by Twinsburg, Ohio – A pair of strong quarters proved to be the difference Saturday afternoon, as Archbishop Hoban defeated Nordonia, 58-44, in the OHSAA Division I Twinsburg District final.
Nordonia took an early 4-0 lead thanks to baskets from Landon Naylor and Isaac Cherry. Hoban responded with a layup from Jonas Nichols, followed by a triple from Andrew Griffith, to take the lead, 5-4.
From there, Hoban went on a 14-2 run to end the quarter. Jonas Nichols scored eight points, and Collin Coyne hit a triple to beat the buzzer.
Hoban led by as much as 23-8 in the second quarter before Nordonia started to claw their way back.
Joey Palinkas and Liam Gopalakrishna hit triples on back-to-back possessions to cut the Nordonia deficit to 23-14. Nordonia eventually cut their deficit to 27-25 at the half as part of a 17-4 run the rest of the half. Gopalakrishna also hit a jumper and another triple, and Landon Naylor capped the run with a driving layup.
However, the third quarter was all Hoban, as they scored all 15 points in the stanza. Logan Vowles hit a pair of triples and Andrew Griffith hit the other. The Hoban defense also played a huge rule, as they shut out Nordonia in the third, thanks to an outstanding defensive effort.
Nordonia’s scoring drought, which lasted 10+ minutes, finally ended with an Isaac Cherry layup with 7:10 left in the fourth. They cut their deficit to 48-39 with 2:51 left, thanks to a Landon Naylor layup. However, an Andrew Griffith triple on the other end pushed the Hoban lead back to 51-39, and Hoban held on from there.
Hoban, now 20-5, advances to the Kent Regional semifinal to take on Lakewood District winner St. Edward. The game will take place Tuesday night at the M.A.C. Center at Kent State University at 7:00 pm. They were led by senior forward Andrew Griffith, who had 15 points. Junior guard Jonas Nichols added 14, and senior guard Will Scott had ten.
Nordonia finishes their season at 21-4. They were led by senior guard Landon Naylor, who had 15 points.
