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Springfield rallies to win district title
Lowellville runs out
of Rocket fuel late
STRUTHERS
Lowellville was riding high with a 30-25 lead lead midway through the third quarter, but the Rockets’ thrust didn’t last.
Springfield’s 15-0 run proved deadly as the third-seeded Rockets, who suffered the loss of their top ballhandler and scorer to fouls, succumbed to the top-seeded Tigers 58-48 in the Division IV district final at Struthers Fieldhouse on Friday night.
The district title was Springfield’s first since 2012.
“We set out in June with this goal and to achieve it is a great accomplishment for the kids,” said Springfield’s second-year coach Steve French.
The Tigers (20-5) advance to a regional semifinal against Greenwich South Central at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Canton Fieldhouse.
“Never say die, no quit,” French said of his team. “We’ve been down in a number of games and always come back,” he said of his team with one senior [Shane Eynon] and younger players who stepped up to make a lot of plays.
“The difference was our pressure. We wanted to attack from the beginning and get them in foul trouble. We continued to attack and the foul trouble paid off in the end.”
French acknowledged the multiple ties and one monster momentum swing that eventually turned the tide.
“It was pretty wild and nip-and-tuck, but I’m glad we were on the right side.”
For the winners, Eynon had a game-high 20 points, while Evan Ohlin and Beau Brungard added 13 apiece.
Micah Mamula-Zarlingo led the Rockets (18-7) with 12 points, while Jake Rotz had 11 and Cole Bunofsky 10.
Rotz, Matt Hvisdak and Bunofsky combined for 15 of Lowellville’s 24 rebounds.
French expounded on Lowellville’s weakness — as well as Hvisdak’s fouling out — that enabled Springfield to change the flow of the game.
“We wanted to drive early and attack Hvisdak and Rotz because we feel like they foul quite a bit in their zone and we got some early ones on Rotz and got some on Hvisdak and it was able to pay off in the third quarter,” he said.
“We felt that the middle of their zone was open and we wanted to attack it. Hopefully — you know they don’t have a deep bench and only play six kids — if we could get into that bench, it was going to be positive for us.”
Eynon had 12 of his points in the second half.
“The high post was open all game, so we told him [Eynon] to get up there and give us a target and the guys will get you the ball and he attacked the back of the zone well.”
After Hvisdak hit a 3-pointer to give Lowellville a 30-25 lead and Springfield called a timeout; it brought Lowellville’s bench streaming out on the court toward teammates. Then the scoreboard clock manfunctioned and lost the time and score at 4:41 of the third quarter when Springfield was trailing 30-25. Even though the Tigers slipped behind, 40-25, French thought the several-minute disruption was a blessing in disguise.
“Fortunately, it gave us time to catch our breath.”
Lowellville coach Matt Olson didn’t feel that the fifth foul on Hvisdak at 1:03 of the third was warranted.
“When Matt got his fourth foul, obviously, we told him he had four fouls and talked about whether we should keep him in the game or not,” Olson said. “He’s had four fouls before and stayed in games. I think it was a touch foul and don’t think that’s a call you make in a district championship game.”
The common foul ut him out, but then he received a technical on top of that.
“It’s a district championship. Matt’s our engine and has been our go-to guy all season. When he went out, obviously, we struggled a little bit. We need him in the game. It’s just unfortunate it happened that way.”
Rotz also fouled with 2:30 left in the game.
Olson didn’t think the down time was a factor in the Rockets’ collapse.
“We made our run after that. That was just something that happened. I don’t think it was a factor in the game at all.”
Of the season, Olson said, “I’m very proud of these boys and what they accomplished this season. I think the community is proud of them, I’m proud of them. It’s just hard the way it ended.”