by Westlake, OH- Holy Name’s big three excelled tonight as the Green Wave took down Westlake 80-67 in a rematch of the 2023 GLC Championship game.
The first quarter started off rough for Holy Name. The Demons jumped out to a 5-0 lead on the back of Ryan Turk’s first triple. The Green Wave battled back by driving to the basket. In total, HN converted six field goals from inside the arc this quarter. Leading the charge in overall scoring this frame was Adam Humenik and Drew Styers who both posted 6 points. However, 4 of Humenik’s 6 came from the charity stripe. Joe Lewis got open under the basket for his only 2 points of the contest while Max Bollin tallied 5 points this quarter. Evan Hargett led Westlake with 6 points this quarter followed by Hayden Purdy who had 3. Purdy’s points all came on one possession where he earned an and one after driving. He proceeded to knock down the free throw. While the Green Wave led 19-16 heading into the second, the Demons still looked to force more errors and the Namers likewise.
Holy Name began to pull away in the second quarter. The Green Wave played team basketball by distributing the points among 5 players. Andrew Cole led the way with 6 points, all from beyond the arc. Aiden Butler contributed 5 points to the cause as he used his shorter stature to drive and force contact. The big 3 of Bollin, Styers, and Humenik combined for 11 points to round out the scoring for HN. Westlake struggled to score this quarter with their highest scorer posting 3 points. Heading into the locker room, Holy Name led 41-29.
History was made for the Green Wave in the third quarter. Adam Humenik has earned varsity minutes since he was a freshman back in the 2020/21 season. Today, his hard work culminated in some personal achievements. He drained three 3’s in the third. This was enough to see him break 100 career 3’s for HN. In addition, that same 3 also got him up to 500 career points. He knew heading into this game that he could hit this milestone, but he remained humble about it. After the game, he told me, “It feels great but really the only thing that matters is getting the win and going far in the playoffs now.” Going back to Westlake, getting Derek Occhipinti and Turk going offensively was key. In the first half, they posted a combined 12 points. In the third quarter alone, they had 18 combined points. While the Demons outscored Holy Name in the third, they still trailed 62-51 heading into the fourth.
The fourth quarter slowed things down to bring the contest to a close. Styers added 12 points to give himself 26 total on the night. Jeffrey Jemison, Butler, and Humenik all added 2’s of their own to close out Holy Name’s scoring. Jackson Moore and Turk both converted from downtown to keep the game close in the early stages of the quarter. However, the game quickly got out of reach. Occhipinti added his final 6 points to take his tally to 20 on the night. The scary thing about Occhipinti is that basketball is not his top sport. He is committed to the University of Akron to play baseball. This kid’s athleticism is off the charts and I’m sure the Zips will see it on the diamond many times. However, today would be Holy Name’s day as they took home the 80-67 victory.
With this win, Holy Name eliminated Westlake from GLC contention. The conference is now down to the Green Wave and Lakewood. Both teams have 8 wins in GLC play, but HN has 0 losses. The earliest HN could clinch the conference is next Tuesday against Bay. However, crosstown rivals Valley Forge get a chance to knock off the Green and White this Friday and play spoiler. Westlake looks to get back to .500 against Elyria Catholic on Friday.
Westlake Key Players:
#1 Ryan Turk: 19 Points
#20 Derek Occhipinti: 20 Points
#34 Evan Hargett: 12 Points
Holy Name Key Players:
#3 Drew Styers: 26 Points
#12 Adam Humenik: 21 Points
#13 Aiden Butler: 9 Points
Player of the Game: Adam Humenik
