Boys sectional basketball: Defensive switch sparks North Ridgeville in win over Rhodes

NORTH RIDGEVILLE — One adjustment made all the difference for North Ridgeville in its Division I sectional final Saturday against Cleveland Rhodes. After the Rangers watched the 17th-seeded Rams drain four 3-pointers to take an early lead, they changed their defense, held Rhodes to seven points in the second period to regain the lead and went on to post a 73-62 win. The 10th-seeded Rangers improve to 18-6 and advance to a district semifinal against third-seeded Garfield Heights at Copley High School on Wednesday at 7 p.m. "We let (Antwon Reynolds) get loose early and he is a heck of a shooter," North Ridgeville coach Ben Chase said of the Rams' standout, who hit three of the four threes in the early run. "Once we started shading a little more and started trapping in the corners, that really helped bother them and forced them into some turnovers. "We were able to play transition basketball. Everyone says Rhodes plays fast, well, we play fast, and we are comfortable playing at that pace." Luckily for the Rangers, they had their own 3-point shooter going in the first quarter. Jackson Stacy came out firing, hitting all three of his shots from behind the arc to get the offense moving in the right direction. "We want to come out every game fast on offense," said Stacy, who finished with 14 points. "We hit some threes that got us out there and helped us keep the lead the whole game (after the first quarter)." It didn't take long for North Ridgeville to flip the score, getting a layin from Griffin Turay and Jake Boynar's first four points to knot the score at 21. Turay gave the Rangers the lead for good at 25-24 with a putback with 4:12 left in the second quarter. North Ridgeville finished the first half on a 13-4 run to carry a 36-28 lead into halftime. "I think we did a good job of playing our own game today. We didn't let them control the tempo of the game because we love to run with the ball," said Turay, who led all scorers with 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds. "I think that's what we're good at and can create a lot of advantage." Neither team played much defense to start the second half as the Rangers hit six of their first seven shots and Rhodes made five of six to get within 43-39, but they only got closer once the rest of the way. Following a Kenyon Giles (20 points) 3-pointer to get within four, Turay scored on a driving basket, Boynar (19 points) scored in the paint, Jayden Parish added a layin and Stacy drained his fourth 3-pointer for a 52-42 lead that didn't get tested until late in the fourth. The Rams (16-7) got within 65-62 on a Reynolds (20 points) three, but the Rangers scored the final eight points. "These guys have played in I don't know how many close games," Chase said. "We've probably had 12 or 13 close games all year that has prepared us. They were pressing us and giving us advantages offensively and we're comfortable playing in that." Contact James Brady at (440) 329-7135 or jbrady_ct@yahoo.com. North Ridgeville 73, Rhodes 62 RHODES (62): Desean Mathews 2-0-5, Kenton Giles 7-5-20, Demetrius Jones 6-1-13, Elion Williams 1-0-2, Elijah Villamil 1-0-2, Antwon Reynolds 6-3-20, Luis Espada 0-0-0, Traeven Green 0-0-0. Totals 23-9-62. NORTH RIDGEVILLE (73): Collin Jones 4-0-8, Carson Iezzi 3-0-6, Jake Boynar 8-2-19, Owen Pawul 1-0-2, Griffin Turay 11-1-24, Jackson Stacy 5-0-14. Totals 32-3-73. Rhodes&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp; 21&emsp; &emsp;7&emsp;&emsp;22&emsp;&emsp;12&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;62North Ridgeville&emsp;&emsp;15&emsp;&emsp;21&emsp;&emsp;20&emsp;&emsp;17&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;73 Three-point goals: Rhodes 7-25 (28 percent, Reynolds 5, Matthews, Giles), North Ridgeville 6-13 (46 percent, Stacy 4, Boynare, Turay). Field goals: Rhodes 23-62 (37 percent); North Ridgeville 32-53 (60 percent). Free throws: Rhodes 9-14 (64 percent). North Ridgeville 3-8 (38 percent). Rebounds: Rhodes 29, North Ridgeville 39. Turnovers: Rhodes 12, North Ridgeville 20. Fouled out: Giles