Fallsnewspress.com - No battle this time as Twinsburg routs Falls boys

by Frank Aceto

Associate Sports Editor

Copley -- The Cuyahoga Falls boys basketball team thought it knew everything about its latest postseason opponent.

Unfortunately for the Black Tigers, they learned only thing about a certain rival they played two other times.

They can't beat Twinsburg.

The top-seeded Tigers cruised to a Division I district semifinal contest with a commanding 53-30 victory over Falls March 6 at Copley High School.

When the two teams met two months ago in Twinsburg, the Black Tigers gave their more talented Northeast Ohio Conference River Division rivals a run for their money.

The Tigers (18-3) took advantage of some costly errors by Falls late in the game to pull away en route to a 52-38 victory.

The second battle was more convincing although the Black Tigers showed some signs of life despite a 64-45 setback one month later.

There was absolutely no drama during round three.

Six-foot-8 senior forward Jon Harris drained two three-pointers to start the game as Twinsburg took complete command of the contest right away.

The Tigers led by 17 (27-10) at halftime and had all of their starters on the bench by the start of the fourth quarter as they stretched their advantage to 22 (41-19).

Twinsburg's defense stifled Falls throughout the evening.

Using their quickness and athleticism, the Tigers forced turnovers, which led to a couple of thunderous dunks by Harris, blocked shots and most importantly of all, confused and flustered the Black Tigers.

Falls struggled to get by Twinsburg's defenders and the Tigers grabbed just about every one of the Black Tigers' misses, too.

Falls (4-18) scored just two points in the second quarter.

"We knew Falls had a lot of confidence," longtime Twinsburg head coach Bob Pacsi said. "Our defense took them out of their rhythm."

The Black Tigers did not score a single point during a five-minute stretch in the second and third quarters. Falls went on a 6-0 run after the drought, but such a spurt proved to be a minor inconvenience for the high-flying Tigers.

"They [the Tigers] did a good job defensively taking away our quick-hitters," Black Tigers head coach Rob Slone said. "We struggled once we stepped on the floor. We missed some shots, had a couple of careless turnovers and we gave up some offensive rebounds."

Harris, Twinsburg's top scorer during the season, finished with a game-high 18 points. He also had four blocks. Senior center Doug Talentino added 12 points.

Harris, Talentino and senior forward Darius Washington completely dominated the boards.

"Jon, Doug and Darius eliminated second shots," Pacsi said. "This is a good group. They cover for each other."

Since they had beaten Falls the previous two times, it would be easy to think the Tigers would take their opponents lightly.

That wasn't the case at all, especially with a stellar point guard operating the controls.

"We had a terrific week of practice," Pacsi said. "We got great leadership from [senior point guard] Bryan Sims. How many championship teams have guys who have more assists than points?

"He got some big steals and big assists. He runs the show. We don't have to run anything for him. He's a big part of what were able to do."

Junior guard Tim Bridenthal led the Black Tigers with nine points.

E-mail: faceto@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-686-3914