Boys Basketball: Cardinals get hot in second half, pull away from Columbia

SHEFFIELD — After a rough-and-tumble first half, Brookside nursed a three-point lead against Columbia in a Lorain County League game Tuesday night. The Cardinals came out of the locker room and opened the second half with a 12-2 run and weren't challenged the rest of the way in a 83-62 win. They improved to 2-1 overall, 2-0 in the LCL. "There was no adjustment in the second half, they know us and we know them," Cardinals coach Larry Babics said. "We are the team that if we make baskets, the defense gets a little better, the feelings get a little bit better and we get playing at our pace." The first half saw the Raiders (3-1, 1-1) continually make runs at Brookside to keep the pressure on the three-time league champions. After 3-pointers by Noah Muniz and Mason Waechter helped give the Cards an early 14-7 lead, Columbia's Carter Hess hit three straight threes to grab a 16-14 lead late in the first. Brookside answered with 3-pointers by Danny Fries and Waechter to finish the quarter, but Columbia came back to tie the score at 26 on buckets by Mason Bledsoe, Jack Washburn, Dylan Fisher and three free throws by Hess with just under five minutes left in the half. Right after the tie, Waechter picked up his second foul with 4:21 on the clock and sat for the balance of the half. "Going into foul trouble early is never good, but I put my trust in my teammates to fill my spot," said Waechter, who finished with 20 points. "They all can shoot, they all can get to the rim and rebound. We didn't do a great job rebounding early, but we did well in the second half." The Raiders couldn't make up any ground, finishing the half trailing 38-35, and it could have been worse had Logan Menge (12 points) not scored the final seven points for Columbia, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Brookside's halftime talk worked wonders as it came out hitting 4-of-6 from the floor on a Zeke Lind layin, a short jumper and a three by Waechter to go with a Muniz 3-pointer and a pair of free throws from Colton Casey for a 50-37 lead. The Raiders got the lead under double digits on two occasions following a pair of 3-pointers from Fisher (15 points), but the Cards lead ballooned following five points by Ethan Blythe (11 points) and Lind to start the fourth with a commanding 69-52 lead. "We have a lot of speed on our team and we're very versatile, everyone is a ballhandler," said Lind, who had a double-double with a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds. "Once we get to the middle, we kick out to the corner for wide-open threes and the whole team can shoot." "We made a run to close that second quarter, but the third quarter we had some good defensive possessions, but they started getting second and third chances," Raiders coach Josh Scharf said. "They would get out for threes and those were banger threes, and they were backbreaking." Contact James Brady at jbrady_ct@yahoo.com. BROOKSIDE 83, COLUMBIA 62 COLUMBIA (62): Jack Washburn 2-0-5, Logan Menge 4-3-12, Dylan Fisher 6-0-15, Jacob Reust 1-0-2, Graham Ross 1-0-2, Ambrose Beach 0-0-0, Dylan Sloan 0-0-0, Ryan Smith 1-1-3, Carter Hess 3-3-12, Mason Bledsoe 4-2-11, Noah Scharf 0-0-0. Totals 22-9-62. BROOKSIDE (83): Alex Arra 0-2-2, Davian Audifire 1-0-2, Etan Blythe 4-3-11, Mason Waechter 7-2-20, Danny Fries 4-0-12, Colton Casey 2-2-6, Zeke Lind 10-2-24, Noah Muniz 2-0-6. Totals 30-11-83. Columbia&emsp;16&emsp;19&emsp;12&emsp;15&emsp;—&emsp;62 Brookside&emsp;22&emsp;16&emsp;21&emsp;24&emsp;—&emsp;83 Three-point goals: Columbia 9-24 (38 percent, Fisher 3, Hess 3, Washburn, Menge, Bledsoe), Brookside 12-27 (44 percent, Waechter 4, Fries 4, Lind 2, Muniz 2). Field goals: Columbia 22-64 (34 percent); Brookside 30-56 (54 percent). Free throws: Columbia 9-18 (50 percent); Brookside 11-14 (79 percent). Rebounds: Columbia 35, Brookside 39 Turnovers: Columbia 10, Brookside 9 Fouled out: Menge Junior varsity: Brookside, 57-52.