Lowellville rides Hvisdak to win against Southern

Senior scores 25 to beat Southern

By Brian DZenis

bdzenis@vindy.com

LOWELLVILLE

Lowellville entrusted its fate to Matt Hvisdak and he delivered.

The senior guard scored 14 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter as the Rockets held off Southern for a 55-47 Division IV sectional final victory.

For Hvisdak, it’s been the standard operating procedure to have the ball in his hands with the game on the line.

“Toward the end of a game, I try to make it my game and our team’s game,” Hvisdak said.

Hvisdak made three 2-point shots and went 8 of 10 at the foul line in the deciding quarter.

Southern (15-9) made Lowellville sweat a bit in the final three minutes. With 3:06 left in regulation with the home side up 45-36, the Rockets’ Micah Mamula-Zarlingo was assessed a technical foul after a foul was called on him.

Mamula-Zarlingo missed the first of a one-and-one. Southern’s Cam Grodhaus went 1 for 2 at the line and on the ensuing Indians’ possession, Grodhaus hit a 3-pointer to make it 45-40 with 2:56 left.

“We just stayed calm. We stayed under control. When the game gets fast paced and out of control, that’s when we start to struggle,” Hvisdak said. “We kept talking, holding onto the ball and making good decisions.”

Southern never got closer than five points for the rest of the contest. Hvisdak drove and earned a foul call, making both free throws. After the Indians were called for a 3-second violation, it was Mamula-Zarlingo’s turn at the free-throw line. He made both and the Rockets (17-6) re-established their nine-point lead to ride out the rest of the contest.

Southern battled back after scoring just 14 points in the first half while shooting 4 for 19, tying the game at 36 early in the fourth quarter.

“It was tough for us to get any momentum when you start out down 10-4 with fouls right out of the gate,” Southern coach Gerard Grimm said. “They were getting free throws at the line with the clock stopped. It’s tough to claw back through that.”

Grodhaus led Southern with 15 points. Mamula-Zarlingo added 11 points for the winning side.

Third-seeded Lowellville advances to play second-seed McDonald on Tuesday at Struthers. The Blue Devils swept the regular-season series against the Rockets.

“You have to be patient. McDonald wants you to shoot a lot of 3s and they pack it in so we need to be more aggressive attacking them,” Lowellville coach Matt Olson said. “We just need to be more aggressive going toward the basket and be more confident.”