. “I’ve got a couple quick first steps that help me and then my teammates knock down shots so defenders can’t guard just one person.”
The Rams play at Brookfield in a sectional semifinal this Tuesday. Riccitelli said his team must focus on one thing until then.
“We have to work on defense,” Riccitelli said. “We don’t stop anyone. I thought they blew right by us tonight. [Nasonti] got to the rim whenever he wanted to.”
Champion hosts the winner of Garrettsville Garfield and Liberty in a sectional final Friday.