Winning basketball usually takes several different efforts. Good defense, solid passing and boxing out join the final concept of putting the ball into the basket more often.
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Winning basketball usually takes several different efforts. Good defense, solid passing and boxing out join the final concept of putting the ball into the basket more often.
The Chagrin Falls Tigers boys team got off to a slow start this season, but in recent weeks has overcome obstacles to put the above ideas to good use heading into tournament action in Div. V play.
The Tigers hosted a tough Garrettsville Garfield team Feb. 25 and put all of those qualities to winning hoops to good use in a solid 69-53 victory.
“Things got off to a bit of a slow start for us,” coach Dave Bargar said after the win. “We had a few kids who were dealing with minor injuries from fall sports, so we really weren’t ready to go full force in basketball but things have really turned around as the kids got healthier.”
The win set up the Tigers for a difficult contest with No. 3 Richmond Heights, a tall order for any team, but a game the Tigers were outmatched 94-49.
The G-Men also presented a tall order to deal with behind 6-4 forwards Cade Rock and Aidan Hill.
They have lots of success going to the basket and stopping teams from doings the same. They got off to a quick start in this game doing that, but the Tigers were up to the challenge.
After Oscar DiFranco took a sweet pass from Spencer Kaas for a layup with about three minutes gone for the first points of the night.
Rock scored on a putback and then was fouled on his team’s next possession with 3:21 left on the first period clock.
Rock hit both free throws for a 5-4 lead. Brad Russell regained the lead for the Tigers with a long 3-pointer, and then DiFranco stole the ball and went coast to coast for a layup for a 9-5 Chagrin lead.
Tied again at 9-9, Ryan Curtiss had begun to assert himself on the backboards with seven first period rebounds, and the second of Russell’s first period 3-pointers gave Chagrin a 14-9 lead, and they had begun to expand it the rest of the way with smothering defense and dominating rebounding to the final result.
Good finishing on pinpoint passing also helps.
The Tigers hit on 28 of 55 shots, just over half their attempts, with 19 assists coming into play as six Tigers players recorded at least two helps.
DiFranco was the main recipient of those passes, as he hit for 21 points on the night on 9 of 16 shooting. Curtiss added 17 points on 8 of 14 shooting, but his dominance on the backboards against the tall and lean G-Men was the difference in the game.
He finished with 17 rebounds to lead Chagrin (16-8) to a 40-18 edge on the boards. Only four of those 18 caroms for Garfield were on the offensive end of the floor. Even when not grabbing the ball cleanly, the Tigers poked the ball loose on scrambles that ended up in teammates hands, leading to fewer shot attempts for Garfield and more for the Tigers, and it paid off.
When Chagrin Falls needed a spark, they got it.
Quin Bargar came off the bench to play tight defense on Garfield’s top point producer, Preston Gedeon.
Coming into the night averaging 22 points per game, he netted only 14 on four of 10 shooting. When he got the ball outside, the Tiger defense pushed him away from the hoop, and when he drove to the hoop, they blocked his pathway and also cut off passing lanes to Rock and Hill, keeping the G-Men from gaining momentum.
“Our big focus point tonight was in rebounding,” Coach Bargar said. “They have some good size and skill guys in the paint, so boxing out was important. We’ve done a much better job of that as the season progressed , too, and tonight was really huge. We were able to get some good looks at the hoop tonight, too, the guys made the plays, and — I can’t say enough about how good it was to see Oscar moving as well as he did, especially going to the basket.”
