After an 81-55 loss Feb. 14 to Mayfield, the Hilltoppers bounced back with a senior night 81-44 victory Feb. 17 over Kenston and a 95-77 win Feb. 18 against Beachwood.
Game photos click here.
Hilltoppers boys basketball has battled hard all year, and the last week of the regular season was no exception.
After an 81-55 loss Feb. 14 to Mayfield, the Hilltoppers bounced back with a senior night 81-44 victory Feb. 17 over Kenston and a 95-77 win Feb. 18 against Beachwood.
The Feb. 14 game against Mayfield started out at a fast pace as the Wildcats took an early 20-12 lead going into the second quarter.
Chardon was led in the first quarter by senior Noah Gerlica, with six points, and fellow seniors Ethan Faber, Dylan Fletcher and Kyle Palovich, all who added two points in the first.
The Hilltoppers outscored Mayfield 17-13 in the second quarter to go into halftime down by four, 33-29. In the second quarter, the Hilltoppers were led by Faber (8 points), Andrew Bruce (4) and Palovich (2).
After halftime, the Hilltoppers continued to work hard and were successful at cutting into the lead. In fact, with four minutes left in the third, the Hilltoppers evened up the game at 39.
However, the Wildcats hit a three-pointer with 3:53 left in the quarter that seemed to shift the momentum in the Wildcats’ favor. From that point on, the Wildcats went on a 16-4 run to lead 55-43 at the end of three.
In the fourth, Mayfield outscored Chardon 26-12 to make the final score 81-55.
For the game, the Hilltoppers had three players in double digits: Faber (16 points), Fletcher (13) and Gerlica (10). Also contributing to their scoring were Bruce (6 points), Palovich (4), Sammy Sulka (4) and Caleb Hewitt (2).
Afterwards, Gerlica and Fletcher talked about the game and their senior year.
“Gotta play hard to the end,” Fletcher said. “Everybody kind of counted us out at the start of the year. But our motto is, like, we’re down big tonight, we’re just going to keep playing hard.
“We’ve really surprised a lot of people, and we just got to keep going.”
And that is exactly what the Hilltoppers did.
Feb. 17, on senior night, the Hilltoppers took an early lead and were up 40-19 over the Kenston Bombers at halftime.
Then Chardon continued its dominance and great inside-out game, scoring 41 points in the second half to defeat the Bombers 81-46.
After only making one three-pointer against Mayfield, the Hilltoppers drained 13 three-pointers on the Bombers.
Fletcher and Gerlica led the way from a long distance on senior night, connecting on five three-pointers each.
For the game, the Hilltoppers were led by Gerlica with 21 points and Fletcher with 20.
The next day, the Hilltoppers played their last regular season game against Beachwood, defeating the Bison 95-77.
Like their game against Mayfield, Chardon vs. Beachwood was extremely close in the first half. The Hilltoppers took a 40-36 lead into halftime and were up 67-60 at the end of the third quarter.
However, in contrast to their Mayfield game, the Hilltoppers outscored the Bison, 28-17, in the fourth to earn the victory. They continued their excellent shooting from the outside as they drained 14 three-pointers.
Leading the Hilltoppers from long range was Sulka, with five three-pointers, and Gerlica and Leibhardt, both with four three-pointers. Fletcher also added a three-pointer.
Against the Bison, the Hilltoppers were led by Sulka (22 points), Leibhardt (21), Gerlica (20), Bruce (15) and Faber (12). Also contributing to the scoring were Fletcher (3) and Palovich (2).
“It’s been a great week. Senior night was good,” Fletcher said.
“On Tuesday we just didn’t shoot well,” said Faber. “We made maybe one three-pointer — (Fletcher) made the three-pointer, by the way. Now that we’re going hot, the last two nights we put up I think 81, and 95 tonight, so now we’re moving again, and we got Mayfield again right here. So we’re where we want to be now.”
The Hilltoppers completed their regular season 15-6 and take on the Mayfield Wildcats Feb. 22 in the OHSAA sectionals.
