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COPLEY, Ohio– A small second-half adjustment was all it took for JR Bremer and his staff to complete the comeback Thursday night in the Division I, Region IV district semifinal.
A more defensive-minded effort is what eventually pulled No. 9 Cleveland Heights (18-7) past No. 7 Brunswick (17-7), 63-56, setting up a third meeting with Garfield Heights Saturday afternoon for a district championship.
FINAL: Cleveland Heights 63, Brunswick 56 @SportsKee1 @Heights_Hoops
Next up: district championship game against Garfield Heights! pic.twitter.com/AxiKLBJdCv— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) March 3, 2023
“We made a conscious effort not to let them get as many open threes as they did in the second quarter,” Bremer said. “The biggest talk (at halftime) was not to let them get open threes.”
Bremer was speaking for the fact that as a team, the Blue Devils knocked down nine 3-pointers in the first half, but it didn’t start off the right way for them in the first quarter.
The Tigers seemed to intimidate the Blue Devils throughout the first quarter, as they got off to a swift 16-3 start, forcing the Blue Devils to turn the ball over five times in the game’s opening eight minutes of play.
The second quarter was a different story.
That’s when Joe Mackey’s team started to test their 3-point shot and that seemed to be all the difference in the world closing out the first half. In fact, Maxx Dickinson had two four-point plays in the first half, as he scored a game-high 17 points in the first half to help spark a major comeback for his team.
Players like Dickinson, Tommy Morgan and Quinn Barnett seemed to benefit the most with the ball in their hands outside the arc. They were able to kickstart a slew of scoring runs throughout the second quarter, leading the Tigers in disbelief.
The Blue Devils would go on the out-score the Tigers 29-13 to take a 39-29 lead at the break.
It was at the start of the second half that Bremer thought the game turned and momentum swung his favor. His team opened up on a swift 5-0 run, eventually getting the game within two points midway through the third quarter.
Eventually, a Braylyn Irby corner 3-pointer ultimately gave the Tigers their first lead of the game, 47-45, with three minutes left in the third quarter and from there, the Tigers would surrender just 11 more points in the game’s final 11 minutes of play.
“Those first two to three minutes of the first and second half are important to see how the game is going to go,” Bremer said about coming out in the second half with an edge. “We could have easily folded down 13 or we could have come down and fought and we fought.”
How about this hustle play from @ShemarionHardy3, Cleveland Heights leads 50-47 as the 3rd Q winds down @SportsKee1 pic.twitter.com/TCOHlkwyHG
— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) March 3, 2023
Three players scored at least 15 points for the Tigers, with Jaeden Lawson leading the way with a team-high 17 points, followed by Rondelle Pollard and Rayvelle Duncan each pouring in 15 points during the win.
“As games go on, you can’t have one scorer with 27 points and then three guys with five, six and seven,” Bremer explained about the importance of some of his players stepping up in key moments. “It takes a team effort and that’s the main goal, if we can get a good shot, we know we can get a better shot….we want to get the best shot possible.”
The second half was dominated by the Tigers, their defensive pressure forced a myriad of turnovers with Bremer’s team taking full advantage of those opportunities down the stretch.
In fact, the Tigers gave up just 17 points in the third and fourth quarters combined after Brunswick shot the lights out of the gym in the second quarter, erupting for 29 points to head into halftime with some confidence.
“That’s an incredibly talented group of kids over there and we had them on the ropes,” Brunswick head coach Joe Mackey said after the loss. “It hurts, this one hurts a little bit. We were in position but didn’t close (out the game).”
The Tigers never trailed in the fourth quarter . The Blue Devils kept inching back, being down two and three points with under two minutes left in the game. With the Blue Devils trying their best to force a turnover with under 30 seconds left, Irby was able to find an open Rayvelle Duncan under the rim to make it a two-possession game with twenty seconds left.
Rayvelle Duncan makes it a 5-point lead for @Heights_Hoops with 20 seconds left pic.twitter.com/roDfdKmIC1
— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) March 3, 2023
That proved to be the dagger as the Tigers are now set to face Garfield Heights for a third time this season, this time, for a trip to the regional stage.
“We didn’t even speak on Garfield,” Bremer said about the postgame message. “We just told them to enjoy the win…we fought through adversity and kept fighting.”
