EASTLAKE – John Marhefka couldn’t say why. But the Geneva basketball coach could say with certainty that his boys’ effort was lacking on Friday.
The Eagles never got anything going on either side of the ball, as host North was able to cruise to a 63-38 win.
“We just had no effort,” Marhefka said. “We didn’t bring any focus or any intensity. (The Rangers) wanted it; they wanted to play.”
North (9-7, 7-5 in the Northeastern Conference), who led from start to finish, buried 10 3-point field goals, with A.J. Montanaro (18 points) hitting five and Aurel Ruko (14 points, 4 assists) netting four. Ryan Frank (4 steals) contributed 10 points to the balanced attack, with John Sauto (6 assists) putting in nine.
When the teams met at Geneva on Dec. 29, it was a totally different ballgame. North did win, but in a game that went down to the wire and ended, 44-43.
“We’ve been playing a lot better (since our last meeting),” North coach Joe Montanaro said. “(We played) University (School) to double overtime, and we played Mentor on Tuesday, and we were within 12 in the fourth quarter. The kids just gained a lot of confidence; they know they can play. They’ve been shooting the ball extremely well.”
“We knew A.J. was a shooter,” Marhefka, who credited North for its play, said. “He gets 18 on us and we don’t find him in transition. And the last time we played, we got to those perimeter shots (that their team took).”
On the other side of the court, Geneva (6-10, 3-9) had only two players who were able to score consistently, and four who scored at all: Tyler Erb, who put in 15 points, and Jimmy Haines, who added 12. The Eagles shot just 15 of 44 (34.1 percent) from the floor while North went 23 of 48 (47.9 percent). And it must be kept in mind that the Rangers’ percentage, as impressive as it is anyway, included those 10 treys.
North used a 10-1 stretch to push to a 21-8 lead early in the second quarter. By halftime, it was 37-19, and the Eagles could never again get closer than 15 points.
“In the first half, I wasn’t real happy with our defense,” Coach Montanaro said. “We’ve been trying to pick up the tempo and play more guys. And then in the second half, we said, ‘Hey, we’re just going to sit in a little zone and see what they do.’”
“You’ve got to want to play, and come in and battle,” Marhefka said. “Basketball’s a long season, mentally and physically. As quickly as it goes your way, it can slide the other way. But I think tonight, guys didn’t shoot well, didn’t finish layups.
“I think if we rebound, if we focus and we bring intensity, it’s a different ballgame.”
North’s Alex Henning led everyone with six rebounds.
Goldman is a freelance writer from South Euclid.
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