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Eynon, Tigers rule the paint vs. Greenwich South Central
Eynon, Tigers rule the paint
By DAN HINER
CANTON
Springfield’s boys basketball team won its Division IV regional semifinal on Tuesday night at the Canton Fieldhouse, beating Greenwich South Central 62-50.
The Tigers hope they can learn a little about Richmond Heights, their regional final opponent, from fellow Mahoning Valley regional qualifier Bristol.
The Panthers fell to the Spartans 66-34 in an earlier semifinal.
“I’m real good friends with coach [Craig] Giesy Bristol,” Springfield head coach Steve French said. “Whatever he needed if he moved on, we’d give that to him. And he’ll give us everything he’s got there. We’ll have everything we’ll need to prepare.”
Senior forward Shane Eynon took over the scoring load for the Tigers toward the end of the year. Tuesday was no different.
At the end of the game, Eynon left the locker room holding a replica WWE championship belt.
The belt is given to the best competitor from the previous game. Eynon might not give that belt back.
He had 24 points and 13 rebounds in Springfield’s latest victory.
“I was just bigger than them, I guess,” Eynon said. “We saw a mismatch inside, so they threw me the ball and I kept going.”
Drew Clark and Evan Ohlin each had 13 points for the Tigers (x-x).
The game was close in the first half. The Trojans kept fighting, keeping the margin within a couple possessions.
South Central had a response for every punch Springfield threw. Until the second half.
The Tigers took control in the third. Springfield went on a 14-2 run midway through the quarter to extend its lead to 38-28 entering the fourth.
“We wanted to come out in the first two minutes and establish the same pace,” French said. “Our big thing was rebounding — limit them to one shot.”
Isaiah Seidel led the Trojans with 18 points and Simon Blair had 15.
Springfield will compete for its first trip to the state semifinals since the late 1960s. The regional final is at 7 p.m. Friday. at the Canton Fieldhouse.
“We set out to win the district, that was our goal,” French said. “This is kind of icing on the cake right now. We’re going to enjoy this win.”
Bristol was in its game early. The Panthers trailed 16-13 with just over four minutes left in the half. But the athleticism of Richmond Heights took over.
“We needed to come together and slow ourselves down — check in, stay in the moment,” Giesy said. “But they sped us up and we were just out of it.”
The Spartans outscored the Panthers 16-3 to close out the quarter. The Panthers couldn’t attempt a shot in the first three minutes of the third quarter.
Eventually, the Spartans lead grew to 48-17 with two minutes left in the third quarter.
“We did a great job making other people beat us, but they’re just so deep,” Giesy said. “They have so many guys that are athletic, that can play their game. In the second half we just got worn down.”
Jevontae Jones led the Spartans with 15 points. Anthony Maxie (12), Jamarr Talbert (11) and BJ Carter (10) also reached double figures.
Matt Church led Bristol with 10 points. Gage Elza, the Panthers’ leading scorer, was held to nine.
“We open up the gym — [Elza will] work out,” Giesy said. “He’s put the time in himself. He’s been a prime example of what we want, Damion Durst as well.”
It was the final game for seniors Elza, Durst and Luca Petrogalli. Even though the Panthers lost, Elza is still glad he had a chance to advance to the regional round.
“My four years have led me to this point,” Elza said. I couldn’t be happier where it ended. I played my last game in Canton. It’d be a dream come true, and tonight it happened.”