by High School Sports content is sponsored by – https://keeonsports.com/sponsors/
STOW, Ohio– Stow senior guard Titus Baskerville IV has always wanted to play St. Vincent-St. Mary. Even as a kid, he would talk with his father about it.
That moment finally came Tuesday night and Baskerville took full advantage of it, helping propel his team to a stunning 61-58 win over the Irish.
“I’ve always wanted to play against coach Dru,” he said. “That’s the coolest thing ever. I mean everyone wants to go to St. V but you at least want to play them once so this game was really important to me.”
Time to party in Stow! The Bulldogs defeat SVSM 61-58 @StowBoysHoops @SportsKee1
What a game for the Bulldogs. Wow. pic.twitter.com/TttXvNh03i— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) January 18, 2023
The Bulldogs led for the entire second half. But there was no quit in the Irish as Kevin Hamilton did his best to help push his team past the Bulldogs throughout the night.
With his team trailing 59-58, he made a critical defensive stop with under one minute left in the game, taking a charge to give his team the ball back. But the Irish weren’t able to capitalize on the other end with their possession ending up with a turnover, forcing them to foul with under 10 seconds left.
TURNOVER for the Irish. Stow takes over, leading by 1 with 6 seconds left. What a game. @StowBoysHoops pic.twitter.com/RF1lVP1ILZ
— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) January 18, 2023
That put Baskerville at the free throw line for a one-and-one opportunity with just five seconds left. He ended up making both and Hamilton went down and got a clean look at a game-tying 3-pointer, but it couldn’t go down, falling to the Bulldogs in dramatic fashion.
“There were three seconds left, I gave it the best look I had,” Hamilton said about the final shot. “We didn’t come out with the win but we’re working on bigger goals…We’ll bounce back.”
As for Stow head coach David Close, the win is headlined by staying calm under pressure and not trying to do too much with the ball within the last-second moments.
“I give my kids a lot of credit, they battled for 32 minutes,” coach Close said. “They had some times in there tonight that we could have folded under pressure but our kids maintained their composure just enough to win.”
For Close’s team, Reece Raymond-Smith ended the night with a team-high 20 points. AJ Pestello finished with 14 points, Baskerville had 10 along with nine points off the bench for Tyler Fleishour as well.
With the Irish picking up the full-court pressure, that had the Bulldogs in a little bit of some turnover trouble throughout the second half. But the composure and experience of Close’s players from years of experience playing together played a pivotal part down the stretch, according to coach Close.
“All these guys that played tonight were in the rotation last year,” he said. “They’ve matured, gone through a lot….these guys have some experience, they believe in each other and trust in each other. We just need to continue to get better, there is no time for rest.”
The Bulldogs fought throughout the first half. They were able to get a big spark off the bench from some of their reserves early on. The Irish struggled to find a rhythm. They were mostly forced to put up some contested shots throughout the first half as they trailed for most of the second quarter.
The stars of the first half for the Bulldogs were Reece Raymond-Smith and Tyler Fleishour. Fleishour came off the bench and seemed to be everywhere for his team. He ended the first half with 10 points along with 14 from Raymond-Smith to help pace their team.
Just when Baskerville and Pestello seemed like there was not enough in the tank to keep them afloat throughout the night, there seemed to be a different Bulldog player stepping up in marquee situations.
“It’s a great boost…it just gives us a lot of confidence,” Baskerville said about the impact of tonight’s game. “It’s big but I think we do a really good job of being humble. We’re always underrated, we’re going to be OK.”
For the Irish, Hamilton led the way with a game-high 24 points during the loss. Jayson Walker and Lance Hayes rounded out the scoring with 10 and 8 points apiece.
