GRANGER TWP. — Resilient was too soft of a word.
The gritty, determined and mentally tough Highland boys basketball team epitomized its season Wednesday with a hard-earned 51-47 win over Cuyahoga Falls in a Copley Division I Sectional semifinal. The eighth-seeded Hornets got contributions from everywhere, played strong defense in high-pressure situations and atoned for a frustrating upset loss to sub-.500 Kent Roosevelt five days prior.
Highlands’s Isaac Matejin steals the ball from Cuyahoga Falls’ Kevin Gainer during the first half. AARON JOSEFCZYK/GAZETTE
Coach Adam Cestaro’s team (14-9), which improved to 9-5 in games decided by six points or fewer, advanced to play at No. 1 Brunswick (18-4) on Saturday after limiting the ninth-seeded Black Tigers (11-12) to 2-for-13 shooting in the fourth quarter.
“It was a great win,” sophomore small forward Collin Rittman said. “We’ve been in battles like that the entire season, so we knew what to do. We had to execute down the stretch, and that’s what we did.”
Highland blew a 10-point second-quarter lead and almost saw a 47-39 advantage melt away in the fourth. The Hornets got a game-high 20 points from the emerging Rittman, who is averaging 16.7 over the last 12 games, and 12 from power forward Isaac Matejin, who also limited Cuyahoga Falls leading scorer Kevin Gainer (12.5 ppg coming in) to six points, including zero in the first half.
Rittman and Matejin were far from the only key contributors. Center Joe Wiencek had seven points and a game-high 11 rebounds, combo guard Jake Mall posted a game-high four assists and backup Brandon Shaw (5 points, 3 offensive rebounds, 4 steals, 2 blocks) had his signature performance since missing 12 games with a broken wrist.
The Black Tigers got 13 points from off-guard Ka’Von Gainer, 12 points, six rebounds and three assists from physical point guard D’Vontay Friga and 10 points from mid-range-shooting center Troy Tofil, but they also shot 10-for-37 when a 9-for-13 third quarter was factored out and made only 5-of-21 3-pointers.
“We really executed our offense,” said Cestaro, whose team made 6-of-13 threes. “We’re pretty comfortable saying, ‘Just run it and execute.’ We ran our ball-screen motion, and I don’t have to call a million sets because we play off each other really well.”
Ka’Von Gainer went on a personal 6-0 run to make the score 47-45 late in the fourth. Rittman scored inside at the 1:30 mark, but Friga countered with two free throws 25 seconds later and the Hornets blew a good look at a transition layup.
Luckily for Highland, Shaw, who subbed in for Collin Levandowski in crunch-time defensive situations, blocked Friga from behind near the rim. The Hornets again left the door open with two missed free throws, but Shaw got a piece a down-the-lane drive by Friga, whose shot attempt deflected high off glass.
Cuyahoga Falls burned precious clock fouling five times over the final 15 seconds to get to the bonus, allowing Rittman to ice the game by making both ends of a one-and-one with 4.8 seconds left.
“Coach just told me to stay in front of (Friga) and don’t let him by me,” Shaw said. “I got straight up, got the block and that’s it.”
Highland now gets another shot at neighboring Brunswick, the Greater Cleveland Conference champion that ranks 11th in state history with 238 3-pointers and has won 11 of its last 12 games. The Hornets lost to the Blue Devils 48-38 at home on Dec. 1.
Both teams have improved drastically, however, making Saturday intriguing.
“It’s definitely a redemption game,” Rittman said. “We’re all excited and ready to play them on Saturday.”
Highland 51, Cuyahoga Falls 47
Copley Division I Sectional Semifinal
CUYAHOGA FALLS 8 10 20 9 — 47
HIGHLAND 12 11 15 13 — 51
Cuyahoga Falls — Caleb Freeman 0-4 0-0 0, Kevin Gainer 2-3 1-2 6, Troy Tofil 5-8 0-0 10, Ka’Von Gainer 5-13 1-2 13, D’Vontay Friga 5-16 2-2 12, Jeff Shaffer 1-3 0-0 3, Tylor Cingle 1-3 0-0 3, Brandon Plucinski 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 19-50 4-6 47.
Highland — Collin Rittman 7-12 4-5 20, Isaac Matejin 5-10 0-0 12, Joe Wiencek 3-7 1-4 7, Jake Mall 2-6 0-0 5, Collin Levandowski 1-6 0-0 2, Brandon Shaw 2-4 0-2 5, Brandon Sauer 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Frederick 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 20-45 5-11 51.
3-point goals — Cuyahoga Falls 5-21 (Ka. Gainer 2-8, Cingle 1-2, Ke. Gainer 1-2, Shaffer 1-3, Freeman 0-1, Friga 0-5), Highland 6-13 (Rittman 2-3, Matejin 2-4, Shaw 1-2, Mall 1-3, Levandowski 0-1). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — Cuyahoga Falls 22 (Friga 6), Highland 27 (Wiencek 11). Assists — Cuyahoga Falls 8 (Friga 3), Highland 9 (Mall 4). Turnovers — Cuyahoga Falls 10 (Friga 3), Highland 14 (Levandowski 4). Fouls — Cuyahoga Falls 12, Highland 7. Records — Cuyahoga Falls (11-12), Highland (14-9).