Fries leads St. Paul past Crestview, 53-44

NORWALK — Landon Fries prefers it this way. The St. Paul senior had another "quiet" night on the basketball court Tuesday against Crestview. But at the end of the game, Fries had scored 28 points on 8-of-16 shot attempts and led the Flyers to a 53-44 win over the Cougars in Firelands Conference play inside Harvey Keller Gymnasium. Out of the league race after winning the last two FC championships, the Flyers (9-9, 4-6) have had a knack for close games this season. And with Tuesday's win, they knocked the Cougars (7-8, 6-4) out of second place and are now two games out of first with four FC games remaining. "I think it's a fun role to be in," Fries said. "The last couple of wins have been fun, beating teams like New London and Crestview. Playing the spoiler is something we can do down the stretch. "We struggled earlier in the season at finishing games, but we've finished these last two off," he added. "That's good for us with the end of the season and the tournament coming up." St. Paul lost in overtime vs. Tiffin Calvert (9-5) on Jan. 21, then lost in the final seconds at South Central (8-9) by three Jan. 23. In Tuesday's game and a 62-52 win over New London on Jan. 30, Fries (17.5 points per game) scored 55 points on 19-of-38 shooting. "It feels pretty good, playing within the game, getting the shots I get," he said. "You have to make them when you get them. We have to keep playing well to get our momentum back for the tournament and keep having fun." St. Paul coach Steve Minor said Fries often has "quiet" big nights. "I don't know if it's because we expect it from him and focus on what everyone else is doing, but he always seems to have these types of games when we need them," Minor said. "He got face-guarded again tonight, but he's a smart kid and knows it's coming and how to counter it." The Cougars and Flyers went back-and-forth throughout the first half and much of the third quarter. Leading 35-32, Fries then scored with 1:27 left to give the Flyers a five-point lead they protected down the stretch. It was a 39-35 lead when juniors Isaac Kalizewski and Nate Griffin put in back-to-back scores between a Crestview turnover to make it 43-35 with 4:27 left in the game. The Flyers led 44-38 with two-plus minutes left. Fries helped put the game away at the free-throw line, where he finished 9-of-13 shooting. He made two with 2:25 to go to push the lead to 46-38. After Crestview's Daniel Wells made a 3 to cut the lead to 46-41 with 1:29 left, Fries closed out the game with a basket at the 1:17 mark, then three free throws in the final minute. "We finished another one off," Minor said. "We got tested there, losing the lead, but we slowly were able to reestablish ourselves and take it one possession at a time, and we got stops and some big rebounds." The Flyers raced out to a 13-5 lead with 1:40 left in the opening quarter. Fries started a 9-0 run with a 3-pointer, then Griffin made four straight foul shots and a layup to push the lead out to 13-5. After the Cougars closed to within 14-10, St. Paul's Kade Houck scored from close range with three seconds left in the quarter. Fries then opened the second quarter with his second 3 for a 19-10 lead, and when he scored again and split two free throws, the Flyers led 22-12 with 5:54 left in the first half. But back came the Cougars. Crestview went on a 10-0 run with baskets from four different players to tie the game at 22 with 2:24 left in the half. After Griffin briefly gave St. Paul the lead back, Goon gave Crestview a 25-24 lead with 1:23 left in the quarter. Fries then got the Flyers back on track. He was fouled and made both free throws with 57.4 seconds left, then he drove between two defenders after an empty Crestview possession to score in the lane with 9.7 seconds left for a 28-25 halftime lead. Griffin added 11 points for the Flyers, while Kalizewski had six points and 12 rebounds, and Lindenberger added 10 rebounds. "Isaac's rebounds seemed to come out of nowhere, and Connor's were more of just tearing things down," Minor said. "They are a very good perimeter-oriented team, so it was big to get those rebounds." St. Paul looks to keep its momentum when it visits Mapleton (2-13, 0-9) on Thursday and hosts Western Reserve (9-6, 7-3) on Saturday. "We have to respect every opponent, and Mapleton is next," Minor said. "We don't dwell on the past much, but we have to respect our opponents. No matter what our record is, we know teams get up to play us, and we wear that proudly." CRESTVIEW (7-9, 6-4) Lane Robinson 0-1—1, Daniel Wells 2-0—6, Max Durbin 1-0—2, Karter Goon 11-1—24, Kaden Kissell 2-0—5, Drew Spoerr 2-0—6. TOTALS 18-2—44 ST. PAUL (9-9, 4-6) Nate Griffin 3-5—11, Connor Lindenberger 1-2—4, Kade Houck 1-0—2, Isaac Kalizewski 3-0—6, Brady Fritz 1-0—2, Landon Fries 8-9—28. TOTALS 17-16—53 Crestview 10 15 7 12 — 44 St. Paul 16 12 9 16 — 53 Three-point goals: Crestview 6 (Wells 2, Spoerr 2, Goon, Kissell); St. Paul 3 (Fries 3)