by ROCKY RIVER, OH – The Knights of Archbishop Hoban came into the Wittrock Gymnasium and defeated the Lutheran West Longhorns in front of their home crowd. Jonas Nichols paced the Knights on the offensive end tonight, dropping 22 points.
The first half of the ball game was back and forth and filled with physicality throughout. Archbishop Hoban got out to an early lead in the 1st quarter. They extended that lead to 7 points by the end of the period thanks to a 3-ball from Freshman forward John Johnson that beat the buzzer. Joey Hardman led the Knights in scoring with 8 in the opening frame.
After giving up 24 points in the 1st, Lutheran West stepped up in a big way on the defensive end. They allowed just 8 points from the Knights in the 2nd. Constant ball movement and attacking inside gave the Longhorns good looks at the basket. They slowly but surely cut into the Hoban lead. Senior Guard Jayson Levis knotted the game up at 32 on a drive to the basket, just in time to beat the halftime buzzer. Levis led the way for the Longhorns with 10 heading into the break.
Archbishop Hoban got back to their scoring ways in the 3rd quarter. They outscored the Longhorns 19-10 in the period to give them a 9-point lead with just a quarter to play. Jonas Nichols was starting to heat up from the field as well for the Knights. The Senior Guard dropped 8 points in the frame to increase his scoring total to 15.
Jayson Levis and the Longhorns did everything they could to will themselves back into the game. With 3:46 left in the 4th, the Longhorns were gaining momentum and had cut the Knights’ lead to 6. The Knights would take it right back though on tough shots from Jonas Nichols. Two late 3-pointers from Tino Yli-Junnila had cut the Hoban lead to just 4. However, it was too little too late for the Longhorns as the Hoban Knights would cash in on their opportunities at the free throw line to put the game on ice. At the final buzzer, the Hoban Knights came out with a 68-62 victory.
With the victory, the Archbishop Hoban Knights advance to 10-6 on the season. They will host the Holy Name Green Wave (8-6) on Tuesday, January 30th at 7PM. For the Longhorns, the loss drops them to 14-2 on the season. They will travel to Fairview Park on Tuesday, January 30th to take on the Fairview Warriors (10-3) at 7PM.
Key Players
Archbishop Hoban
Jonas Nichols: 22 points
Joey Hardman: 12 points, 2 3-pointers
Sam Greer: 10 points
Lutheran West
Jayson Levis: 20 points, 2 3-pointers
Matt Meyer: 13 points
Tino Yli-Junnila: 12 points, 2 3-pointers
PLAYER OF THE GAME: JONAS NICHOLS
