CONNEAUT —
The Conneaut Spartans held on to win their final home game of the season on Tuesday night at Garcia Gymnasium 57-51 over the Cleveland James Rhodes Rams on senior night.
Those seniors came up big for the Spartans, as they combined to score 55 of Conneaut’s 57 points.
“It was huge,” Spartans coach Tim Tallbacka said. “I always try to honor our seniors and we play to win basketball games.”
The game got close for Conneaut, which wasn’t unfamiliar territory for Tallbacka’s group. With only 4:35 seconds left in the fourth, the Spartans clung to a 49-45 over the visiting Rams.
Rhodes upped their defensive pressure again and forced Conneaut into a turnover on seven of eight possessions as the Rams climbed back into the game after being down as much as 47-37.
With 3:08 left in the fourth quarter the Rams trailed, 51-48.
A costly turnover by Rhodes (7-14) with 1:40 left in the game, and a continued good effort defensively by them to get the turnovers but not being able to score off of them in transition proved to be too much for the Rams.
Conneaut (7-14) closed the game out by hitting clutch free throws over the final eight minutes
“Made free throws in the fourth quarter (were important),” Tallbacka said. “I really think it comes down to free throws.
“(We) overcame the turnovers.”
Senior Michael Mirando had a big game with 13 points, including two huge 3s.
“Finally able to knock ‘em down, tonight it was clicking,” Mirando said.
“Mike Mirando played best offensive game of the year,” Tallbacka said.
Fellow senior Christian Williams also contributed with 15 points, including three 3s, and 6-8 free throw shooting, making 5-6 later in the fourth quarter.
“Huge, we’ve given up a lotta runs, to hit shots like that was huge,” Williams said. “Definitely huge, everyone stepped up (for) free throws.”
Senior Bud Ritari also added 13 points, including going 5-7 from the free throw line.
Conneaut led in the close first quarter 12-10, which ended with the Rams going on a 4-0 run. The Rams provided strong defensive pressure and fast play and athleticism, but Conneaut matched it with a continuing effort to make big plays at the right time.
Christian Williams connected on a 3 with about a minute left in the second quarter, helping Conneaut take a 28-22 lead at halftime.
Rhodes took the third quarter 22-19 to cut the deficit to 47-44.
“At halftime we talked about changing pressure, commit to (getting) turnovers,” Rhodes coach Louie Moore said. “(But) we didn’t turn it into points.”
James Douglas led the way for Rhodes with a game-high 20 points.
“They’ve been a strong program for years,” Tallbacka said of the Rams. “We persevered, the kids have made great effort and made stops on D.”
“This is one we will remember for rest of our lives,” Mirando added.
Velotta is a freelance writer from Concord.
Sports
Spartans close at home in style
Conneaut takes down Cle. Rhodes
- Sports
-
-
A Don McCormack column: Letter hits home about mutual friend
Paying another visit to the varsity store...
From the heart
Whenever my inbox lights up, it’s usually never a dull moment.
But when the message comes from a state representative, it does require immediate attention. -
Area High School Softball Statistical Leaders:
INDIVIDUAL BATTING (minimum 40 at-bats)
PLAYER SCHOOL AVG OB% SLG% AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB
Lexi Zappitelli Conneaut .605 .632 .921 76 28 46 22 6 2 23 17
Brittany Baitt Riverside .518 .560 .831 83 32 43 5 6 3 21 0
Deanna Comp Jefferson .511 .582 .851 47 17 24 6 2 1 10 9
Amanda Mangelo Madison .486 .537 .806 72 23 35 2 6 3 20 0
Nikki Ochoa Madison .476 .533 .890 82 29 39 12 2 6 23 0
Abbie Thompson Madison .453 .500 .523 86 23 39 0 3 0 13 0 -
Late rally can’t save PV at Euclid
The Pymatuning Valley Lakers’ baseball season came to a close on Tuesday night at Euclid as they fell to Wickliffe, 4-2, in a Division III district semifinal.
-
Area High School Softball records:
(throughTuesday)
TEAM OVERALL
Geneva 19-2 * 11-1 (PAC)
Riverside 22-4 9-3 (PAC)
Jefferson 21-5 * 9-1 (AAC)
St. John 9-3
Conneaut 13-7
Perry 12-7
PV 15-12 11-7 (NAC) -
Scholastic Statistics:
SOFTBALL
DIVISION I
DISTRICT SEMIFINAL
Riverside 1, Madison 0
at Mentor -
Scholastic Schedule:
WEDNESDAY, MAY 22
Baseball
Softball
Division I
at Mentor
District championship
(2) Mentor vs. (1) Riverside
Division II
at JAGS Complex, Jefferson
District semifinals
(6) Beaumont vs. (1) NDCL
(3) Jefferson vs. (2) Geneva -
Jefferson comes up a run short vs. Chagrin Falls
Whether it was the mistakes of a largely youthful team or just a case of bad timing, the Jefferson Falcons struggled to get hits with runners in scoring position during a Division II district semifinal final against Chagrin Falls.
-
Edgewood can’t hold off charge of NDCL
Not many people expected a much out of the Edgewood Warrior baseball team this year.
With a young team featuring only two seniors, Edgewood advanced all the way to the district semifinal contest Monday night before losing an early lead and succumbing to a talented second-seeded Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin team, 8-5. -
A Don McCormack column: Home fires burn for Fitch
Paying another visit to the variety store...
Homecoming
It didn’t take long for Ryan Fitch to find a new “home” as a basketball coach. -
PAC-ing a familiar punch
The Madison and Riverside softball teams are quite familiar with each other at this point in the season after having played each other twice during the regular season.
- More Sports Headlines
-
