WADSWORTH — They have no choice but to embrace the process at this point.
Wadsworth’s Christian Szalay drives past Barberton’s Keye Thompson during the second quarter. (RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)
The young and inexperienced Wadsworth boys basketball players showed plenty of resolve Tuesday in a non-league game against Barberton, trimming a double-digit deficit to two possessions with two minutes left. In fact, they played like veterans for most of the fourth quarter.
Alas, bad habits popped up precisely when momentum was at its highest, allowing the Magics to escape with a 57-50 victory.
“As a group, we have talked a lot about not looking at the record, not looking at the standings,” Grizzlies coach Mike Schmeltzer Jr. said. “Every day in practice we’re trying to find a couple things that we need to fix and get better at. That’s going to be our focus for the remainder of the season.
“We’ve got to take little steps here and build on the positives. The fourth-quarter comeback is a positive we’ll come into (today) and say, ‘OK, let’s take that intensity through this practice and into the next practice and see where it leads.”’
Off to its worst start since 1970-71 (1-15), Wadsworth (2-9) entered the fourth quarter down 40-28 but got back into contention behind a man press and hot shooting from sophomore guards Christian Szalay (career-high 15 points, 8 in fourth), Tony Hewitt (9, 7) and Jake Justice (7, 7).
Szalay’s third 3-pointer came with 2:05 left and cut Barberton’s lead to 51-47. Magics guard Austin Rector then kept Grizzlies hopes alive by making just 1-of-4 free throws over the next 1:04.
Unfortunately for Wadsworth, its methodical offense couldn’t get off a good look against Barberton’s suddenly sticky defense. Justice, a recent junior varsity call-up, missed a 3-pointer and contested baseline drive down 51-47, while Hewitt and Szalay committed turnovers in the final 27 seconds.
“Their guards are a little bigger than ours,” Schmeltzer said. “We wanted to try to get to the rim quickly, and they did a nice job of keeping us out of the paint. That’s the bottom line. We didn’t want to shoot a three there. We wanted to work (Szalay) off a ball screen or get him to the rim because he’d been getting into the paint all night.”
Schmeltzer was frustrated not because of the failed opportunities in the final minutes, but because the Grizzlies failed to learn from their mistakes during a loss at Hudson on Friday.
Wadsworth did a nice job containing perimeter threats Buzz Walker and Zane Ries in the first half and would have likely had a lead entering halftime if not for Magics power forward Jeff Woolridge (game-high 18 points, 12 in first half). Consequently, Barberton (8-4) led 23-22 at halftime.
Schmeltzer stressed continued patience on offense — the Grizzlies took 17 first-half shots — but that plea fell on deaf ears and quickly hoisted 3-point bricks allowed Barberton to get transition points. That woke up Walker (16 points) and Rector (10 points, 4 assists), with Walker scoring seven points during an 11-0 run that took only 1:43.
Walker then added a bucket at the 5:33 mark, giving the Magics a 36-22 lead. The Grizzlies’ Mitchell Blackburn finally answered 1:21 later, but Wadsworth didn’t make a significant dent in the Barberton lead until the fourth.
“My biggest concern in the third quarter was at halftime we talked about moving the basketball a little more,” Schmeltzer said. “We felt like were dribbling the ball too much, and we come out and on three straight possessions in the third quarter we took quick shots that led to long rebounds, which led to them getting three easy transition buckets.
“That is a concern of mine. That little run they went on to start the third, that hurt us big time.”
Note
Brendan Merhar had 19 points, including five 3-pointers, as Wadsworth’s junior varsity won 52-37.
Barberton 57, Wadsworth 50
BARBERTON 10 13 17 17 — 57
WADSWORTH 10 12 6 22 — 50
Barberton — Buzz Walker 5-5-16, Jeff Woolridge 5-7-18, Khalil Looney 1-0-2, Zane Ries 1-1-3, Austin Rector 3-4-10, Luke Metzger 2-0-4, Ian Moore 0-0-0, Brandyn Miller 0-1-1, Keye Thompson 0-3-3, Garrett Turnbaugh 0-0-0, Max Littlejohn 0-0-0. TOTALS: 17-21-57.
Wadsworth — Alec Booth 0-0-0, Graham Blind 1-0-2, Reid Black 1-2-4, Tony Hewitt 4-0-9, Christian Szalay 6-0-15, Lucas Mills 1-0-2, Ryan Storad 2-2-7, David Griffin 0-0-0, Mitchell Blackburn 1-0-2, Kyle Larj 0-0-0, Daniel Weinerman 1-0-2, Jake Justice 2-2-7, Connor Montgomery 0-0-0, Sean Corp 0-0-0. TOTALS: 19-6-50.
3-point goals — Walker, Woolridge, Szalay 3, Hewitt, Storad, Justice. Rebounds — Barberton 31 (Woolridge 8), Wadsworth 22 (Mills, Hewitt, Szalay, Blind 3). Assists — Barberton 9 (Rector 4), Wadsworth 10 (Szalay 3). Records — Barberton (8-4), Wadsworth (2-9). Junior varsity — Wadsworth 52, Barberton 37.