by ROCKY RIVER, OH – The Lutheran West Longhorns handed the Garfield Heights Bulldogs their first loss of the season on Wednesday night. Tino Yli-Junnila led the Longhorns in scoring with 12 points. He was followed by Derek Fairley with 10 and Jayson Levis with 9. Strong first half shooting and man defense were key for the Longhorns in their big victory.
The 3-ball was Lutheran West’s best friend in the opening quarter. Six of their seven made field goals came from long distance. One of which came from Josh Meyer who provided a spark off the bench for the Longhorns. Meyer dropped 5 points in the quarter to help the Longhorns offensively.
The Bulldogs used the 3-pointer to their advantage as well. They knocked down 4 in the 1st quarter. Three of the four came from Senior Guard CJ Little who led them with 11 points in the period. With all the shooting to go around, the Longhorns held a 20-16 advantage after one.
Tino Yli-Junnila got his shot rolling in the second quarter. He knocked down a pair of triples that had given the Longhorns a 30-22 lead with 2:30 left before halftime. Yli-Junnila’s 7 points in the quarter gave him 10 in the first half. He had this to say about what it did for the rest of the game for his team, “It definitely opened up other people. They were more keying in on me and opened up more opportunities.”
However, from that point on, the Garfield Heights Bulldogs went on a 7-0 scoring run to close out the half. Heading into the break, the Longhorns were clinging to a 30-29 lead.
The 3rd quarter featured multiple lead changes throughout with neither team taking a big lead. Sophomore Guard Marcus Johnson and Senior Forward DeAndre Jones were leading the way offensively for the Bulldogs in the frame. Johnson, a 5-Star recruit with multiple D1 offers, was able to get it done inside and out in the quarter. Jones, a Kent State commit, was a beast inside cleaning the offensive glass and getting put back opportunities.
Lutheran West continued to play team ball with multiple players chipping in offensively. With one quarter to play, the score was knotted up at 42.
The fourth quarter saw Garfield Heights jump out to a 4-point lead in just a couple minutes. However, the Longhorns were not going to let the game get away from them. Lutheran West was determined to play at their pace and take the lead back.
On a night when Senior Guard Dylan Bartchak did not have his typical shot, he continued to shoot the rock. Bartchak came up big in the 4th by knocking down a go-ahead triple with 3:30 left in the game. Garfield Heights would not take the lead back after that moment.
After the game, Coach Jordan Duke had this to say on Dylan’s confidence, “These guys are seniors man. These guys decide to come at 6:45 in the morning and shoot on their own… He does that every single day and because he does that every single day we live with his shots and selections. Because we know that he’s working on those. He’s confident in what he does… We need him to be confident that way heading into the playoffs.”
At the final buzzer, the Lutheran West Longhorns took down the undefeated Garfield Heights Bulldogs 54-50.
Lutheran West now moves to 17-2 on the year after the win. They will go against Lima Senior (10-7) on Saturday February 10th at 3:15PM. For the Garfield Heights Bulldogs, they fell to 19-1 on the season. They will host the Bedford Bearcats (9-8) on Thursday, February 15th at 7:00PM.
Key Players
Lutheran West
Tino Yli-Junnila: 12 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists
Derek Fairley: 10 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists
Jayson Levis: 9 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists
Garfield Heights
Marcus Johnson: 16 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist
CJ Little: 14 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists
DeAndre Jones: 9 points, 7 rebounds
PLAYER OF THE GAME: DEREK FAIRLEY
