by SOLON, Ohio- Shaker Heights head coach Danny Young was nervous heading into Tuesday night’s game against the Solon Comets. He knew it would not be an easy task going into Solon this week, but a stellar team performance calmed him down a little bit after the game.
“I was very worried about this game all day,” Young explained. “I’m just proud of my guys, they came together and played as a family tonight. Every night is a different guy,”
Senior forward Dakota Cochran led the Raiders in scoring Tuesday night, pouring in 15 points and six rebounds to lift them past Solon, 60-49. Shammah Scott, despite battling foul trouble early in the first half, finished the game with 14 points along with Alex Benson rounding out the scoring with 11 points and three rebounds.
The spark all night for Shaker came from senior forward Dante Benjamin. From diving on the floor for loose balls to grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds, Benjamin found a way to impact the game on both ends of the floor during the win.
“He’s the energy and hustle guy,” Young said. “He’s all heart and soul and the ultimate teammate. He does all the little things that don’t show up in the stat book.”
Solon was able to get out to an early lead in the fourth quarter but Shaker got hot late, ending the final four minutes on a 15-8 run. From there, Solon hung around largely in part to Marcus Steele’s game-high 11 points in the first half. Shaker was able to maintain a 32-25 lead at the half.
The third quarter is when Shaker started to pull away. Due to their pressure defense and forcing the Comets to live behind the arc, the Raiders were able to attack the Solon defense in transition, leading to fast break points in bunches. The lead got as large as 15 in the third quarter and Shaker headed into the fourth quarter with a commanding 13-point lead.
A late attempt at a comeback fell short for the Comets as they weren’t able to hit the open 3-pointers when it mattered the most. Steele led the way for Solon with a game-high 21 points followed up with 12 from Brandon Chambers.
The win for the Raiders lifts their record to 13-2 on the year and 8-1 in conference play. A big part of the recent team success has been on the defensive side of the ball, an area where coach Young tries to work on the most with the regular season winding down.
“I think our defense is doing it,” he said. “I know that’s what we work a lot on in practice. We try to turn you over and get more possessions. I thought we did a good job on the glass even when they had numbers.”
