by CANTON, Ohio– Ten hours of practice in the last two days. That’s what Lutheran East coach Sam Liggins had his team go through to prepare for the back-to-back-to-back state champions in Richmond Heights.
The Falcons were able to pull away late in the fourth quarter from the Spartans during the Division V, Region 17 regional final Saturday afternoon, stopping a chance at history for the Spartans to win four consecutive state championships.
“I told them if you want to win this game, this is what it takes,” Liggins stated about the practice leading up to Saturday’s regional final.
Former Spartan TJ Crumble was a big spark for the Falcons to start the game. With them trailing 6-5 with three minutes left in the first quarter, that’s when Ohio State commit Dorian Jones started to take over for the Spartans.
His team ended the final three minutes on a 13-3 run to take a double-digit lead into the second quarter. Foul trouble and injuries then started to plague the Spartans. Jones would appear to come down with a leg injury three minutes into the second quarter.
Two minutes later, Demarius Winters picked up his third and fourth fouls of the half, forcing him to the bench. That’s when Crumble and freshman Dylan Zeigler began to get their team within striking distance. After trailing by 12 with four minutes left, the two of them headlined a quarter-ending 12-4 run, trailing by just four points heading into halftime.
Crumble had a game-high 16 first-half points along with Zeigler’s nine, including seven points throughout the second quarter. Senior guard De’Erick Barber had 13 points to pace the Spartan offense at the break.
The message at the break for Liggins and his team was to settle down and take the game one possession at a time.
“We’re here, let’s climb back,” Liggins said regarding the halftime message. “Keep playing, keep attacking and keep handling adversity.”
The Falcons came out of halftime uber aggressive, eventually a 37-36 lead to start the third quarter. Once the Spartans adjusted to their physical play, they matched it with a 12-2 run themselves. Sophomore point guard Chris Hill made a few hustle plays down the stretch, including getting an offensive rebound and layup to fall. They trailed just 50-46 heading into the fourth quarter.
For the majority of the second half, the Spartans tried to isolate and attack Crumble offensively, but the size and athleticism from Crumble overmatched that and the Falcons were able to take advantage of the empty possessions from the Spartans.
Dorian Jones picked up his fifth foul with five minutes left in the fourth quarter, forcing him to sit the remainder of the game. From there, the Falcons ended the game on a 12-7 run. That game-ending run was headlined by players like Crumble, Chris Hill and Ty Harrison. All three players made impactful plays on both sides of the ball down the stretch that found the Spartans looking for answers.
Crumble led the way with a game-high 25 points during the win along with Hill’s 16 points and Zeigler rounding out the scoring with 12.
For the Spartans, Demarris Winters led the way with a team-high 19 points followed by 18 points from Barber.
“I can’t give enough credit to coach Sam, he’s a legendary coach,” Crumble stated after the win. “Just being able to hold our composure, we’re a younger team and a lot of younger teams struggle to hold their composure.”
For the junior forward, winning at this stage against the team he won a state championship with a year ago was one of the best moments of his playing career to date.
“Basketball wise, besides winning states my freshman year, this is the second-best feeling I’ve ever felt.”
