by BEREA, OH – It was all St. Ed’s from start to finish in a 89-50 victory over NDCL at today’s Cleveland Basketball Classic. The Eagles did an incredible job moving the ball as 12 different players scored.
I spoke to Coach Eric Flannery postgame about the ball movement and getting everyone involved in the action, “It’s very important to find the right combinations with this being the first game of the year. You want to find the right combinations and want your guys to come out and play hard, but also show they know what they are doing. We played well and it is always good to get extra guys into the game”, said Coach Flannery.
The Eagles were led in scoring by their three senior starters JT Kelsheimer with 14, while Bryan Vlosich had 13 and Zymir Knox scored 12. Fellow starter Carson Link scored 9 while Mike Williams had 9 as well. Also scoring fast and furious was Sam Variglotti with 8 while Dustin Hess had 6, Kellen Juliana and Kaleb Gettis each scored 4 as Owen McGurer scored 3. Finishing with 2 each was Maxton Tate and Will Briggs.
Leading the way for the Lions was Wesley Jacobson with 16 while Luke Keep scored 12 and Brendan Hernan finished with 11. Also scoring for the Lions was Jason Rook with 4 while Jack Sonby and Brady Capel each had 3. Robby Lipowski finished the scoring for the Lions with 1.
It was a tightly contested first four minutes as the Lions led early, 9-6 on the strength of three pointers from Jacobson and Jack Sonby. The Eagles responded with six straight from Hess and Vlosich to take their first lead of the game at 12-9. Ansberry added two more points with foul shots, and it was 14-9 with 3:10 left in the first. The Eagles finished the first quarter up 23-15 on the strength of 10 of 11 from the line.
The Eagles began the second quarter on a 6-0 run with buckets from Knox and Gettis before Brendan Hernan stopped it with a foul shot. The Eagles answered with 7 straight from Mike Williams to secure their largest lead of the game at 36-16. From there a few moments later it was Vlosich hitting a three to increase the Eagle lead to 43-20 with 3:34 to play. The Eagles cruised to a 51-25 halftime lead from there.
JT Kelsheimer came out of the locker room with all guns a blazing, scoring 8 points to help extend the Eagle lead to 64-31 with 4:46 left in the third quarter. A few moments later, a Vlosich fast break bucket would trigger the running clock at 67-31. The Eagles took a 74-35 lead into the fourth. The Eagles cruised from there to take home the 89-50 victory.
Coach Flannery spoke about why it was important for his team to stay focused the entire game despite the big lead, “That is part of the standards we talk about when we discuss what we want our program to be. We must always play hard and smart no matter what the scoreboard might say. “
