Boys sectional basketball: Lorain upsets Wadsworth

WADSWORTH — When it comes to the postseason the old cliche is you either win or you go home. Lorain managed to do both Wednesday night. The 19th-seeded Titans extended their season with a 64-54 upset of No. 14 Wadsworth in a Division I sectional semifinal. Then they found out that No. 21 Copley beat No. 13 Berea-Midpark 75-66 in the other sectional semifinal which means the Titans will host the Indians in a sectional final Saturday. "It feels really good to get the win," point guard Dennis Pettis said. "We get to go back home, in front of our crowd and in our gym. It's a real momentum booster and confidence booster for us. "We'll have fun with this tonight, but it's back to practice tomorrow." Pettis had a team-high three assists, while adding 16 points and five rebounds. Center Christian Ruiz was a physical force in the paint with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds and forward Jai'den Guerra-Howard scored a game-high 19 points as that trio led Lorain (12-11) to its third consecutive victory after a five-game losing streak. "We've put in a lot of work these past few weeks," Guerra-Howard said. "I'm talking like four-hour practices. It feels good to see that work pay off." Grizzlies point guard Caden Madigan, who finished with a game-high 19 points and 14 in the first half, sank a pair of foul shots to for a quick 2-0 lead and hit a 3-pointer to give Wadsworth (13-10) an 8-7 lead with 2:53 left in the first quarter. Guerra-Howard answered with a 3-pointer to make it 10-8 and the Titans led the rest of the way. Lorain opened it up with a 16-3 run that started with a basket by Pettis with 1:51 left in the first half for a 28-21 lead and ended with Ike Rowser giving his team its largest lead of the night at 42-24 with 3:34 left in the third quarter. "They were letting the ball in the middle," Guerra-Howard said. "Our shooters, Ike (Rowser) and Anthony (Lorenzo), the defense was helping on them and it was easier for us to score in the paint." Wadsworth star guard Solomon Callaghan ended the run with a pull-up jumper with 3:09 left in the third, but by then it was far too late for the Grizzlies to seriously threaten the Titans the rest of the way. Prior to that basket, Lorain held Wadsworth's all-time leading scorer to just five points. Callaghan finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists. The future Wright State guard ended his career with 1,463 points. "We were just trying to double-team him and get the ball out of his hands," Guerra-Howard said. "He's good and he had a couple good shots, but getting the ball out of his hands helped us a lot." Lorain forced nine of the 16 Wadsworth turnovers in the third quarter, when it held Wadsworth to just nine points and had a 44-32 lead going into the final quarter. "Defensively, we've been a lot more solid these past three games," Pettis said. "We've been rebounding more, especially our guards." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. Lorain 63, Wadsworth 54 LORAIN (63): Ike Rowswer 3-0-7, Jai'den Guerra-Howard 7-3-19, Christian Ruiz 4-4-12, Asiah Kielian 3-0-7, Dennis Pettis 6-4-16, Anthony Lorenzo 0-0-0, Mikah Kimbrough 0-0-0, Sae'Vonn Brown 1-0-2. Totals 24-11-64. WADSWORTH (54): Maxx Bosley 2-3-7, Alex Neville 0-0-0, Finn Schmitt 1-0-2, Solomon Callaghan 4-7-17, Caden Madigan 6-4-19, Luke McMillen 1-0-2, Elliot Simmons 3-0-7. Totals 17-14-54. Lorain&emsp;&emsp;12&emsp;&emsp;20&emsp;&emsp;12&emsp;&emsp;19&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;63 Wadsworth&emsp;&emsp;10&emsp;&emsp;13&emsp;&emsp;9&emsp;&emsp;22&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;54 3-point goals — Guerra-Howard 2, Rowser, Kielian. Rebounds — Wadsworth 24 (Callaghan 7), Lorain 23 (Ruiz 11). Assists — Lorain 10 (Pettis 3), Wadsworth 8 (Callaghan 5).