Head Coach Chad Murawski’s Hilltoppers faced many uncertainties when his team came back from winter break.
Game photos click here.
Head Coach Chad Murawski’s Hilltoppers faced many uncertainties when his team came back from winter break.
After flooding took place in the high school, Chardon’s winter teams had no facilities to use, and a matchup against the Huskies that was originally a home contest for the Hilltoppers turned into a tough road test.
But in the end, Murawski’s group would not let a minor inconvenience get in the way of its season, claiming a 73-52 victory, improving to 5-1 on the season and 2-0 in the Western Reserve Conference.
Chardon clung to an eight-point lead after the first quarter thanks to a two-headed monster made of senior guard Ethan Faber and center Kyle Palovich.
“Going into Tuesday night, we knew Cardinal had two outstanding players who could score in (Jake) Bean and (Troy) Domen,” Murawski said. “Our goal going in was to limit them to the best of our ability through our defense.”
Added Palovich: “We all had the mindset that we wanted to play, no matter what or where it is. We were ready to play this game, and we’re ready to play any game that comes in.”
The Hilltoppers continued to apply a lot of pressure on the defensive end, extending their lead to 10 early in the second quarter. Noah Gerlica knocked down two free throws to add to his team’s lead.
Cardinal attempted a three from senior Josh Soltis and picked up two offensive rebounds, one by Ethan Detweiler and another by Paul Gall. Domen attempted another three, but couldn’t connect.
After back–to-back missed threes by both teams, Cardinal Head Coach Jon Cummins was forced to call a timeout with 6:30 remaining in the second quarter. A transition basket for the Hilltoppers had Cummins attempting to figure out his team.
“We had three focal points for Tuesday night’s game — transition defense, limit them to one shot, and compete for 32 minutes,” Cummins said.
The Huskies faced a 21-9 deficit out of the timeout, and finally scored with 5:35 remaining in the first half when Detweiler got to the rim, making the score 21-11.
In getting key stops on the defensive end, the Huskies had a chance to cut into the Hilltoppers’ lead halfway through the quarter. However, a double dribble violation and two missed field goals made the Huskies scramble on offense.
“Our ball pressure and defense was key to getting Cardinal uncomfortable offensively,” Murawski said. “Again, great job by Caleb Hewitt, Faber and Liebhardt, but also the other players on the court for their help-side defense, rebounding and effort.”
With four minutes remaining, Faber got an open look on the floor and took it to the rim. Resiliency on the court continued the remainder of the quarter, when the Hilltoppers corralled three offensive rebounds, and a successful three from Sam Sulka extended his team’s lead.
After a turnover and a missed lay-up, Coach Cummins was forced to call another timeout with three minutes left. Out of timeout, power forward Paul Gall held position on his defender, where his teammate got him the ball.
Cardinal had slowly clawed its way back into the contest at the half, when a three by Josh Soltis pulled his team that much closer to pulling off the upset.
But the third and fourth quarters seemingly went to the Hilltoppers. Cardinal scored on each offensive possession in the first three minutes, but so did Chardon. After a five-second violation was whistled against the Huskies, Coach Cummins asked to take a timeout on his team’s next offensive possession. Detweiler then connected on another three with less than four minutes in the third quarter.
Forcing two turnovers on shot selections, Bean knocked down another three, and Cardinal trailed by 12 with 2:55 left.
Between Chardon’s defensive pressure and Cardinal’s complicated shot selection, with help from a Sammy Sulka three, the Hilltoppers pulled away in the third quarter, leading 55-40.
“We need to get back to the fundamentals of basketball,” Cummins said. “We need more patience in running our offensive.”
Despite the win, Murawski had some words about the conditions his team has faced.
“It’s really unfortunate we are unable to pass a levy for a new school,” he said. “We have amazing student-athletes who deserve nice, or even updated facilities, like those in surrounding communities. Two years ago we had our gym roof leak, canceling a home game. Last night, we had to have our home game at Cardinal because our old and outdated school had pipes burst, resulting in major flooding. Wednesday and Thursday, we are going to SPIRE (45 minutes away) to practice. Far from ideal, but this team is made up of a bunch of Hilltoppers; they will adapt and overcome this adversity.
“These kids play really, really hard, and they embrace the ‘underdog’ mentality and embrace hard work.”
Leading the way offensively for the Hilltoppers was Ethan Faber with 26 points. Kyle Palovich added 14 points and nine rebounds, while Liebhardt and Sulka added 10 and eight points, respectively. Sulka led the team with 12 rebounds, adding four assists.
“We just want to work hard at what we do,” Palovich said. “We want to get every rebound and work hard on every possession, because every possession counts. We want to work hard every single minute of the game.”
With the loss, the Huskies dropped to 4-5 on the season, still searching for their first conference title in over a decade. Bean led the way with 13 points, while Detweiler added 11. Domen finished with nine points and five assists. Paul Gall fell just shy of a double-double, finishing with eight points and nine rebounds.
