Recordpub.com - Tarter is sweet in Wildcats win

By David Carducci

Record-Courier staff writer

MOGADORE — Ryan Tarter poured in 24 points, and Kodey Chance drilled three confidence-building 3-pointers to help Mogadore claim its second win in a row with a 62-54 Portage Trail Conference cross-division victory over visiting Crestwood.

“Our guys are starting to get some confidence, and that is making a big difference,” said Mogaodre head coach Russ Swartz. “They are building that confidence because they are making some shots.”

Mogadore started to find its mettle when Chance sank a 3-pointer just before the first-quarter buzzer to pull the Wildcats into a 15-15 tie. The 6-foot senior stayed hot with two more 3-pointers to lead his team’s near-perfect second quarter.

In those second eight minutes, Mogadore (2-3) played turnover-free basketball while connecting on 8-of-14 shots from the field. The Wildcats took the lead for good on Kyle Cramer’s driving layup with 3:40 remaining in the half.

One minute earlier, Chance gave Mogadore a brief one-point lead with a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer after curling off a screen. His final 3 — a transition jumper from the right wing with one minute to go before the break — gave the Wildcats a 36-29 advantage.

“Those shots by Chance gave our team a real boost,” said Swartz.

Chance was a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc in the first half. He finished the game with 14 points.

Tarter took over the bulk of the scoring load after the break, scoring the Cats’ first nine points of the third quarter and 12 of his team’s 25 second-half points.

“Ryan Tarter controls the action for us,” said Swartz. “He scores for himself, but he also gets into the lane and gets shots for his teammates. Both Ryan and Kyle Cramer did a good job of that in this game.”

Graham Schwesinger did his best to keep Crestwood in the game. The 6-4 senior was the only Red Devil to score in double figures.

Crestwood (1-6) was done in by too many empty second-half possessions. The Red Devils turned the ball over eight times in the third quarter, matching Mogadore’s turnover total for the entire game. The Wildcats suffered just one turnover in the second and third quarters combined.

Even as Crestwood pushed the pace with fullcourt pressure and a halfcourt trap in a fourth-quarter attempt to cut into a deficit that reached 11 points, Mogadore kept its composure.

The Red Devils pulled back to within seven at 58-51 on a pair of Schwesinger free throws with two minutes to play, but Tarter answered quickly by beating his defender into the lane for an uncontested finger role that kicked the lead back out to nine.

“That was a big shot,” said Swartz. “We got a little out of sync for a couple of minutes, but that confidence factor helped us out again. We are in our second year in the system. Our guys know the system works, and once they remembered that they did a really good job handling the pressure.”

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David Carducci can be contacted at dcarducci@recordpub.com