Chaney surges past Lakeview in second half

March 8, 2019 at 12:10a.m.

Chaney surges to oust Lakeview

BOARDMAN

Chaney basketball coach Marlon McGaughy admitted his youth-laden squad was “a little rattled’ in falling behind Lakeview by eight at halftime.

The Cowboys were anything but shaken in the second half, opening the third quarter with a 16-0 run on their way to a 62-56 victory Thursday in a Division II district semifinal at Boardman High School.

Chaney (20-5), in its first varsity season since 2011-12, will play Poland (22-2) in Saturday’s district championship game.

“We worked hard for this — all summer, all year,” Cowboys senior forward Marquel Gillespie said.

In the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs (19-5) regained their composure to take a 51-49 lead on two free throws by Dan Evans.

“This group never quits,” Lakeview coach Ryan Fitch said.

But then the Cowboys surged again with a 9-0 run to seize control. Cameron Lawrence launched the spurt with a 3-pointer. Quincy Jones and Jamison Tubbs scored baskets and Gillespie made two free throws.

“Team effort,” Gillespie said of the second-half reversal. “Everybody got going.”

Fitch credited the Cowboys’ depth and defensive skills.

“They play a lot of guys ... and they get after you,” Fitch said. “They pressure you, they [force] you to do things that you’re not real comfortable doing.

“It showed — we had some turnovers in some really bad situations.”

In the second quarter, the Bulldogs led 37-24 when Chaney’s Sharrod Taylor drove for a basket and Lawrence hit a 3-pointer.

“We got away from what we normally do — get up and down the court, play hard defense,” McGaughy said of their first-half struggles.

Gillespie didn’t sugarcoat the Cowboys’ frustration.

“Everybody had their head down,” Gillespie said. “Coach told us we weren’t playing defense at all, but we picked it up.”

The run became 21-0 as Brown scored six points, Gillespie five, Taylor a 3-pointer and Tubbs a basket for a 45-37 lead.

Jones and Lawrence led the Cowboys with 14 points each. Gillespie contributed 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

Evans, one of four senior starters, led the Bulldogs with 15 points. AJ McClellan scored 11 points while Carter Huff, Jeff Remmick and sophomore Brendan Kilpatrick each had 10. Remmick also made 13 rebounds.

The other seniors are Clay Lazzari and Dawson Brown.

“This group was real special to me, they put in a lot of time in the offseason ... and I think that had a lot to do with our success,” Fitch said.

“I will really miss this group of guys.”

Lakeview lost twice to Poland in Northeast 8 competition. Fitch thinks Saturday’s championship game will be interesting.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Fitch said. “They kind of play different styles a little bit. Poland moves the ball and executes set after set after set.

“Chaney is going to try and pressure them and take them out of going set, set, set.”