Boys high school basketball: Midview turns it on in second half to rout North Olmsted

NORTH OLMSTED — Despite a sluggish first half, Midview scored 17 of the first 19 points and led start to finish in a 64-33 victory over North Olmsted in Southwestern Conference action Friday night. The win keeps the Middies close to the top of the SWC standings. They improved to 7-2 overall and 4-1 in league play. The Eagles are still looking for their first win, dropping to 0-8 and 0-5. "We had 10 turnovers in the first half and we are averaging that for a game. That really kept us from getting some shots up," Midview coach Jim Brabenec said. "In the second half we really took care of the ball and pushed things out." Midview's Nyco Vidal opened the game with a 3-pointer and the score stayed there until North Olmsted's Jared Kelley hit a mid-range jumper at the 5:32 mark of the first quarter. The Eagles didn't score for nearly eight minutes as the Middies forced eight turnovers during a 14-0 run that sent the score to 17-2. Midview got six points from Jonny Manning, four from Tyler Dawson, another three from Vidal and a free throw by Marcell Young during the run. "I was having trouble getting the ball in tonight, with the ball bouncing around three or four times before falling out. But my teammates were there for me," said Manning, who finished with 15 points. "We just had to keep being aggressive." North Olmsted finally got going thanks to Michael Meyer, who scored 11 of his team-high 15 points in the final 5:36 of the half. But Vidal, Tyler Dawson and Young each hit 3-pointers, with Young's coming from three-quarter court at the buzzer for a 30-19 halftime lead. Vidal kept hitting from behind the arc, knocking down five 3-pointers for a game-high 22 points. "I think their defense took us out of our game in the second quarter, but we were able to adjust after halftime," Vidal said. "We were able to adapt and we stayed in our system. That's how we win games, by all staying on the same page." Midview wasted little time putting the game away early in the third quarter, starting the second half with a 14-2 run to extend the lead to 44-21 before North Olmsted got its second field goal of the quarter with 3:37 left. Vidal hit another three to go with a pair of 3-pointers from Aden Gregory (eight points). Manning added the other five points on a tip-in and three free throws for a commanding 44-21 lead that didn't get below 20 the rest of the way. "Jonny struggled shooting tonight (4-of-10), I don't know how many shots rattled around. But he kept fighting and playing hard, getting the ball out to his teammates when they doubled down on him," Brabenec said. We were waiting for someone to step up and get going a little bit. Nyco was the guy. That's what makes us a good team. It could be anyone that does that for us when we need it." Contact James Brady at 329-7135 or jbrady_ct@yahoo.com. Midview 64, North Olmsted 33 MIDVIEW (64): Marcell Young 1-3-6, Nyco Vidal 7-3-22, Bryce Newton 0-0—0, Tyler Dawson 3-0-7, Aden Gragory 3-0-8, Jacob Williams 2-0-4, Jahkai Owens 1-0-2, Anthony Binion 0-0-0, Mekhi Williams 0-0-0, Dominic Birth 0-0-0, KY Moye 0-0-0, Jonny Manning 4-6-15, Ben DeSimone 0-0-0. Totals 21-12-64. NORTH OLMSTED (33): Michael Meyer 7-1-15, Reilly Kinter 0-0-0, Jared Strong 3-2-10, Samuel Capps 0-0-0, Jared Kelley 2-0-4, Abraham Muntaser 0-0-0 Jaeden Roman 0-0-0, John Fay 0-4-4, Mario Koch 0-0-0, Kevin Olah 0-0-0. Totals 12-7-33. Midview &emsp;&emsp;12 18 26 8 &emsp;&emsp;— &emsp;&emsp;64 North Olmsted &emsp;&emsp;2 &emsp;&emsp;17 9 &emsp;&emsp;5 &emsp;&emsp;— &emsp;&emsp;33 Three-point goals: Midview 10-15 (67 percent, Vidal 5, Gregory 2, Young, Dawson, Manning); North Olmsted 2-13 (15 percent, Strong 2). Field goals: Midview 21-51 (41 percent); North Olmsted 12-41 (29 percent). Free throws: Midview 12-18 (67 percent); North Olmsted 7-8 (88 percent). Rebounds: Midview 36, North Olmsted 29. Turnovers: Midview 15, North Olmsted 22. Junior varsity: Midview, 46-29