GRANGER TWP. — Senior night ended mercifully at 8:49 p.m. Friday, making the quickness of the game the most noteworthy highlight of an otherwise forgettable performance.
Laying an egg in its final home game of the regular season, the Highland boys basketball team still battled and had a shot to tie in the closing seconds, but fell short in a 44-40 loss to Kent Roosevelt.
Highland’s Collin Levandowski gets past Roosevelt’s Hayden Kegg in the second quarter. JUDD SMERGLIA/GAZETTE
The Hornets (13-9, 7-5) still finished second in the Suburban League American Division — an admirable achievement given the squad’s inexperience — but the postgame mood wasn’t a good one.
“You hate to play like that on senior night,” coach Adam Cestaro said. “That’s for sure.”
For all its offensive sloppiness, Highland nearly rallied from a 10-point hole in the fourth quarter behind 6-foot-7 center Joe Wiencek (13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks).
A quick 7-0 run made the score 36-33 with 3:40 to go, and a steal-and-score by Collin Levandowski made it 39-37 at the 1:22 mark.
Levandowski then picked Rough Riders star Spencer Neubert (16 points, 3 assists, 6 steals) and raced to the other end, but Neubert contested desperately and kept Levandowski from getting up a shot. The Hornets had another chance on the inbounds play, but Isaac Matejin’s pull-up jumper drew back iron.
Roosevelt’s Rayvon Pauls connected on two free throws with 23.1 seconds left, and Highland responded immediately with a corner 3-pointer by Jake Mall to put the score at 41-40. Neubert then made two free throws, and a rushed 22-footer by Highland’s Collin Rittman (9 points, 4-for-17 shooting) wasn’t all that close.
The Rough Riders (8-14, 5-7), who have won six of their last nine, clinched the game on a free throw by Christian Mehlmann with less than two seconds to go.
“We had a three (attempt) at the end to tie it on a night when we didn’t play our best basketball,” Cestaro said. “That’s nothing to be too disappointed about.”
Highland would have never been in that position if not for a terrible first half on the offensive end.
The issues were numerous, as the Hornets were out of sorts facing a gambling 2-3 zone. They scored four points — all by Brandon Shaw — on 2-for-13 shooting in the first quarter, missed their first five shots of the second and bricked all 13 3-point attempts in the first half.
Remarkably, Neubert, the SL American’s leading scorer at 19.9 entering the night, was a non-factor at 1-for-7 shooting, allowing Highland to go on a mini-run behind Rittman and trail 18-16 at recess.
At that point, the teams were 13-for-50 (.260) from the floor — that included a 4-for-6 finish by the Hornets — and 1-for-19 (.053) from beyond the arc.
Though the night got better from a scoring standpoint after the 2-for-18 start — Highland was 14-for-33 (.424) the rest of the way — ugly was ugly.
“You can’t have a letdown,” Cestaro said. “You can’t have night where you let yourself get frustrated, and you can’t have a night where you lose your poise.”
Notes
- Curiously, Highland fell to 5-5 at home. The Hornets, who are 8-4 on the road, host Cuyahoga Falls in a Copley Division I Sectional semifinal on Wednesday.
- Devin Myers had 11 points as Highland’s junior varsity won 50-38. The Hornets finished the year 12-10, 6-6.
Roosevelt 44, Highland 40
ROOSEVELT 7 11 14 12 — 44
HIGHLAND 4 12 8 16 — 40
Roosevelt — Christian Mehlmann 2-1-6, Hayden Kegg 3-1-7, Jordan Barnes 3-2-8, Grant Houser 0-0-0, Spencer Neubert 5-6-16, Dean Gray 1-0-3, Rayvon Pauls 0-2-2, Khai Dokes 0-0-0, Zach Adair 1-0-2. TOTALS: 15-12-44.
Highland — Brandon Shaw 2-0-4, Tyler Frederick 1-0-2, Ethan Yerian 0-0-0, Kyle Meissner 0-0-0, Collin Levandowski 2-0-5, Joe Wiencek 4-5-13, Isaac Matejin 2-0-4, Collin Rittman 4-0-9, Jake Mall 1-0-3, Ryan Frederick 0-0-0, Brandon Sauer 0-0-0. TOTALS: 16-5-40.
3-point goals — Mehlmann, Gray, Levandowski, Rittman, Mall. Rebounds — Roosevelt 26 (Mehlmann 7), Highland 27 (Matejin, Wiencek 5). Assists — Roosevelt 11 (Neubert 3), Highland 6 (Levandowski 3). Records — Roosevelt (8-14, 5-7), Highland (13-9, 7-5). Junior varsity — Highland 50, Roosevelt 38.