COPLEY TWP. — Mid-to-late 2000s Brunswick stars Sean Kelly and Joe Puch were in attendance Wednesday to witness the Copley Division I District semifinal featuring the Blue Devils against Archbishop Hoban.
It was fitting, perhaps, that coach Joe Mackey’s team took a page out of Kelly and Puch’s playbook.
Brunswick’s Michael Quiring drives past Hoban’s Brian Cuppett during the fourth quarter. (RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)
Playing defense like crazy and hitting 3-pointers in backbreaking moments, top-seeded Brunswick again showed its mental toughness to pull away and eliminate the third-seeded Knights 47-42.
The Blue Devils (20-4), who reached 20 victories for the second time in school history (1979-80, 21-3), advanced to battle either No. 2 Medina (18-5) or No. 5 Stow (19-5) for the championship Saturday.
“Just survive and advance,” Mackey said. “All year long, we’ve been pleading for us to play better ‘D,’ and I’d say the last two or three weeks of the season we’ve really clamped down on that end of the floor (50.1 average over last 9 games).
“We played like the teams of the past (tonight). Come tournament time, it’s always fun to score in the 80s and things like that, but a lot of times, especially when you’re playing us, games end up in the 40s and low-50s. That’s the special part about the team we’re coaching now. We can win in the 70s, we can win in the 30s — like we’ve proven this year.”
The senior standouts came to play, as left-handed combo guard Kevin Simmons had 17 points, six rebounds, seven assists and two fourth-quarter steals, while All-Gazette point guard Michael Quiring added 13 points, four rebounds, two assists, five steals and only two turnovers.
The Blue Devils made 9-of-23 3-pointers — their season total of 254 is tied for ninth in Ohio history — but none were bigger than three quick ones by Quiring, wing Zach Cebula and center Aaron Badowski (6 points, 7 rebounds) that put Brunswick in front 43-30 midway through the fourth quarter.
Hoban (18-6) cut a 10-point deficit to five in the last 1:38, mainly because the Blue Devils left open two one-and-ones and committed two turnovers after brilliantly burning 90 critical seconds with a spread offense. Quiring made two free throws with 48.3 seconds to go, while the Knights’ Anthony Jackson scored at the buzzer to make the final look more interesting than it really was.
“I’m really excited to get the ‘W,’” said Simmons, who has 73 points, 20 rebounds and 15 assists over the last three games. “This is a very tough team. People didn’t really understand at our school that they are a really, really good team. We were blessed to get the ‘W,’ and I thank God for that.”
Brunswick had trouble finding scoring opportunities against Hoban’s full-court 1-2-2 defense for the better part of 2½ quarters, but two adjustments paid off.
The first was cutting off driving lanes in a matchup 2-3 zone after Hoban point guard Garrett Houser (team-high 11 points, 9 in second half) and veteran forward Anthony Christian (8, 4 rebounds, 2 assists) bruised their way toward the rim against the Blue Devils’ smaller backcourt. The other was breaking the press and creating diagonally from the short corner, allowing the backside to open a little more.
The 2-3 zone proved especially big, as it took away the Knights’ ability to get into the paint effectively. Defensive rebounds and a few ill-advised Hoban turnovers — multiple well-connected fans said the Knights played one of their worst games of the season — allowed Simmons to get transition chances in the third quarter, when he scored 10 points.
Quiring also was a factor, as he found Simmons on a backdoor layup and, on the next possession, stole the ball midair from a driving Matt Salopek and fired deep to Simmons for another bucket.
Brunswick led 18-14 at halftime, but a 3-pointer from heady freshman Kyle Goessler (6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals) and a brilliant third period by Simmons and Quiring put them up 34-25.
“Defense and rebounding,” Quiring said. “That was the key for us coming into game, and I think we really had to execute on that end of the floor.
“We had that one little spurt at the end of the third, and that put us at 10 points. At the point, we just had to hold on, get some stops and make some free throws.”
The Blue Devils, who already have won their first league title since 1966, now will play in just their fourth district title game (1980, 1999, 2014). The only win was ’99.
When asked about potentially facing archrival Medina — the schools split in Greater Cleveland Conference play — Quiring smiled and, like the unflappable point guard he is, didn’t bite.
“Whoever wins, whoever wins (between Medina and Stow),” he said. “We’ll be ready.”
Brunswick 47, Archbishop Hoban 42
Copley Division I District Semifinal
HOBAN 6 8 11 17 — 42
BRUNSWICK 6 12 16 13 — 47
Hoban — Anthony Christian 3-10 2-3 8, Cartier Bickley 1-4 0-0 2, Brian Cuppett 4-7 0-0 8, Collen Gurley 2-4 0-0 5, Garrett Houser 4-10 0-0 11, Anthony Jackson 1-1 0-0 2, Branden Spaulding 2-6 2-3 6, Matt Salopek 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Bonner 0-0 0-0 0, Mike Clark 0-0 0-0 0, Mark Dudek 0-0 0-0 0, Lance Tallmadge 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 17-42 4-6 42.
Brunswick — Kyle Goessler 2-6 0-0 6, Zach Cebula 2-5 0-0 5, Aaron Badowski 2-5 0-2 6, Kevin Simmons 8-17 0-1 17, Michael Quiring 3-6 4-6 13, Keith Simmons 0-0 0-0 0, Austin Mick 0-0 0-0 0, Zak Zografos 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 17-39 4-10 47.
3-point goals — Hoban 4-13 (Houser 3-6, Gurley 1-3, Bickley 0-1, Spaulding 0-3), Brunswick 9-23 (Quiring 3-4, Badowski 2-4, Goessler 2-6, Cebula 1-3, Kev. Simmons 1-6). Fouled out — Gurley. Rebounds — Hoban 24 (Bickley 8), Brunswick 22 (Badowski 7). Assists — Hoban 3 (Christian 2), Brunswick 13 (Kev. Simmons 7). Turnovers — Hoban 17 (Spaulding, Christian 4), Brunswick 13 (Kev. Simmons 4). Fouls — Hoban 16, Brunswick 10. Records — Hoban (18-6), Brunswick (20-4).