Boys Basketball: Black River struggles but pushes past shorthanded Clearview

SULLIVAN TWP. — Despite missing two starters and several reserves Friday, Clearview managed to get off to an excellent start. The Clippers led Black River by four after one quarter and were down just two at halftime, but the Pirates pulled away in the second half for a 50-36 Lorain County League win. "We struggled offensively," said Clearview coach Bobby Gossom. "We panicked, we forced a lot of shots and we didn't take care of the basketball. Defensively, we played really well, but the biggest thing was offensively, we struggled shooting the ball and struggled finishing around the rim, so that's not a good combination." In the first quarter, the Clippers shot 6-for-16 from the field, but in the final three periods, they went just 9-for-42 as the Pirates caught them in the second quarter and extended the lead after halftime. The Pirates (9-4, 5-4) have played cleaner games, but the win was yet another display of how much they have improved. For a program that hasn't had a winning season since 2009, victories when not playing its best are a huge positive. Leading scorer Parker Broadsword dealt with foul trouble the entire night and scored just six points, well off his season average of 17.0. Black River was still able to dominate the second half and come away with a double-digit win. "We just went back to our fundamentals and what we practice every day," first-year coach Kyle Dack said. "We were kind of getting away from that a little bit, so we took a timeout and said that if we just play hard and get after it, we'll be all right at the end of the game. That's what happened." Clearview was missing plenty of players, and has been for the last few games, but the biggest miss is Deacon Delgado, who has been one of Clearview's best players this season and is heavily relied upon on the offensive end. "(Missing guys) is huge, especially when Deacon's out," Gossom said. "But I'm proud of the way the guys have been playing. We've been shorthanded for a while, and Deacon's out a couple more weeks, at least, so it is what it is. I think guys have done a really good job of stepping up, and now they know that they have to stay focused." This season has been a rough one for Clearview (1-12, 1-7), and things are not going to get any easier as it continues to deal with injuries, but Gossom knows that this is the most important time for his team to stick together. "We've got to trust each other on the offensive end," he said. "On the defensive end, we trust each other and we play hard. Offensively, we have to learn to slow down and trust what we're running and trust the guys that are out on the floor together." While their offense struggled, especially after halftime, the Clippers' defense was a major positive, especially the ability to force turnovers. The Clippers forced the Pirates into 28 turnovers, nearly twice as many as their season average of 14.8. The Pirates were able to overcome. "At halftime, Coach got on us a little bit," Black River senior center Zane Bungard said. "We were playing pretty bad. We just had to get something going. We knew we could beat this team." Without Broadsword's usual contributions, plenty of players were able to pick up the slack. Bungard finished with a team-high 14 points and junior Zane Kristophel was right behind with 13. Austin Pamer added eight off the bench, while Josh Stuart scored seven and hit the Pirates' only 3-pointer. "We always preach unselfish basketball," Dack said. "The more the season goes on, the more we do that. We have a different leading scorer all the time, so we just keep preaching moving the ball and if it's not your night, it's not your night." After losing the first quarter 15-11, the Pirates outscored the Clippers 49-21 the rest of the way in large part thanks to their defense, which held the Clippers to 21.4 percent shooting in the final three quarters. "We have a clear goal of how we want to play basketball," Dack said. "We want to defend first, and scoring will come after that. I think we've held nine opponents to under 50 points, so for us, it's just about the defense. I think they accepted the challenge really well." Not only has Black River held nine of its 13 opponents to under 50 points, the only two LCL teams to reach that mark are league leaders Keystone and Brookside. With their next conference game coming against Wellington (2-10, 1-7), the Pirates will be favored to reach double-digit wins for the first time since going 10-12 in 2009-10. "It's been an amazing feeling," Bungard said. "I've never been on a basketball team with over five wins, so to have this, it's good to go out my senior year with a good season." Contact Will Cunningham at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Black River 50, Clearview 36 Clearview (36): Nysir Houston 3-0-7, Brayden Pearson 0-2-2, De'Zonn Chapman 6-0-12, Juelz Chapman 1-0-2, Montez Sanchez-Miller 1-0-2, Damir Mosley 2-2-6, Joe Stephens 2-0-5. Totals 15-4-36. Black River (50): Wade Mangan 0-0-0, Austin Pamer 4-0-8, Dominic Bell 0-0-0, Zane Bungard 6-2-14, Parker Broadsword 2-2-6, Zane Kristophel 5-3-13, Josh Stuart 3-0-7, Hunter Varney 1-0-2. Totals 21-7-50. Clearview&emsp;15&emsp;8&emsp;9&emsp;4&emsp;—&emsp;36 Black River&emsp;11&emsp;14&emsp;13&emsp;12&emsp;—&emsp;50 Three-point goals: Clearview (Houston, Stephens), Black River (Stuart). Field goals: Clearview 15-58 (25.9 percent), Black River 21-37 (56.8 percent). Free throws: Clearview 4-10 (40 percent), Black River 7-15 (46.7 percent). Rebounds: Clearview 22, Black River 30. Turnovers: Clearview 20, Black River 28. Team fouls: Clearview 17, Black River 10. Junior varsity: Clearview, 40-29.