by Akron, Ohio – The Archbishop Hoban Knights led wire-to-wire in a Friday night victory over visiting Cleveland Central Catholic, 77-50.
Jonah Nichols started off the scoring with a three-pointer. Senior forward Thomas Crowe would add one of his own to increase the lead to 6-0. These would be two of five three pointers that the Knights would hit in the stanza, en route to a 27-4 lead.
The Knights would also play suffocating defense, forcing several turnovers, and continuing to knock down baskets left and right.
But Cleveland Central Catholic tried to make a game of it, cutting their deficit down to 19 late in the first half, thanks to some buckets by Terrell Edmonds and LaShawn Beard. But the Knights ended the stanza with a layup and a running three by Isaiah Young.
Hoban continued to knock down deep jumpers in the second half, and held on from there to cruise to the win.
Freshman forward Jonas Nichols had 23 points to lead all scorers, and senior guard Isaiah Young chipped in 16. In total, 11 Knights would get on the board in some form or another.
Of the eight shots hit by Nichols, seven came from behind the arc. In total, the Knights knocked down 13 triples.
“That’s a testament to the belief we have in Jonas (Nichols), letting him take those shots and have confidence.” said Young.
“It was a big win for us. But we have to keep pushing. We have a big one tomorrow.” said Nichols.
“It was huge because I was nervous about this team. Our kids came out really well. I love how we came out. I was thrilled.” said Hoban head coach TK Griffith. “We have a lot of different guys that can knock down shots. It’s a big part of the game analytically, and I’m okay with taking open threes.” he added.
In a losing effort, juniors Anthony Wimberly and LaShawn Beard had 14 and 10 points for the Ironmen, respectively.
It was a struggle for the Ironmen Friday evening, playing just their fourth game of the season.
“I think that we are struggling to pick up things right now. Hopefully we can get some time to practice and get better.” said Cleveland Central Catholic coach Jordan Duke. “It’s tough coming into this game with the amount of preparation that we’ve had. But we’re gonna continue to push forward.” he added.
Hoban improves to 11-1 and travels to state-ranked St. Eds for a huge non-conference showdown Saturday evening.
Cleveland Central Catholic drops to 1-3 and plays at Brush Sunday morning to kick off the Chet Mason Invitational.
