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Mogadore, Ohio – The Mogadore Wildcats came into Friday night’s contest with a chance to clinch the PTC outright with a victory. The Pirates needed to win Friday night, and Saturday in order to take the conference for themselves.
But Mogadore, thanks to a strong effort by senior forward Mason Murphy, defeated the visiting Southeast Pirates, 59-49, Friday evening at Mogadore High School, to clinch their sixth conference title in seven years.
Brandon Clint scored the first bucket for the Pirates to start the game. After a Mason Murphy basket and free throw, the Wildcats took the lead, and would hold it through the remainder of the quarter, leading 12-11.
It was an evenly-matched second quarter, as both teams struggled from the field, but played very well defensively. Mogadore went up by as much as nine before Southeast hit back-to-back triples. These would trim the Pirate deficit to 24-22 going into the halftime break.
In the third quarter, shots began to fall for the Wildcats, as Mason Murphy had nine of his game-high 26 in the third quarter. Mogadore led by double digits before a couple of late Pirate buckets cut the lead to 39-33 going into the fourth quarter.
Mogadore would pull away in the fourth, as Murphy hit a few more key buckets to help pad the Wildcat lead. From there, they would hang on and secure their sixth Portage Trail Conference title in seven years.
Senior forward Mason Murphy had a double-double on the night, scoring 26 points to go along with 13 boards. Senior Kody Jaber had 10 points.
Another senior, forward Mason Williams, was a huge presence on the boards for the Wildcats. He had 22 rebounds on the night to go with four points.
“We don’t get a lot of boards due to our size, which is unfortunate. Today I think we decided to step up and get all these rebounds to put us back in the game when we needed it.” said Williams.
Mogadore improves to 10-10 overall and 8-4 in the PTC. They host Cuyahoga Heights Tuesday night to open up postseason play.
“We lost so many guys over the last few years, and eight seniors last year. We lost by 33 to Southeast, so we had a lot of work to do. I think we have a nice culture and a good system in place. It works for us and we have a lot of success. We’re very thrilled.” said Mogadore head coach Russ Swartz.
“There’s nothing better than winning a league championship. People don’t understand how hard it is to win one, let alone six in seven years. We’re getting in with a lot of momentum.” he added.
In a losing effort, Southeast senior forward Brandon Clint and sophomore guard Michael Phillips each had 13 points.
“It was a super physical game, and we weren’t prepared for that. Once you get hit in the mouth, it’s hard to come back. We tried, but just got out-physicaled tonight.” said Southeast head coach Mike Matisi. “We’re gonna try to move on from this and focus on the tournament.”
Southeast falls to 10-9 overall and 6-5 in the PTC. They host Garfield Saturday evening to conclude the regular season. They also host the Rootstown/Champion winner in postseason play next Friday.
