by Dean Raymond
Correspondent
Cuyahoga Falls -- There was no stopping Walsh Jesuit sophomore guard Evan Payne, especially in the second half as the Warriors defeated Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy 60-46 Feb. 2 at home in boys high school basketball action.
The Royals (6-9) led the entire first quarter and settled for a 7-6 lead after one quarter.
However, a three-point goal from senior guard Pat Ammar gave Walsh Jesuit (9-5) the lead for good at 12-10 with 6:25 remaining in the second period.
Payne would score 12 of his game-high 29 points in the second quarter, including two free throws with 2:08 left in the second period as the Warriors led 23-15.
A triple by senior guard Alex Mosteller (his second of three on the evening) pulled CVCA within five points at 25-20 with 30 seconds to go in the second quarter.
That was the score at the half before a three-point play from Payne and a rebound basket by senior forward Eric Illig gave Walsh Jesuit a 30-20 lead with 5:19 remaining in the third period.
The closest the Royals would get the rest of the game was eight points at 32-24, 37-29, 39-31 and 41-33.
CVCA trailed 35-26 after three quarters of action.
Leading 48-38 with 3:04 left in the fourth period, the Warriors put the game away with a 6-0 run as a pair of charity tosses by Payne made the score 54-38 in favor of Walsh Jesuit with 1:57 to go in the contest.
"Evan is a special player," Warrior head coach John Norris said. "He can create on his own. I also thought Ammar, Spencer Boyd (sophomore guard) and Garrett Cona (junior guard) played well, We hit our free throws and we had a consistent effort all 32 minutes. We were also aggressive tonight offensively and defensively. We handled their pressure and we didn't force things."
Meanwhile, Royals head coach Jay Peters was a little disappointed in his teams effort.
"Payne is athletic and he is a nice player," Peters said. "We didn't rotate on him when he got close to the basket. We also didn't handle their pressure well. We needed to attack the basket but sometimes we got trapped."
Mosteller paced CVCA with 16 points, including seven points in the fourth quarter while senior forward Xavier Douglas added 14 points with 12 coming in the second half.
Walsh Jesuit finished 22-of-52 from the field for 42 percent, including 10-of-16 in the fourth period and sank 14-of-19 free throws for 74 percent, including 7-of-10 in the first half and 7-of-9 in the second half.
The Royals were 15-of-41 from the floor for 37 percent and led in three-point goals, 5-2. At the line, CVCA connected on 11-of-15 attempts for 73 percent, including 10-of-14 in the second half.
E-mail: stowsports@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3113