MANTUA—Crestwood used its defense to turn the tide in the second half of a 65-59 win over visiting Kirtland in a showdown for first place in the Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division.
The Red Devils led 30-29 at halftime before pulling away in the third quarter to take a nine-point lead into the fourth.
“Kirtland got a quick three on the first play of the half to take the lead, I credit our kids for coming back,” said Crestwood head coach Josh Jakacki. “We stayed true to our defensive identity. We pressured them and kept the ball in front of us.”
Following Nick Barisic’s 3-pointer that gave Kirtland a 34-32 lead early in the third, but the Red Devils responded with a 14-5 run to close out the quarter.
“We were able to get our transition game going and made some big buckets,” Jakacki said. “We were able to extend our minimal halftime lead to a more comfortable margin and it gave us a good opportunity to finish the game off.”
Charlie Schweickert came up big in the first half for Crestwood, connecting on four 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 22-point performance.
Dekota Johnson added 20 points and was 15-of-16 from the free throw line.
“Charlie gave us a chance with Dekota and foul trouble early,” Jakacki said. “He hit some deep shots in the second quarter that allowed us to maintain some offensive flexibility. Charlie really stepped up for us. The cool thing about Dekota is he’s still a growing basketball player. He’s understanding he doesn’t have to rely on his jump shot to put points on the board.”
The Red Devils battled through plenty of adversity even before tip-off to beat the Hornets.
“The bottom line is we came out and won, the kids wanted it,” Jakacki said. “It felt like a Covid week, guys in and out of the lineup. It speaks volumes to the kids themselves; they stayed the course and had that next man up mentality.”
Steven Lincoln contributed to the win with seven points, Brody Durham and Augie Schweickert both added five points, and James Durham finished with four.
With the win, the Red Devils improved to 8-1 overall and moved into sole possession of first place in the Valley Division with a 4-0 mark and a win over the defending conference champions.
“Kirtland is the standard of the league,” Jakacki said of Kirtland. “They’re the team we’re chasing. I have the utmost respect for Shawn (McGregor) and his program.”
Kirtland dropped to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in league play.
“They fought to the end,” said Kirtland coach Shawn McGregor. “They should be proud of their efforts today. We did a good job of scrapping and getting ourselves back into the game.”
The Hornets finished with good all-around offensive production with three starters scoring 10 or more points.
Barisic led the charge with 19 points. Vince Carriero added 15 and Jack Green finished with 10. Gino Blasini pitched in seven points while Aiden Hurd, Aaron Fortuna, Jake LaVerde, and Will Sayle each finished with two.
“We’re still coming into our own,” McGregor said. “We got some guys that are still knocking the rust off so we’re going to have spurts of good shooting and bad shooting.”
