by Today’s Cleveland Basketball Classic was sponsored by Ken Ganley Nissan of Mayfield. You can learn more about them here.
https://www.mayfieldnissan.com/
University Heights, Ohio – Lutheran West held off a furious Shaker Heights rally to defeat the Raiders, 66-60, in Game #1 of the Scholastic Play-Play Classic at John Carroll University.
The Longhorns led, 17-16, after a fast paced first quarter. Jayson Levis had ten points and knocked down a pair of triples. Kellon Smith countered with 7 points for Shaker Heights.
Lutheran West caught fire in the second quarter, thanks to a 17-4 run. This pushed their lead to 34-20 with 2:55 left in the half. Levis had seven points in the stanza, and Dylan Bartchak sank a pair of triples. They would take a 36-25 lead into the break.
The Longhorns led 53-42 at the end of the third quarter. However, Shaker Heights would not go down without a fight.
Thanks to the efforts of Kellon Smith, Noah Chambers, and Kaden Aaron, and a defensive press, the Red Raiders trimmed their deficit to 56-49 with 5:50 to play.
The Red Raiders cut the deficit to 62-60, thanks to a Kellon Smith layup. They came up with a huge stop on defense and took over possession with 37.4 left with a chance to tie or take the lead.
However, the Longhorn defense came up with a stop of their own, forcing a turnover to take back possession. Free throws by Derek Fairley and Junior Kambomba iced the game.
Lutheran West travels to Wickliffe to continue CVC Metro play on Friday, January 13th. They were led by junior guard Jayson Levis, who had 22 points for the Longhorns. Sophomore Matt Meyer had nine points, and junior Dylan Bartchak had eight.
Shaker Heights (5-5) hosts Lorain to continue Lake Erie League conference play Friday, January 13th, and hosts Rhodes in a non-conference contest Saturday, January 14th. They were led with 19 points from senior guard Kellon Smith, followed by 15 each from Ricardo Johnson and Noah Chambers.
Game MVPs:
Kellon Smith (Shaker Heights)
Jayson Levis (Lutheran West)
Extended highlights here:
