Boys basketball: Firelands falls in overtime to Cloverleaf

WESTFIELD TWP. — Everything that had worked so well for 32 minutes broke down for Firelands in the final four. After battling back to tie Cloverleaf at the Joe Tait Classic on Saturday night to send the game into overtime, the Falcons struggled in the extra session and dropped a 72-67 non-league showdown. Firelands (5-3) did a great job of taking care of the ball and had good movement, which led to open looks and a solid shooting night. "We were moving the ball around a lot and finding the open person," Firelands' Chris Radman said. "As the game moved on, we deviated from that a little bit and started forcing bad shots and slowing our pace down." Radman scored eight of his team-high 23 points in the fourth quarter, including two clutch free throws with 7.2 seconds left to push the game into overtime. Entering the final frame in front 52-49, the Falcons were outscored 11-4 by the Colts (6-4) and fell behind 60-56 with 3:20 remaining. Radman cut it to 60-58 and a forced turnover led to a game-tying bucket from Max Stinson (13 points, four assists) with 1:30 to play. The Colts responded with another bucket to go back in front, but Radman buried his late-game free throws to keep the game alive. In the extra session things quickly went downhill for Firelands. The open looks went away and four crucial turnovers allowed Cloverleaf to pull away. "Through four minutes, we had four turnovers, which is something we've struggled with the last two years," Radman said. "We've been better with it the past two games, but it caught back up with us in the overtime." The overtime turnover total nearly equaled the five turnovers committed in the first four quarters combined. Firelands was just 1-of-8 from the floor and 3-of-6 at the free throw line in the extra time. The deficit reached 72-64 before the Falcons frenetic rally came up just short. "The ball got a little stagnant," said Firelands' Aiden Fortner, who had 12 points and eight rebounds. "We really need to go back to our roots. We pride ourselves on getting it into the middle. The ball just got a little sticky, so we just needed to find a way to get back to our roots and we really didn't get there tonight." Fortner was a big contributor off the bench with his biggest impact coming in the third quarter with nine points and four boards, three offensive, during the quarter to help the Falcons regain the lead. The Falcons contained 6-foot-8 big man Logan Forbes in the first half, limiting the senior to just eight points and three rebounds. But, as he started to get loose in the second half, things got harder for Firelands. "He is big and he is good around the rim," Fortner said. "It was just playing percentages and keeping him out and distant from the rim." Forbes finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Cloverleaf was led by Marty Moran who had 24 points, six rebounds and nine assists while Carter Whitehair had 19 points. Cloverleaf 72, Firelands 67 (OT) FIRELANDS 18 13 21 10 5 — 67 CLOVERLEAF 13 19 17 13 10 — 72 Firelands – Chris Radman 7-7-23, Max Stinson 5-1-13, Nathaniel Duke 0-0-0, Jimmy Aunspaw 3-1-8, Nate Draga 2-0-4, Nick Dunfee 2-0-5, Trace Kaplak 0-0-0, Rylan Copen 0-0-0, Aiden Fortner 5-0-12, Devin Linn 1-0-2, Bryan Grega 0-0-0. TOTALS: 25-9-67. Cloverleaf – Gavin Cauley 0-0-0, Carter Whitehair 6-4-19, Logan Forbes 8-3-19, Marty Moran 8-5-24, Ty Novak 0-0-0, Dylan Bresnahan 2-0-4, Isaac Smith 3-0-6, Kellen Price 0-0-0. TOTALS: 27-12-72. 3-point goals – Fortner 2, Radman 2, Stinson 2, Aunspaw, Dunfee, Moran 3, Whitehair 3 . Rebounds – Firelands 29 (Fortner 8) , Cloverleaf 36 (Forbes 14). Assists – Firelands 12 (Stinson 4), Cloverleaf 18 (Moran 9). Records – Firelands (5-3) Cloverleaf (6-4). Junior varsity – Firelands 60, Cloverleaf 54.