St. Paul tops Western Reserve in overtime

NORWALK — Two weeks ago, hard questions were asked. In a 48-hour span, the St. Paul boys basketball team lost two games, vs. Tiffin Calvert (Jan. 21) and at South Central (Jan. 23), in the final seconds.The two losses by a combined seven points dropped the Flyers to 7-9 overall and 2-6 in the Firelands Conference with six games remaining. But four wins later, including Saturday's short-handed 50-45 win in overtime over visiting Western Reserve inside Harvey Keller Gymnasium, the Flyers are 11-9 overall and 6-6 in the FC. "Coach (Steve) Minor asked us what team we want to be," said senior Brady Fritz after scoring 10 points and grabbing seven rebounds. "We couldn't just settle from where we are. We can't win the conference again, but we can knock other teams off. "We wanted to pick it up before the tournament to get in a good spot. We feel like we're getting there now." The Flyers were without Isaac Kalizewski (8.5 points, 6.5 rebounds) from the starting lineup and trailed the Roughriders (9-8, 7-5) by a 6-0 score within the first minute of the game. When Evan Goodwin made his second straight 3-pointer, Western had a 25-18 lead with 2:42 left in the first half. But St. Paul was able to close the half with baskets from Fritz and Nate Griffin to close within 25-22 at the break. Griffin then scored to open the second half, and a 3 from freshman Casey Fries gave the Flyers a 27-25 lead to cap a 9-0 run. The teams traded baskets the rest of the quarter, and the Flyers led 34-33 through three despite Landon Fries (17.2 points) and Griffin (14.1 points) being kept to just seven combined points. Landon Fries then opened the fourth with a basket, and senior classmate Connor Lindenberger was fouled and made both free throws. That allowed St. Paul to open up a 38-33 lead with 4:52 left in the game. Tyler Cooper then rallied Western. He scored his team's next seven points, including a tough reverse layup, then a huge 3 from the right wing that gave the 'Riders a 40-39 lead with 1:38 left in the game. Landon Fries was fouled at the other end with exactly one minute left and split the pair to tie the game. Western Reserve coach Chris Sheldon then opted to run down the final minute and hold for the last shot. The 'Riders then ran their play with about 10 seconds left, but a Hayden Keith jumper from the left block was just off the mark to force overtime. The score kept at a 40-40 deadlock with 2.5 minutes left. Finally, Griffin was able to get the first basket with 2:29 left for the St. Paul lead. Western then committed its second straight turnover, and Landon Fries was fouled at the other end. He made both for a 44-40 lead, then the 'Riders committed a third straight turnover in OT. The ball again went back to Fries, who was fouled and again made them both with 1:31 left for a 46-40 advantage. However, Western wasn't done. Chase Hipp was fouled and made both with 1:20 left, then the Flyers missed four consecutive free throws to keep the door open. Hipp then converted a big basket and was fouled with 38.9 seconds left. The Western senior converted the three-point play with the free throw, and the 'Riders were assured a chance down just 46-45. Griffin was fouled next with 29.4 seconds left, and he made both for a 48-45 lead. With one last chance to tie, a Hipp 3 from the top of the key was short in the closing seconds. St. Paul got the ball to Landon Fries, who laid it in with 1.4 seconds left for the final margin. "Losing a close game is fine as long as you learn something from it, and it sure looks like we did tonight," said Minor about his team's numerous close defeats. "The guys tightened up even more to get it done against a well-coached team with a lot of firepower. There isn't any one person for Western that you can take away." "We clawed our way back into it, and it was a tight game, and you look up and Landon and Nate have barely scored," he added. "We were able to manufacture points without those two being a factor and without Isaac. They were doing other things to help the team, but we had some guys really step up." Sheldon noted Saturday's loss wasn't the first time this season the 'Riders have come up a little short in late-game execution. "We had the ball tied (in overtime) and were trying to pull them out of the zone they had sat in most of the night, then get them out and attack," he said. "But we didn't attack downhill and played side-to-side, and it led to a bad turnover, then we followed it up with a couple more bad turnovers that put us in a quick hole. "There's not a lot of time in overtime to make up for that, but we still found a way to get the ball back with a chance to tie it, and we couldn't execute," Sheldon added. "And unfortunately, that's been a theme for us. We have to be able to execute with the game on the line. We've done it a number of times, but we haven't done it enough more often than not." Hipp had 19 points, and Cooper scored 12 points with seven rebounds for Western, which has a challenging trip to Crestview (9-9, 8-4) next Friday before hosting Edison on Saturday. "At this juncture of the year, you either fix it, or that's who you are," Sheldon said. "And right now, that seems to be who we are. Credit St. Paul. They had some kids make some big plays. "But I think when we watch the film, we're going to see a lot of plays we left out there on the floor beyond just the overtime that was our demise." Landon Fries overcame the slow start to lead St. Paul with 13 points. Griffin also added 10 points, while Casey Fries had nine points on three 3s, and Lindenberger added six points with 10 rebounds. "Brady had double figures by halftime, and Landon and Nate were able to join the party a little bit later," Minor said. "Landon is the kind of kid who is so strong and tough that he will wear defenders down, even as good of a job as they were doing on him. Thankfully for us, he was able to get going." The Flyers host Plymouth (13-6, 9-3) in the final home game for Landon Fries, Fritz, and Lindenberger next Friday. St. Paul is 9-2 at home this season, and the Big Red need a win to stay in a first-place tie with Monroeville (11-5, 9-3).Plymouth overcame a halftime deficit to beat St. Paul, 63-52, back on Jan. 9. "They are trying to stay in first, and we're trying to keep our streak going," Fritz said. "It was a good game the first time over there. We slowed down in the second half; we just have to keep going at them. "They have a good team, but we just have to stay aggressive and continue to play how we're playing right now. It will take a complete game." WESTERN RESERVE (9-8, 7-5) Hayden Keith 1-0—3, Hayden Dobias 2-1—5, Chase Hipp 6-5—19, Evan Goodwin 2-0—6, Tyler Cooper 5-1—12. TOTALS 16-6—45 ST. PAUL (11-9, 6-6) Nate Griffin 3-4—10, Casey Fries 3-0—9, Connor Lindenberger 1-4—6, Kade Houck 1-0—2, Brady Fritz 3-3—10, Landon Fries 2-9—13. TOTALS 13-20—50 Western Reserve 15 10 8 7 5 — 45 St. Paul 12 10 12 6 10 — 50 Three-point goals: Western Reserve 7 (Hipp 2, Goodwin 2, Dobias, Keith, Cooper); St. Paul 4 (C. Fries 3, Fritz)