WICKLIFFE—Wickliffe’s boys’ basketball team is without the program’s all-time leading scorer for the first time in four years, and that reality has opened the door for new faces to step in and make an impact.
The Blue Devils wasted no time showing that growth Saturday, racing out to a 17-5 first-quarter lead and setting the tone in a dominant 65-36 win over visiting Conneaut.
“We’ve struggled in games when we don’t start fast, and that was our focus coming into this game,” said Wickliffe head coach Marc Lewis. “When we have that momentum, we do very well, so we focus on a quick start, and then we let our defense dictate the tone, letting our offense come later.”
Drew Rossman got things started with a 3-pointer, followed by a Nick Oboczky bucket inside as the Blue Devils jumped ahead 9-0. Jayden Johnson added a triple and a pull-up floater to push the lead to 17-5 after one.
Conneaut briefly found life early in the second quarter when Caden Webb converted a four-point play, then followed it with an offensive rebound and putback. Jacob Thompson and Webb added back-to-back scores to cut into the deficit, but Xavier Wells answered with a mid-range jumper to send Wickliffe into halftime up 31-18.
Maintaining momentum through the break has been an area of concern for Lewis, but the Blue Devils responded immediately coming out of the locker room.
“We try to teach and preach things in practice to keep the momentum at the end of a quarter or at halftime, and that’s why I don’t call a lot of timeouts for that reason,” Lewis said. “Our players tend to relax and settle, but we pushed it a little bit tonight, which kept that focus, and that was nice to see. We’ve struggled with that at times, so seeing (the positive response) tonight, hopefully it leads us into a good trend.”
Oboczky knocked down a jumper, Jimmie Feater scored off the glass, and Wells buried a long two as Wickliffe stretched the lead to 41-21 in the third. Rossman later found Johnson with a no-look pass for a 3-pointer, then drained one of his own to make it 52-25 heading into the fourth.
Johnson buried his fourth triple of the night, and Drew Meitzner capped the scoring with a bucket off a pick-and-roll with Wells as Wickliffe pulled away.
With Walt Cable no longer serving as the offense’s “walking bucket,” the continued development of Johnson, Wells, Oboczky, and others has been a focus.
“We’re taking it day-by-day as we’re figuring it out because a lot of these guys didn’t play varsity last year, so this is new for a lot of them,” Rossman said. “We’re going practice-by-practice, game-by-game, and we’re figuring it out.”
The emergence of those new contributors has fueled a two-game winning streak, beginning with a 70-68 barnburner over Crestwood on Dec. 23 and continuing Saturday.
“The one thing that’s good about our team is we find the wins where we can find them,” Lewis said. “It may not be winning the game itself, but it’s the things we did in the game that we’ve been focused on and getting better at. Our kids are very positive about those little victories; they put everything on the line to make sure they put their best foot forward in every game. It’s nice to have this momentum.”
Johnson led all scorers with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Rossman filled the stat sheet with 15 points, six steals, and several assists, while Wells added 11 points, six assists, and three takeaways. Oboczky chipped in six points, five assists, and four rebounds, and Gio Martinez added five boards and three points.
Conneaut was led by Webb with nine points, while Alden Goudge finished with six points and seven rebounds.
Wickliffe travels to Harvey on Dec. 29, while Conneaut hosts Mathews the same day.
