STEVE GOLDMAN
EUCLID — The Lakeside boys were able to weather the storm for the nine minutes when Emilio Parks was out of the game, and then used him to get the bulk of their scoring in the second half.
As a result, the third-seeded Dragons were able to hold off North in a nail-biting 60-59 victory at Euclid on Tuesday.
The Division I sectional semifinal triumph pits Lakeside (17-4) against ninth-seeded Geneva in a sectional title matchup on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in the same venue, a game which will see the Dragons try to win the first sectional title in the nine-year history of their program. The sixth-seeded Rangers saw their season end at 11-10.
“I’m thrilled for our kids and our whole program,” Lakeside coach Rob Pisano said.
It was the third victory in three tries for Lakeside over its Premier Athletic Conference rival, with all of the outcomes hard-fought ones with single-digit differences. Lakeside also enters the contest against the Eagles with wins in their two previous PAC clashes.
Parks, the star post who picked up his third foul late in the first quarter and sat on the bench for the remainder of the half. But he scored 19 of his 24 points and pulled down 10 of his 13 rebounds after the break, and added four blocked shots. He registered the Dragons’ final 10 points of the game, including a followup with 22 seconds left that ultimately provided the winning points.
“We were forced to get it inside in the second half,” Pisano said. “That was the advantage, obviously. And Emilio did a nice job in the second half carrying us offensively.
“They can’t guard him. No way they can guard him down there. And our players did a nice job in handling the ball and not turning it over in getting it to him.”
Ryan Frank, a star guard for North, exited the game for good with an injury midway through the second period. He was held to four points before he went out.
Parks’ final bucket broke a 58-all tie that had been achieved when North’s A.J. Montanaro hit a 3-point basket with less than 1:30 on the clock. The sharpshooting Montanaro had also knotted the contest at 54 with a trey moments earlier to complete an eight-point Ranger run, although he finished with just eight points on the night.
After Montanaro knotted things the second time, each side missed a shot, and then Lakeside ran the clock down before Parks’ putback.
John Sauto (14 points, 9 boards despite foul problems) was fouled with 9.3 seconds left, but was only able to split his free throws, and Parks grabbed the rebound of the second one.
The Dragons missed a one-and-one with 6.8 seconds to go, but Rashaad Bell (5 assists) stole the ball. He missed a one-and-one at the 1.4 second mark, but made up for it with his fourth and final steal.
“That is a senior just stepping up at the time (needed),” Pisano said. “I didn’t even see him coming (on the first theft in the final seconds). That’s just a senior making a heck of a play.”
Aurel Ruko led the Rangers with 15 points.
Cody Blizzard had 12 points and seven boards and Khalil Chatman five assists for the Dragons. Freshman guard Emonte Parks (9 points) helped pick up the slack in his brother’s absence. The Rangers had led 14-13 when Emilio sat down, and were able to build it to 25-20. But Emonte Parks scored a basket, and after North got that basket back, he hit a triple and a spinning layup, and fed Blizzard for a layup that provided a 29-27 halftime lead that was assured when Sauto missed a putback from point-blank range at the buzzer.
“That unit in the second quarter, (when Emilio Parks was out) did one heck of a job,” Pisano, who related that he thought it was the first time his star was in foul trouble the entire season, said. “For them to stay even for (the rest of the half) was rough.”
Lakeside never trailed again, and built the margin to nine at 45-36 and 47-38 in the third period, before the Rangers came back to tie it.
The Dragons had seven more baskets than North (26-19), but went just seven-of-16 from the foul line while the Rangers were 18-of-27. North also had a 49-41 advantage on the boards, with Chris Thompson (9 points) pulling down nine and Dylan Contento eight, although the difference came in team rebounds.
“They were going to be hungry; we knew it,” Pisano said. “They lost to our guys twice already this year. And they played a heck of a game. We had to go without Emilio in the first half for (9) minutes and they had to go without Frank in the second half.
“Two teams just battling that have a lot of heart. Neither one of them wanted to lose. When we jumped up nine, I thought we (would) maybe kick it over the edge and put them away, (but) they came back and hit a couple of shots, and we missed, I think, a couple easy layups.
Goldman is a freelance writer from South Euclid.
