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Sports

St. Edward Rolls Over Lakewood in District Semifinals, 93-39

Eagles' defensive pressure, smooth shooting end Rangers' win streak, season and playoff-run.

After last night’s District semifinal boys’ basketball game at Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School, the future seemed to be a common thread between two very different area basketball programs: the Eagles and the Rangers.

The scoreboard also told a very different tale of two schools, each separated by less than a mile of Detroit Avenue. In the end, St. Edward beat its crosstown rival, the Lakewood Rangers, 93-39.

The long, athletic style of play for the Eagles was too much for the relative inexperience of the Rangers.

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The playoff-tested roster of the Eagles looked ready to play from the opening tip, jumping out to an 8-0 run to begin the game on the strength of three-pointers from senior guard Kyle Pisco and sophomore guard Elijah Brown. Lakewood’s Pete Nelson then ended the shutout, but Lakewood would only score two more before the end of the first quarter, heading into the second trailing 25-4 to the runnin’ and gunnin’ offense of the Eagles.

While the Rangers were error-prone,  the Eagles (17-5) were nearly error-free, stretching the lead to 30 points, at 45-15 as the teams headed into the locker rooms.

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St. Edward coach Eric Flannery looked ahead to facing Revere High School, after his team cruised to victory over the Rangers, and continued its tournament run.

“I thought we did some good things tonight," Flannery said, pointing out that the teams met once this season already in a preseason exhibition game. "We’ve definitely improved and they’ve definitely improved. Anytime you play a team twice in a season, anything can happen. I thought we came out ready tonight."

Up by 30 points at halftime, things  got even better for the Eagles — and worse for the Rangers — in the second half.

Rangers junior Conor Mabry scored the first five points of the quarter to cut the lead to 25, and Brown and junior Miles Hamilton used consecutive slam-dunk fast-breaks to punctuate the game for the Eagles — who continued to build the lead through the fourth quarter while going on several long scoring runs, including runs of 10 and 16 points.

Lakewood and head coach Phil Argento said he wanted to look past the game — toward next season. He is counting on youth being served next season as he continues the rebuilding project that began after last season’s winless record. Lakewood finished this season with an 8-15 record after two improbable district playoff wins over Normandy and Copley high schools.

“We’ve got potentially eight players returning with varsity experience and some success," Argento said. "In terms of improvement over the course of the season, I’d definitely say we’ve improved. (Freshman point guard Jake) Schmidt stepped up late in the season, Mabry definitely stepped up in terms of his offensive production and Nelson averaged 17 points a game for us this season. He was an All-Conference player for us.”

Brown led all scorers with 21, while senior Delbert Love had 15 for the Eagles. Fourteen different players scored for the Eagles. Mabry finished with 13, Nelson with 11, and senior Dan Mazzeo with five for the Rangers.

Flannery was pleased with his team’s effort, as opposed to what he called a sloppy win over John Marshall last Friday, which the Eagles won 90-45.

“I thought we improved with our kids’ attention on defense, our aggression and overall with our intensity through four quarters,” said Flannery after the game. He then looked ahead to the winner of the Revere-North Royalton matchup.

“The season starts 0-0 on Saturday,” he said.

All both teams can do is look ahead.

 

                                Q1          Q2          Q3          Q4          FINAL

Lakewood           4              11           15           9              39

Saint Edward     25           20           24           24           93

 

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