Recordpub.com - Buzzer beater is buzzkiller for Kent Roosevelt

By Michael Leonard

Gateway News sports editor

COPLEY — With Kent Roosevelt head coach Cameron Black preferring to play a style of ball “to have the opportunity to win at the end,” fantastic finishes have become a trademark for the Rough Riders this postseason.

Roosevelt was involved in another fantastic finish on Saturday in the Copley Division I District Final.

This time, however, it was Akron East that came out with the big bucket.

A 3-pointer by East’s Steve Thomas as time expired gave the Orientals a thrilling 63-62 over the Rough Riders.

East won its second straight district title, while the Rough Riders were denied a title on a buzzer-beater at Copley for the second straight year.

Last season, Roosevelt lost by a single point to Barberton — a game in which Roosevelt had a shot at the buzzer to potentially win the game that rimmed out.

Black said there was no fault in his team’s effort or execution in Saturday’s district final.

“It was a great game,” Black said. “We played extremely well, and (East) played extremely well. We talked about limiting our turnovers and eliminating their basket penetration. (East) had more shooters then we thought they had.”

As for East, they knew what their gameplan needed to be in order to have success.

“We knew we had to attack them,” said East head coach Ross Fiorello. “They hit some big free throws and some big shots down the stretch. Our kids, like their kids, played with a lot of heart tonight. We were just lucky we had seven seconds to work with at the end.”

There were tremendous shifts in momentum throughout the contest, starting with a big run by East late in the first quarter.

With the game tied at 14-14, East unleashed a 14-0 run, which extended into the second quarter. East’s active man-to-man defense led to several Rough Rider turnovers and consequent layups for the Orientals.

However, Roosevelt settled down and started feeding their big man. Senior center Cameron Black II scored eight of his 19 points in the second quarter. The Bowling-Green recruit also had 11 rebounds and four blocked shots in the game.

“We did all that we could,” Black II said. “They got on me with double teams all night.”

Down 33-25 at halftime, Roosevelt roared out of the locker room with an 8-0 run to tie things up. Neither team led by more than five the rest of the way.

Forward Marcus Wright keyed the run for the Rough Riders, as he had 10 of his game-high 21 points in the third quarter to go along with his 10 rebounds.

With the game tied at 45 after three quarters, East looked like it might take command again after a circus-like shot from senior De’Shon Hudson (team-high 19 points) somehow went down as he was fouled.

East did its part at the free-throw line, as the Orientals went 12-of-15 from the line, including 7-of-7 in the fourth quarter.

However, Roosevelt’s offense got a boost from an unlikely source, as sophomore reserve guard Rich Graves put up all seven of his points in the fourth quarter.

Graves’ final bucket tied the game at 60 with just under a minute to go.

On the ensuing East possession, point guard Elvin Butler attempted to drive the lane, but ran right into Black II. The referees ruled it was a held-ball situation and the possession arrow favored the Riders.

The Rough Riders were able to get the ball inside on their next possession. Wright got the ball on the block, hit the layup and was fouled, giving Roosevelt (17-7) a 62-60 lead.

Holding a two-point lead and with seven seconds remaining on the clock, East’s Butler took the inbounds pass into the forecourt, went around a pick and fed the ball to Thomas, who was open in the right corner.

Thomas’ 3-point shot went through the basket just as the buzzer sounded, causing East’s fans to rush the court in joy.

“We talked about trying to stay in front of your man,” Black said. “Somehow, he was able squirt open. It was a great shot.”

•••

Contact Michael Leonard at mleonard@recordpub.com