Boys Basketball: Black River gets ugly win over Wellington

SULLIVAN TWP. — Learning to crawl is required before walking, but at least Black River is moving in the right direction. Winning ugly sometimes is a necessary evil, and the Pirates did just that Friday in a 49-40 Lorain County League win over backyard rival Wellington. Considering they have only three winning seasons since 1969, they'll take them however they can get them. Black River (2-1, 2-1) threw the ball all over the bandbox gym in the first quarter, then couldn't hit a 3-pointer to save its life in the second. The Pirates still led 18-17 at halftime, took control in the third and put away the offensively challenged Dukes (0-4, 0-2) with an attacking mindset in the closing minutes. "We didn't play the best game ever, so we can only go up from here," Black River junior forward Zane Kristophel said. Kristophel was clearly the X-factor throughout on a night when the teams combined to miss their first 23 3-point attempts before Black River's Josh Stuart connected with 3:12 remaining in the third quarter. Kristophel, whose development skyrocketed when fellow post Zane Bungard sustained a season-ending knee injury last winter, finished with game highs of 17 points and 11 rebounds despite never being a focal point of the offense. Still learning to play together without injured starting point guard Hunter Varney, the Pirates also got a well-balanced nine points, seven rebounds and five assists from Parker Broadsword, who did a great job staying active in other ways despite a scoreless first half, eight points apiece from Stuart and Bungard and a clutch 3-pointer from long-range specialist Wade Mangan that pushed the score to 42-35 with 1:40 left. Black River made six of 21 field goals in the first half, missing all 11 3-pointers. It was 11-for-22 and 3-for-9 in the second, when it outscored Wellington 31-23. "We just battled through adversity," first-year coach Kyle Dack said. "We had a pretty clean game on Tuesday (in a 61-48 win at Clearview) with all things considered, and I said, 'They're not all going to be like that.' I think they just bought into that prospect." Wellington, which dominated the offensive glass in the first quarter, countered with 15 points from rangy point guard Landon Whitehouse, 14 from forward Deakan Wirth and 10 from wing Bryce Lemkuhl but made just seven of 28 field goals and was 0-of-11 on 3-pointers while falling behind 34-22 after three quarters. The Dukes also were outrebounded 32-24 for the game and had just four assists on 15 buckets. Wellington rallied to cut the deficit to 39-35 with two minutes left, but Black River elected not to stall and got the in-rhythm three from Mangan and a transition layup off a great touch-and-fire pass from Broadsword. The Pirates then somewhat closed at the line by making five of 10 attempts in the period and relied on a smarter defensive effort that atoned for numerous reaching fouls in a hard-to-watch first half. Add a noteworthy four points, seven rebounds and two assists from freshman first-team All-Ohio punter Dom Bell and Black River was proud of the way it persevered in a game that it probably would have lost while starting three freshmen last season. "We knew coming into this that we could beat them, but we also knew we had to work for it," Kristophel said. "We had a good week of practice. We worked hard and prepared for what we watched on film. We just went from there." Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com. Black River 49, Wellington 40 WELLINGTON (40): Bryce Lehmkuhl 3-4-10, Deakan Wirth 6-2-14, Gaven Wacker 0-1-1, James Wacker 0-0-0, Landon Whitehouse 6-2-15, David Roldan 0-0-0, Landon Beall 0-0-0. Totals 15-9-40.BLACK RIVER (49): Austin Pamer 0-0-0, Zane Kristophel 6-5-17, Zane Bungard 4-0-8, Parker Broadsword 3-3-9, Josh Stuart 3-0-8, Wade Mangan 1-0-3, Dom Bell 0-4-4. Totals 17-12-49. Wellington&emsp;10&emsp;7&emsp;5&emsp;18&emsp;—&emsp;40Black River&emsp;8&emsp;10&emsp;16&emsp;15&emsp;—&emsp;49 Three-point goals: Wellington 1-15 (Whitehouse), Black River 3-20 (Stuart 2, Mangan). Field goals: Wellington 15-43 (34.9 percent), Black River 17-43 (39.5 percent). Free throws: Wellington 9-18 (50 percent), Black River 12-18 (66.7 percent). Rebounds: Wellington 24 (Wirth 6), Black River 32 (Kristophel 11). Assists: Wellington 4 (Whitehouse 2), Black River 12 (Broadsword 5). Turnovers: Wellington 14, Black River 15. Total fouls: Wellington 17, Black River 18. Fouled out: None. Junior varsity: Wellington, 39-28.