Boys basketball: Lorain fades late after testing eighth-ranked Garfield Heights for three quarters

GARFIELD HTS. — Turnovers ultimately sunk Lorain down the stretch. The Titans hung with Garfield Heights, ranked No. 8 in the state in Division I, for three quarters, but the Bulldogs ran away in the fourth for a 72-43 win that clinched a share of the Lake Erie League title Thursday evening. With two league games left, Garfield Heights (17-3, 11-1 LEL) can win the outright championship with one more win while the Titans (9-10, 5-7) will try to shake off a stretch where they've won just two of their past 10 games as they prepare for the postseason. "We were right there for three quarters, that meant that we defended and rebounded," Lorain coach Matt Kielian said. "It's just in that fourth quarter we wore down, had some mental errors and didn't execute. Turnovers end up biting you, and that's what happened to us. It's frustrating, but we'll bounce back." While the final score ended up being lopsided, Lorain led for most of the first half, its largest lead five points early in the second quarter. Mikah Kimbrough hit a half-court shot at the first-quarter buzzer, pushing the Titans lead to 19-15, and two possessions later Lorain took what was ultimately its largest lead of the evening at 22-17. Garfield Heights didn't lead by more than one point until 1:32 left in the second, when Marcus Johnson drained a 3-pointer that kick-started a 6-0 run. Christian Ruiz was critical throughout the game, leading the Titans with 11 points — seven in the first half — and five rebounds. The 6-foot-2 forward held his own in the paint against Garfield Heights' strong post rotation of 6-9 Deandre Jones, 6-5 Samuel Brown and 6-5 Germainn Marshall. "Garfield brings a lot of physicality to the game," Ruiz said. "They played us really strong. We fell short, but I also felt we didn't play our strongest. That's another reason why I think we just didn't make it today. Going into the tournament, we just have to keep our composure throughout the whole game. Make sure we stay together. We're going to make mistakes, but it's the way that we come back from it. We have to come back as a team and bring that into the playoffs." Lorain cut the deficit to 34-32 less than two minutes into the third quarter before Garfield Heights responded with eight unanswered points, three coming off turnovers. The Titans, who only turned the ball over five times in the first half, committed 12 turnovers evenly split between the final two quarters. The Bulldogs held Lorain to just three second-half field goals, including one in the fourth quarter when they outscored the Titans 26-5. Garfield Heights broke open a 50-41 lead with 19 unanswered points. "Turnovers hurt us a lot," Kielian said. "They got points off of our turnovers. You have to hand it to Garfield, that's the reason they're such a good team. We hung with them for a little while, but we wore down a little bit and made some careless mistakes." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on Twitter. Garfield Heights 72, Lorain 43 LORAIN (43): Dennis Pettis 2-2-7, Asiah Kielian 3-0-8, Christian Ruiz 4-3-11, Jai'den Guerra-Howard 2-0-4, Sae'vonn Brown 1-0-2, Ike Rowser 1-0-3, Mikah Kimbrough 1-1-4, Anthony Lorenzo 1-0-3, Kayden Thomas 0-0-0, Aven Kielian 0-1-1. Totals 15-7-43. GARFIELD HEIGHTS (72): Tommie Benn 2-2-6, Germainn Marshall 3-3-9, Samuel Brown 1-0-2, Jyles Brandon 4-0-8, Stephen Cornwell Jr. 3-0-9, Calvin Little Jr. 3-0-6, Marcus Johnson 8-0-18, Deandre Jones 6-2-14, DeVaughn Jackson 0-0-0, Que Miller 0-0-0, Corey Wilson 0-0-0. Totals 30-7-72. Lorain&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;19&emsp;&emsp; 9&emsp;&emsp;10&emsp; &emsp;5&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;43 Garfield Heights&emsp;&emsp;15&emsp;&emsp;16&emsp;&emsp;15&emsp;&emsp;26&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;72 Three-point goals: Lorain 6-18 (Asiah Kielian 2, Kimbrough, Pettis, Lorenzo, Rowser), Garfield Heights 5-20 (Cornwell 3, Johnson 2). Field goals: Lorain 15-37 (41 percent), Garfield Heights 30-62 (48 percent). Free throws: Lorain 7-13 (54 percent), Garfield Heights 7-12 (58 percent). Rebounds: Lorain 23 (Ruiz 5), Garfield Heights 33 (Jones 7). Total fouls: Lorain 12, Garfield Heights 13. Turnovers: Lorain 17, Garfield Heights 7. Junior varsity: Garfield Heights, 62-48