Boys basketball: Firelands breaks it open in second half to beat rival Vermilion

VERMILION — After the opening 16 minutes of Firelands' 74-48 win over Vermilion on Saturday night, the two Stillman Cup rivals were locked in a tight battle. They were tied at 17 after one quarter, and the Falcons clung to a slim two-point lead at the break after a sloppy second quarter. "I thought it was a good half for us," said Firelands coach Colin Myers. "We weathered their runs, we had three kids out the whole second quarter in foul trouble, so it was huge to go into halftime up. In the second half, the energy was unreal. We were able to rotate so many kids in, everybody did their job and everybody fed off each other." It didn't take the Falcons long to get going in the second half, as they forced a quick Vermilion timeout after scoring the first five points of the third quarter. That timeout wasn't enough to stop Firelands, and after a third quarter that ended with Ayden Fortner banking in a deep three at the buzzer, the Falcons led 56-40, having put up 29 points in the period. "We challenged (Ayden) at halftime," Myers said. "He's one of the leaders on this team, and we told him he's got to come alive, and he did." Fortner finished with 18 points, 14 coming in the second half, a total eclipsed only by Lucas Green, who had 22 for the Falcons. "(Green) tore his Achilles in the spring, and he worked his tail off to get back," Myers said. "He's starting to get his confidence back, and when he's on, he's one of the better guards around." Green was certainly on Saturday, and although this season has been a slow build after the injury, he is finally back to his best. "It's been really tough," he said. "It's been a mental challenge to be confident in that foot again eight or nine months after a torn Achilles. It's not easy, but hard work makes it a little easier." Green scored from all three levels against Vermilion to lead the charge, as Firelands scored 17 more points than it had in any of its previous games. "My coaches told me to be aggressive," Green said. "They told me to be confident and shoot my shot, and that's what I did. I actually felt really confident today." Aside from Green and Fortner's scoring, the biggest reason for Firelands' win was its dominance on the boards. The Falcons outrebounded the Sailors 35-26, with many of those rebounds coming on the offensive end, which allowed the Falcons to take nearly 20 more shots than the Sailors. "That's one of our keys every single game," Myers said. "It doesn't matter who we're playing, especially with the way we've been struggling to score this season so far. We need all the second- chance points we can get." After dropping five of its first six games, Firelands has gotten healthy and is starting to hit its stride with back-to-back wins, while Vermilion has now lost three in a row after winning five of its first six. The Falcons will try to keep their winning ways going on Friday against 1-5 Twinsburg, and the Sailors will look to end their losing streak against Garrett Morgan on Monday. Firelands 74, Vermilion 48 FIRELANDS (74): Lucas Green 8-4-22, Carson Lima 3-0-6, Mikey Janosik 1-0-2, Gabe DiFilippo 2-0-4, Max Brown 0-0-0, Carter Jones 3-0-7, Roman DiFilippo 0-0-0, Liam Tobicash 1-0-2, Logan Holt 3-1-9, Ayden Fortner 6-4-18, Brett Beury 2-0-4. Totals 29-9-74. VERMILION (48): Jerimiah Lopez 2-0-6, Noah Penton 0-2-2, Brock Meyers 4-2-11, Nate Pinkerton 0-2-2, Batu Aksoy 0-0-0, Trent Garcia 1-0-2, Micah Smith 0-0-0, Adam Gerber 2-0-5, Mason Cooper 2-0-6, Luke Habermehl 1-0-2, Luke Richardson 1-0-2, Drake Hooks 3-2-10, Trey Colahan 0-0-0. Totals 15-8-48. Firelands 17 10 29 18 — 74 Vermilion 17 8 15 8 — 48 Three-point field goals: Firelands (Green 2, Holt 2, Fortner 2, Jones), Vermilion (Lopez 2, Cooper 2, Hooks 2, Meyers, Gerber). Field goals: Firelands 29-62 (46.8 percent), Vermilion 15-42 (35.7 percent). Free throws: Firelands 9-13 (69.2 percent), Vermilion 8-19 (42.1 percent). Rebounds: Firelands 35, Vermilion 26. Turnovers: Firelands 7, Vermilion 18. Team fouls: Firelands 19, Vermilion 15. Junior varsity: Vermilion, 49-40