MANTUA–West Geauga used a fast start to down visiting Crestwood in a nonconference game on Monday, 67-38.
With the win, the Wolverines improved to 16-4 on the year and stretched their winning streak to nine straight games.
“We’re playing so well together right now,” said West Geauga head coach Micah Young. “We’ve got a bunch of guys scoring and hitting shots. Our attention to detail has been great over this run, and that was something that hurt us earlier on in the year. The attention to detail on our game plans and scouting reports has been awesome, and the kids deserve all the credit.”
Landon Lear scored 12 points with a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter as the Wolverines jumped out to a 25-10 lead.
Finn Keenan also added a pair of 3-pointers with Cooper Paskowski knocking down a shot from long-range for a five-point first quarter.
Both sides slowed down in the second quarter with the Wolverines using an 8-7 advantage for a 33-17 halftime lead thanks to a Ryan Mobley buzzer-beating triple plus another Paskowski 3-pointer.
Colin Whiting got himself going in the third for West Geauga with nine points in the quarter, while Lear tacked on 10 more points for a 51-32 lead after three.
The senior scored six more points in the final frame, getting five points from JJ Rubinski and a pair of buckets from Shawn Leonard to cap off a 29-point win.
Lear led the way with 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting, converting 7-of-8 tries from the free-throw line.
“I feel confident going into any game with him,” Young said of his 1,000-point scoring senior. “He’s the best player on the floor in 99, maybe 100 percent of the games we’ve played this year. The other guys feed off him when he’s playing well. He does a good job getting everyone involved.”
West Geauga is ramping up its postseason push with some tougher opponents down the stretch.
They’ve beat a pair of conference champs, Hawken and Crestwood, before taking on an 11-win Perry team and capping off the year at Jefferson, the front-runner of the Lake Division, who is currently on a nine-game winning streak themselves.
“We have the goal to be a top-four team in our district,” Young said. “Perry’s a great team and kicked our butts last time we played them. I think the Jefferson game will be a great matchup to give us a taste of the playoffs. (Anthony) Covetta is putting up numbers right now for them.”
Whiting added 10 points, Keenan finished with eight, and Paskowski pitched in seven more. Mobley added five points with nine rebounds, and Rubinski added five.
Crestwood has lost three straight since starting the season 14-0.
“After the game, we had an open forum with the team, and they feel like we can’t let last week continue to beat us,” said Crestwood head coach Josh Jakacki. “We have to regroup and flush last week. We lost two tight games to West Branch by three and one to Kirtland. Quite frankly, the guys said they couldn’t get over (last week’s losses). We have to get over last week, and we can’t continue to let those games kick us in the teeth.”
For the first time in basically two seasons, the Red Devils are facing some adversity. Crestwood won 19 games a year ago and sits at 14-3 this year, but this stretch is a good opportunity for the team to learn from each other.
“Life’s full of adversity. We were fooling ourselves if we thought we would finish the season undefeated,” Jakacki said. “The bottom line is we have to stay connected, pull in the same direction, row the same boat, and not splinter. Life’s not going to be easy, and it’s never going to be comfortable. Right now, we’re comfortable being uncomfortable, and we must take that fight and spirit to continue grinding and being there for each other.”
Dekota Johnson paced the Red Devils with 13 points, and Brody Durham and Steven Lincoln added five each.
Crestwood hosts Woodridge on February 4, and West Geauga hosts Perry on February 7.
