Griffin leads St. Paul past Vermilion

NORWALK — Nate Griffin fittingly grabbed the final loose basketball and emphatically dribbled it three times. From start to finish, the St. Paul junior was at the center of Tuesday's 63-52 win over visiting Vermilion. Playing full-time varsity for the first time this season, Griffin had scored 19 points in the first two games of the season for the Flyers. But Tuesday, Griffin — an All-Ohio kicker in football — shot 6-of-12 from the floor and 9-of-9 at the free throw line for a game-high 24 points as St. Paul improved to 3-0 with the non-league win inside Harvey Keller Gymnasium. "I just knew this year I had to step up and prove myself as much as possible with the amount of guys we lost," Griffin said. "I have to take advantage of my opportunities and just enjoy the moment. The first shot of the game went in, and it felt good. "Landon (Fries) struggled a little at the beginning of the game, so I wanted to step up early and make some shots. It was feeling good tonight, so I kept going." Griffin started his big half with the Flyers trailing 5-4. The junior was fouled on a three-point attempt and made all three for a 7-5 lead with 5:14 left in the opening quarter. After Jerimiah Lopez gave Vermilion the 11-9 lead, Griffin made the first of four 3s in the half to put the Flyers back ahead. Isaac Kalizewski and Landon Fries then scored consecutively for St. Paul around a Vermilion miss for a 16-11 lead at the end of the quarter. Nate Pinkerton opened the second quarter scoring for the Sailors, but Griffin answered with his second 3, then scored on a driving layup for a 21-13 lead with 6:48 left in the half. Mason Cooper responded with a 3 on a friendly bounce for the Sailors to cut the lead to 21-16, followed by Griffin and Cooper canceling each other out on baskets. Griffin made another 3 with 46.7 seconds left to push the lead to 26-18. Connor Lindenberger then grabbed his sixth rebound of the half after Luke Habermehl scored for the Sailors and scored on a putback with 13.4 seconds left to give the Flyers a 28-20 halftime lead. But in the third quarter, the Sailors (1-1) immediately got back in it. Cooper and Adam Ferber scored consecutively for a 30-28 deficit in under 90 seconds, then after forcing a turnover, Brock Meyers tied the game at 30-30 with 5:21 left in the third. But back came the Flyers from Griffin, Kalizewski, and Casey Fries, giving St. Paul a 34-30 lead — then the freshman Fries made a corner 3-pointer for a 37-30 lead. When the Flyers rebounded a Vermilion miss, Kalizewski came down with a short jumper, which was followed by Griffin scoring in transition for a 41-30 lead at the 3:05 mark of the third. "Defensively we were just a disaster tonight," Vermilion coach Kurt Habermehl said. "We were giving St. Paul straight drives to the basket, and even when we'd help, we gave up wide-open threes. I thought we had a bad practice last night and were scatterbrained today. "We weren't even picking up guys down the floor," he added. "Then we get back in it, give up a 1-0 run, get to within three, then they go on another big run, and that just can't happen. Someone has to dig on this team and get a stop, and then we get good looks at the other end of the floor." St. Paul led 48-39 through three quarters. Cooper and Lopez then scored two straight times down the floor after Noah Penton had scored five straight points, putting Vermilion down 48-45 with 6:32 left in the game. It was 50-47 after a basket by Cooper with 2:57 left in the game, but the Sailors drew no closer. Landon Fries scored on a layup, then was fouled on another drive to the hoop, and he made both foul shots. That pushed the lead to 55-47 with 2:01 left in the game. Griffin and Brady Fritz were then perfect down the stretch with eight straight foul shots around two Vermilion baskets. Landon Fries added 16 points and five rebounds, while Fritz added eight points and 10 rebounds. Lindenberger grabbed eight rebounds. With just two returning letterwinners (Landon Fries and Fritz) back from a league and district championship team, St. Paul coach Steve Minor knew others had to step in around them. So far, so good. "They've done a nice job taking shots when they have them, and when they fall, it's great," Minor said. "We didn't expect 24 from Nate, but we knew he was capable of scoring. This is a lot faster than JV, but fortunately for Nate, he has worked on his speed. He's gotten taller, but he's also filled out a bit. "He has a nice touch and even had some left-handed finishes today. It was nice to have someone take the load off Landon. He's taken big shots when needed, but I don't think Landon felt all the pressure, either." Griffin said he caught himself looking up at his point total once or twice. "But with the way they were coming back and fighting, I just wanted to get the win," he said. "It's a good start, and that was a good win against a bigger school. We just have to keep going, play team basketball, and not look too far ahead." St. Paul will host Elyria Open Door (0-2) on Friday. "We knew Vermilion was capable of putting up a lot of points, but we forced them into some tough shots, and we had a ton of guys grab key rebounds, it felt like," Minor said. "This was a really nice win for us." VERMILION (1-1) Jerimiah Lopez 1-1—3, Noah Penton 2-2—7, Brock Meyers 6-0—12, Nate Pinkerton 1-0—2, Adam Gerber 1-0—3, Mason Cooper 6-4—17, Luke Habermehl 1-0—2, Luke Richardson 1-1—3, Drake Hooks 1-0—3. TOTALS 20-8—52 ST. PAUL (3-0) Nate Griffin 6-9—24, Casey Fries 1-3—6, Connor Lindenberger 2-0—4, Isaac Kalizewski 2-1—5, Brady Fritz 1-6—8, Landon Fries 6-5—16. TOTALS 18-22—63 Vermilion 11 9 19 14 — 52St. Paul 16 12 20 15 — 63 Three-point goals: Vermilion 4 (Penton, Gerber, Cooper, Hooks); St. Paul 5 (Griffin 3, C. Fries, L. Fries)