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CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio– No Sam Greer, no problem.
With twenty seconds left in the game and leading by one point, freshman point guard John Johnson made one-of-two free throws. That’s when senior Jonas Nichols fought for an offensive rebound, putting him at the free throw line with 15 seconds left and from there, he would knock down both free throws.
That was the beginning of the end for Walsh Jesuit as they couldn’t connect on two different 3-point attempts in the final seconds, securing Hoban a 49-45 win.
“It’s been a crazy year because I don’t feel like we’ve had a healthy night all year where everybody is here,” Hoban coach TK Griffith said regarding his sophomore center Sam Greer who was unable to be at the game Tuesday night due to an illness. “We have not won at Walsh since before Covid. They’ve had their way with us at Walsh.”
The start of the game couldn’t have gone any better for Walsh Jesuit. Their 3-point shot was on full display throughout the game’s opening minutes. It started with Sean Spicer and continued with Tyler Bell. In fact, the Warriors started the first five minutes of the game on a 15-4 run and eventually took a 21-9 lead after the first quarter.
That lead might’ve gotten coach Joe Wojcik’s team a little too comfortable as the second quarter was a complete turnaround for the Knights, starting with players like Jonas Nichols, Kenny Scott and Andrew Karhoff.
The Warriors scored just one basket in the second quarter, as the Knights’ full-court pressure got the best of them. It created many turnovers and mental mistakes that weren’t made in the opening quarter. The Knights were able to get to the basket more frequently closing out the first half and taking control at the free-throw line. They would outscore the Warriors 16-4 in the second quarter to tie the game at 25 apiece at halftime.
“We’ve been trying to focus on little things, see the game, talk the game and stay connected,” Griffith said about what he told his team after the lopsided first quarter. “We just went back to that…I think Karhoff came in and he’s a guy who holds the team accountable…the connectivity helped us a ton.”
The second half was when the Warriors would bounce back from their downfall in the second quarter. A Sean Spicer layup to start the fourth quarter gave his team a 40-39 lead, their first lead of the second half. From there, both teams started to trade buckets.
For the Knights, freshman John Johnson started to deliver when his number was called when the ball wasn’t in Nichols’ hands late in the game. He ended the night with 13 points and his defense too was something that stood out as he played up to the level of competition when it mattered the most.
“We played hard,” Johnson said. “In the first half, none of my shots were falling so coach told me to go to the rim because they couldn’ guard me, so I got to the rim and got me and-ones.”
Both teams were able to take leads throughout the fourth quarter, but what started the late run for the Knights was when Scott was able to draw contact near the rim after Jesse James gave the Warriors a 45-44 lead with one minute left in the game.
Scott got fouled and made one-of-two free throws on their ensuing possession. After the Warriors failed to score on the other end, free throws ended up sealing the win for the Knights, something they needed and after a shaky past couple of weeks.
“This was a good pick-me-up game after the McKinley loss, so I hope we can propel some good stuff here (moving forward).,” Griffith explained.
“We just wanted to come in here and wake people up to get a quality win,” Jonas said. “We just locked in together as one and played super great tonight.”
Jonas paced his team with a game-high 20 points followed up with 13 points from the freshman and six points from Scott during the win.
For Walsh Jesuit, Sean Spicer and Tyler Bell led the way with 14 points each during the loss.
