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COPLEY, Ohio– Garfield Heights never trailed Saturday afternoon, even using some senior leadership late in the fourth quarter to help run past Cleveland Heights, 52-42, capturing the team’s first district championship since 2017.
“It’s a blessing from god,” Garfield Heights freshman guard Marcus Johnson said. “I really wanted to get this one for my dad.”
The district final was the third time these teams met in the season, with the Bulldogs defeating the Tigers in the previous two during the regular season. It’s never easy to beat a team twice, let alone three times but the Bulldogs entered Saturday with pretty high confidence.
“You hear the thing that it’s hard to beat a team three times but what I told them is it’s not hard for a great team,” Bulldogs head coach Sonny Johnson said with a smile after the win. “I consider us a great team, one of those types of teams and I thought we can get the job done and we did.”
Three players scored in double figures for the Bulldogs, with senior point guard Tommie Benn leading the team with 12 points during the win, including eight in the final quarter to keep his team afloat, always with a lead Saturday afternoon.
Playing alongside guys like Marcus Johnson and Calvin Little Jr., you sometimes get overlooked a bit behind a talented, crowded backcourt. Benn made sure to do everything he can to make key plays for his team, including attacking the rim throughout the fourth quarter to get easy baskets near the rim.
“I knew I could have done more to get success off of my teammates and I decided to do what I can to help us win,” Benn said “Driving the basket is my bread and butter.”
Both teams went back and forth with what seemed to be a very physical and fast start to the game Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs took a 17-9 lead after the first quarter.
That’s when the Tigers started to find a rhythm offensively after trailing by double digits early on in the second quarter, players like Shemarion Hardy and Rayvelle Duncan got things going after forcing the Bulldogs into some forced shots, untimely getting the game within four points with three minutes left in the half.
But as the Bulldogs did for most of the game, their physicality turned defense into offense, heading into halftime with a six-point lead.
HALFTIME: Garfield leads Cleveland Heights 27-21 after @_calvin0 finds Deandre Jones to close out the first half. @SportsKee1 @sonnyjohnson32 pic.twitter.com/wbsOYPSLX4
— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) March 4, 2023
“Our confidence is high because we pride ourselves on defense,” Coach Johnson said. “CJ Little said it for us, ‘if they can’t score, they can’t win.’
That’s a big statement to say before a game…If they can’t score then they can’t win and we pride ourselves in that and I brought that up again today.”
Hardy and Duncan did their best to put together a second half comeback, but there just weren’t enough stops to be made. Trialing by just three points heading into the fourth quarter, the Tigers found themselves in a prime position to take a lead.
Here comes Cleveland Heights, they trail just 33-30 closing out the third quarter @SportsKee1 @Heights_Hoops @ShemarionHardy3 pic.twitter.com/1weBiH3EQZ
— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) March 4, 2023
Benn and the Bulldogs weren’t going to let that happen and with under three minutes left in the fourth quarter, Benn connected on a contested layup, giving his team a 44-36 lead with 2:48 remaining, which felt like that took the pressure off the Bulldogs a little bit as the Tigers continued to run out of gas.
With 2:48 left, Garfield leads 44-36. @SportsKee1 pic.twitter.com/dyZ0mt52yM
— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) March 4, 2023
In the end, Jyles Brandon, Marcus Johnson and Calvin Little rounded out the scoring with 10, 10 and seven points, respectively to help lead the Bulldogs to its first district championship in six years.
“We didn’t want to go home, nobody wanted to go home,” Marcus Johnson said. “We fought hard and got the win.”
“We got a special group,” Coach Johnson said. “To have your son be a part of it who is a special player, it just binds into a team aspect of things and it makes it easier to coach a great group of kids.”
