by This recap is brought to you by – https://keeonsports.com/sponsors/
Akron, Ohio – The Villa-Angela St. Joseph Vikings returned to the regionals with a 60-58 win over Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy in the district championship at North High School Saturday afternoon.
The two teams played to a 14-14 draw after the first quarter, trading baskets back and forth. VASJ pulled ahead in the second quarter, behind the efforts of Antonio Brown and Sean Shenker, who combined for ten of the Vikings’ 16 points. VASJ led by as much as 30-20 before a pair of late baskets by CVCA made the score 30-24 at the half.
There wasn’t much in the way of three-point shooting, as the two teams combined for three total treys. Both teams’ focus was more on working inside the paint, and going up-tempo.
The third quarter was a battle of free-throw shooting, as the teams combined for 18 free throw attempts, and four field goals. VASJ went 6 for 8 from the charity stripe, and CVCA 8 of 10.
VASJ led, 40-37 after three. Niles Nuru knotted the score at 40 with a triple for the Royals. Hayden Grant scored 11 of his 13 points in the final frame, working the inside with consistency. The Royals found themselves with a five-point lead after another Grant basket. However, a technical foul put VASJ at the line, where Sean Shenker knocked down a pair of free throws.
He would later cash in a triple to re-knot the score at 53. But Shenker was not done, hitting another triple to give VASJ back the lead, 56-53. After a CVCA miss, Antonio Brown found Shenker, who then found Quandell Wright for a basket. The Vikings led 58-53 with 1:14 to play, but the Royals were not done yet.
Charley Levak had a layup to cut the deficit to 58-55. He then had a steal to give the Royals another possesion with a chance to tie. They did so the hard way, going to Hayden Grant once again. Grant got an offensive board and putback, plus the foul. He sank the ensuing free throw to tie the game with 25.6 left.
VASJ then raced down the court, and Antonio Brown put up a shot and missed, but grabbed his own board and finished, giving the Vikings the lead, 60-58 with 12 seconds left.
CVCA had one more shot to tie or win the game, but Lavelle Sharpe’s layup was no good, nor was Tony Collins’ runner. The final buzzer sounded, setting off a celebration amongst the VASJ faithful.
The Vikings won their first district championship since 2019. Senior guard Quandell Wright finished with 15 points. He was followed by junior guard Sean Shenker, who chipped in 13, as well as junior forward Antonio Brown, who also had 13.
“I told the kids in the locker room before the game that this was bigger than us. The standard of VASJ basketball has been high, and this is a big step. We were down by five in the fourth, but never hung our head. We came down and executed, and I couldn’t be more proud of my guys.” -VASJ head coach Ashen Ward
Villa-Angela St. Joseph advances to the Canton regional semifinals on Thursday, March 14th. They will take on Ursuline, who defeated Notre-Dame Cathedral Latin in the Warren District championship.
CVCA finishes their season at 22-3. They were led by sophomore guard Niles Nuru, who finished with 14 points, and senior forward Hayden Grant with 13. Connor Gray chipped in nine points.
Extended highlights below:
