Lions roar past Quakers in NBC finale
SALEM — As good of a scorer as Minerva guard Connor Wright is, he’s perhaps more deadly when his playmaking creates open looks for teammates.
Wright frequently collapsed the Salem defense with his penetration and dished to an array of perimeter shooters as the Lions made nine three-pointers on their way to a 64-52 win over the Quakers Friday at Cabas Gymnasium.
“We wanted to attack them off the dribble,” Minerva coach Shawn Green said. “We have guys that can stand out there and shoot it, and Connor does a great job of finding them. Some games we don’t make them and don’t look like a good basketball team; but on nights we make them, we’re pretty dangerous.”
The Lions improve to 12-9 overall and finish 8-6 in the Northeastern Buckeye Conference, tying for third place with Carrollton. Salem drops to 9-12, 4-10.
Wright led the way with 16 points, six rebounds and eight assists. Adam Gross was at the forefront of the Lions’ outside shooting barrage with five threes, accounting for all of his 15 points. The senior guard also pulled down seven rebounds. Minerva shot 39 percent from beyond the arc compared to 11 percent for Salem.
“We knew they were going to go to zone and we just made shots,” Gross said. “Connor consistently drives the ball and makes plays for us. He does a great job facilitating our offense.”
“We helped when he (Wright) drove but we didn’t do a good enough job of recovering,” Salem coach Rich Hart said.
Gross started fast, canning three triples in the first 10 minutes of the game as Minerva raced out to a 25-14 lead that it never relinquished. Both of his second half threes pushed Minerva’s lead back to nine after the Quakers closed within six. Four of Gross’ five threes came from nearly the identical spot in the left corner.
“That’s Adam’s spot,” Green said. “Any time we do a shooting drill and he gets one from the right side, I kind of tease him by saying he’s never seen that side of the floor. But he does a great job from that left corner for us.”
Salem’s Mitch Davidson used aggressive penetration to finish with a game-high 24 points and six rebounds. Chase Ackerman added nine points and nine rebounds.
The Quakers trailed all night, but cut the margin to 44-40 with 6:46 remaining before a Wright drive kick-started a decisive 14-3 run for the Lions.
Salem’s own outside shooting came up dry most of the night, with the lone three coming courtesy of Robbie Sarginger after the game was all but decided. The Quakers helped the Lions’ get off to a fast start with seven first quarter turnovers.
“We had our opportunities, but we just didn’t execute enough and in the first quarter we had too many turnovers,” Hart said. “We didn’t come out and follow what our game plan was.”
Jack Hanley (11 points) and Brock Croston (10 points) added balance to the Minerva attack. Hanley nailed a big three with 5:11 left to put Minerva up 52-42. Croston put the Lions up 56-43 with his lone three of the night less than two minutes later. Minerva enjoyed a double-digit advantage the rest of the way.
“Salem kept knocking on the door, but we answered them with big shots,” Green said. “That’s how you get road wins. Keeping the lead around eight points was big for us. If they cut it to one possession there’s a good chance they take over and win the game.”
Both teams have one regular season game left. Salem hosts Niles Tuesday, while Minerva travels to Ravenna Southeast today.
“I think we’re in a pretty good place right now,” Gross said. “It’s our first positive season since I can remember and we’re clicking on all cylinders.”
Game notes
• Salem honored seniors Garrett Dickey, Jon Gerace and Zack Martin as part of senior night before the game.
• The Lions were also sharp from the free-throw line, going 17-of-20.
• Minerva won the jayvee game 32-31. Josh Lehwald led the Quakers with 15 points.
MINERVA: 17-17-10-20–64
SALEM: 12-13-11-16–52
MINERVA SCORING: Connor Wright 5-5-16, Mitchell Myers 3-3-9, Adam Gross 5-0-15, Jack Hanley 2-6-12, Brock Croston 4-1-10, Brett Russell 0-0-0, Chris Lowe 0-2-2. TEAM TOTALS: 19, 17-20, 64.
SALEM SCORING: Garrett Dickey 1-0-2, Jon Gerace 4-0-8, Mitch Davidson 10-4-24, Zach Bezon 1-0-2, Chase Ackerman 4-1-9, Zack Martin 0-0-0, Turner Johnson 1-0-2, Robbie Sarginger 2-0-5, Braydon Gibson 0-0-0, Josh Young 0-0-0, Cooper Stockman 0-0-0, Josh Lehwald 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 23, 5-8: 52.
Three-point goals: Minerva 9 (Gross 5, Hanley 2, Wright, Croston), Salem 1 (Sarginger).